nilla wine. This is a pale,
straw-colored vintage, produced in the valley of the Guadalquivir. It is
flavored with camomile blossoms, and is said to be a fine tonic for weak
stomachs. The master then produced a dark-red wine, which he declared to
be thirty years old. It was almost a syrup in consistence, and tasted more
of sarsaparilla than grapes. None of us relished it, except Bailli, who
was so inspired by the draught, that he sang us two Moorish songs and an
Andalusian catch, full of fun and drollery.

The Museo contains a great amount of bad pictures, but it also contains
twenty-three of Murillo's works, many of them of his best period. To those
who have only seen his tender, spiritual "Conceptions" and "Assumptions,"
his "Vision of St. Francis" in this gallery reveals a mastery of the
higher walks of his art, which they would not have anticipated. But it is
in his "Cherubs" and his "Infant Christs" that he excels. No one ever
painted infantile grace and beauty with so true a pencil. There is but one
Velasquez in the collection, and the only thing that interested me, in two
halls filled with rubbish, was a "Conception" by Murillo's mulatto pupil,
said by some to have been his slave. Although an imitation of the great
master, it is a picture of much sweetness and beauty. There is no other
work of the artist in existence, and this, as the only production of the
kind by a painter of mixed African blood, ought to belong to the Republic
of Liberia.

Among the other guests at the Fonda de Madrid is Mr. Thomas Hobhouse,
brother of Byron's friend. We had a pleasant party in the Court this
evening, listening to blind Pepe, who sang to his guitar a medley of merry
Andalusian refrains. Singing made the old man courageous, and, at the
close, he gave us the radical song of Spain, which is now strictly
prohibited. The air is charming, but too gay; one would sooner dance than
fight to its measures. It does not bring the hand to the sword, like the
glorious Marseillaise.

_Adios_, beautiful Seville!

Chapter XXXIV.

Journey in a Spanish Diligence.

Spanish Diligence Lines--Leaving Seville--An Unlucky Start--Alcala of
the Bakers--Dinner at Carmona--A Dehesa--The Mayoral and his
Team--Ecija--Night Journey--Cordova--The Cathedral-Mosque--Moorish
Architecture--The Sierra Morena--A Rainy Journey--A Chapter of
Accidents--Baylen--The Fascination of Spain--Jaen--The Vega of Granada.

Granada, _November_ 14, 185