was surrounded. It was he who
first established schools at Cordova for the study of astronomy,
mathematics, medicine, and grammar. He was also a poet, and was
considered the most eloquent man of his age.

This first Caliph of the West adorned and fortified his capital, erected
a superb palace, which he surrounded by beautiful gardens, and commenced
the construction of a grand mosque, the {55} remains of which continue
even at this day to excite the admiration of the traveller. This
monument of magnificence was completed during the reign of Hacchem, the
son and successor of Abderamus. It is thought that the Spaniards have
not preserved more than one half of the original structure, yet it is now
six hundred feet long and two hundred wide, and is supported by more than
three hundred columns of alabaster, jasper, and marble. Formerly there
were twenty-four doors of entrance, composed of bronze covered with
sculptures of gold; and nearly five thousand lamps nightly served to
illuminate this magnificent edifice.

In this mosque the caliphs of Cordova each Friday conducted the worship
of the people, that being the day consecrated to religion by the precepts
of Mohammed. Thither all the Mussulmans of Spain made pilgrimages, as
those of the East resorted to the temple at Mecca. There they
celebrated, with great solemnity, the fete of the great and the lesser
Beiram, which corresponds with the Passover of the Jews; that of the
Newyear, and that of Miloud, or the anniversary of the birth of Mohammed.
Each of these festivals lasted for eight days. During that time {56} all
labour ceased, the people sent presents to each other, exchanged visits,
and offered sacrifices. Disunited families, forgetting their
differences, pledged themselves to future concord, and consummated their
renewed amity by delivering themselves up to the enjoyment of every
pleasure permitted by the laws of the Koran.

At night the city was illuminated, the streets were festooned with
flowers, and the promenades and public places resounded with the melody
of various musical instruments.

The more worthily to celebrate the occasion, alms were lavishly
distributed by the wealthy, and the benedictions of the poor mingled with
the songs of rejoicing that everywhere ascended around them.

Abderamus, having imbibed with his Oriental education a fondness for
these splendid fetes, first introduced a taste for them into Spain.
Uniting, in his character of c