arabesque borders, between the caryatides, are
sculptured with such a careful reference to the distance at which they
must be seen, that they appear as firm and delicate as if near the
spectator's eye.

The Cathedral, founded by the Conquistador, and built upon, at
intervals, for more than three centuries, is not yet finished. It stands
upon a natural platform of rock, overhanging the sea, where its grand
dimensions produce the greatest possible effect. In every view of Palma,
it towers solidly above the houses and bastioned walls, and insists upon
having the sky as a background for the light Gothic pinnacles of its
flying buttresses. The government has recently undertaken its
restoration, and a new front of very admirable and harmonious design is
about half completed. The soft amber-colored marble of Majorca is
enriched in tint by exposure to the air, and even when built in large,
unrelieved masses retains a bright and cheerful character. The new
portion of the cathedral, like the old, has but little sculpture, except
in the portals; but that little is so elegant that a greater profusion
of ornament would seem out of place.

Passing from the clear, dazzling day into the interior, one finds
himself, at first, in total darkness; and the dimensions of the
nave--nearly three hundred feet in length by one hundred and forty in
height--are amplified by the gloom. The wind, I was told, came through
the windows on the sea side with such force as to overturn the chalices,
and blow out the tapers on the altar, whereupon every opening was walled
up, except a rose at the end of the chancel, and a few slits in the
nave, above the side-aisles. A sombre twilight, like that of a stormy
day, fills the edifice. Here the rustling of stoles and the muttering of
prayers suggest incantation rather than worship; the organ has a hollow,
sepulchral sound of lamentation; and there is a spirit of mystery and
terror in the stale, clammy air. The place resembles an antechamber of
Purgatory much more than of Heaven. The mummy of Don Jaime II., son of
the Conquistador and first king of Majorca, is preserved in a
sarcophagus of black marble. This is the only historic monument in the
Cathedral, unless the stranger chooses to study the heraldry of the
island families from their shields suspended in the chapels.

When I returned to the Four Nations for breakfast, I found at the table
a gentleman of Palma, who invited me to sit down and partake of his