particular attention to the
Alcazar. It is perhaps the most perfect specimen of Moorish architecture
which is at present to be found in Europe. It contains many splendid
halls, particularly that of the Ambassadors, so called, which is in every
respect more magnificent than the one of the same name within the
Alhambra of Granada. This palace was a favourite residence of Peter the
Cruel, who carefully repaired it, without altering its Moorish character
and appearance. It probably remains in much the same state as at the
time of his death.

On the right side of the river is a large suburb called Triana,
communicating with Seville by means of a bridge of boats; for there is no
permanent bridge across the Guadalquivir owing to the violent inundations
to which it is subject. This suburb is inhabited by the dregs of the
populace, and abounds with Gitanos or Gypsies. About a league and a half
to the north-west stands the village of Santo Ponce; at the foot and on
the side of some elevated ground higher up are to be seen vestiges of
ruined walls and edifices which once formed part of Italica, the
birth-place of Silius Italicus and Trajan, from which latter personage
Triana derives its name. One fine morning I walked thither, and having
ascended the hill I directed my course northward. I soon reached what
had once been bagnios, and a little farther on, in a kind of valley
between two gentle acclivities, the amphitheatre. This latter object is
by far the most considerable relic of ancient Italica; it is oval in its
form, with two gateways, fronting the east and west. On all sides are to
be seen the time-worn broken granite benches, from whence myriads of
human beings once gazed down on the area below, where the gladiator
shouted, and the lion and leopard yelled. All around beneath these
flights of benches are vaulted excavations, from whence the combatants,
part human, part bestial, darted forth by their several doors. I spent
several hours in this singular place, forcing my way through the wild
fennel and brushwood into the caverns, now the haunts of adders and other
reptiles, whose hissings I heard. Having sated my curiosity, I left the
ruins, and returning by another way reached a place where lay the carcase
of a horse half-devoured. Upon it with lustrous eyes stood an enormous
vulture, who, as I approached, slowly soared aloft till he alighted on
the eastern gate of the amphitheatre, from whence he uttered a hoar