January 12, at a very early hour, we recommenced our march; and about noon reached the village of Pancorvo, so strongly situated that a thousand men might easily defend it against a great army. On the summit of a hill is a regular fortification, but from the inequality of the ground I should think it of little use; neither does it command the village, which is placed between two high rocks, and approached by a winding road with very short turns. After quitting this village I had much conversation with Colonel Natalis, of the engineers, a very diffident but well informed officer, who expressed his conviction that the conquest of Spain was at this time more difficult than ever. After a tiresome march of seven leagues we reached Miranda, a tolerable village; and here I was once more quartered on a good priest, who was no less rejoiced than myself; for had he been saddled with a French officer, he must not only have furnished him with every thing he required gratis, but most probably would have been insulted into the bargain.

January 13. In the morning we pursued our march along the banks of a small river, which flows through a very rich valley, to the village of Mont Alban, where we breakfasted, and at three o'clock entered Vittoria, by a very handsome promenade, on which, the day being fine, a great crowd of persons had assembled to view us. After dressing I waited on Count Caffarelli, the commandant, but he not being at home, I amused myself viewing the chasseurs 1égers of the imperial guard, who were on the parade and made a good appearance; their band was extremely strong, there being thirty-nine performers on the parade. The superior pay, and high consideration in which this corps of the army is held, creates a general jealousy among the rest. I observed that the officers inspected their soldiers nearly in the same manner as in our service. In returning from the parade I met General Caffarelli, who received me politely; and while we were walking to his residence he informed me with rapture of the capture of Tortosa and nine thousand two hundred Spanish troops; at the same time giving me the French official account to read, seeming to forget that such news could not be very agreeable to an English officer. He was however very civil, and regretted his being prevented from asking me to dinner by an engagement abroad. We walked together to the bishop’s palace, situated in a new square, the buildings of which, though small, are very handsome, and kept in great order. Indeed, in every respect, Vittoria is one of the best looking towns I have seen in Spain, having in general the appearance of industry and comfort. It is the chief town of Alava, formerly one of the provinces of Biscay, but now united to Old Castile; and has considerable iron works, the produce of which is sent to various parts of Spain. It was formerly also an entrepôt of colonial produce, but this advantage it has almost totally lost by Napoleon’s prohibitory decrees. Its manufactories of woollens, silk, and cotton, however, still exist, and it has a great number of straw, chair, and tin workshops. Its population is about six thousand. The most conspicuous public building is the hospital, which is well distributed and regulated; it has two hundred beds, and though intended for the use of the people of the town alone, it was now full of French soldiers.

I dined late and alone at my quarters, and in the evening enjoyed the pleasing society of my landlord, a physician, and his family, who with some neighbours, among whom were some pretty girls, were assembled in the kitchen. We played at Bouillotte, and the young ladies, I suppose from my being a stranger, took a great interest in my game. The evening closed with a supper, and some delightfully wild and simple Spanish airs, accompanied by the guitar.

Having now quitted Old Castile, and entered into a totally different country, I trust my readers will not be displeased with a few observations I was enabled to make on the former. The soil of Old Castile, though inferior to that of several other parts of Spain, is, generally speaking, superior to France, and most other parts of Europe; and industry is alone wanting to bring it to a high state of forwardness. Some districts afford good wine, and the finest wool of the kingdom.

Two considerable rivers, the Douro and the Ebro, rise in Old Castile; the former in the Sierra d’Urbino, from whence it runs in a western direction across Spain, and after a course of three hundred and twenty miles empties itself into the Atlantic Ocean, at Oporto. The Ebro has its source in the mountains of Santillane, near the Asturias, and runs easterly to the Mediterranean. Besides these principal rivers Old Castile has a number of inferior ones, amongst which are the Arlançon, Arlanca, Nazarilla, Valtayo Buryo, and the Paz, which runs through the fertile valley of the same name, and of whose waters the inhabitants have taken advantage to carry irrigation to a high state of perfection. The peasants of this valley, known by the name of Paziegos, are celebrated for their bodily strength and personal courage.

Old Castille has several considerable towns, but the present state of uncertainty (as to who shall eventually remain master of the country, as well as the natural indolence of the Spaniards,) paralyzes all industry; and hence the towns in general present the appearance of lifeless stupor.

As it is impossible to repeat too often how effectually the Spaniards might resist their invaders by a proper occupation of the mountain passes, I shall just notice those of Old Castile, not only from my own observations, and an attention to the maps, but also from various authors who have written on Spain. The mountains of St. Andero extend from Old Castile to the Bay of Biscay, and have several passes of such a nature that a regular army could never force them, if properly defended by the mountaineers. The Sierra d’Atujio covers almost the entire of Castile, to the frontiers of Arragon; and the Sierra d’Occa, the Mons Idubeda of the Romans, extends to the kingdom of Leon and the borders of Biscay, separating Old Castile from the Asturias. Besides these principal ridges there are several ramifications, rendering this country one of the most defensible of Europe.

Having quitted Vittoria at five o’clock in the morning, the 14th of January, the arrival of daylight presented us with the view of a country very different from that which we had hitherto traversed. The mountains of Biscay appeared wooded to their summits, and the fertile vallies, even at this dreary season, presented the most romantic scenery, which the appearance of industry rendered doubly pleasing. The soil appeared to be in general a stiff clay, requiring many drains, and where a plough can seldom be used; instead of which, the ground is turned up with long three pronged forks. Four men, with one of these implements in each hand, place themselves at the side of the drain, and sticking the fork in the ground spring up on them, keeping exact time, while a woman clears the drain. Here I observed extensive fields of various kinds of vetches, and of turnips, not so large, but more solid than our Norfolk turnips. This is the first time I have seen this root cultivated in fields in Spain.

We frequently met mules with a strong basket slung on each side of them, something resembling those in which oysters are carried in England; on inquiry I found they contained horseshoes, which are manufactured to a great extent in this part of Biscay, and sent to all parts of Spain. It is here customary to shoe the oxen, which is thus performed. The animal is placed in a frame resembling that in which our farriers cut horses’ tails: in the centre is a pully, by which, and by the power of a windlass, the ox is raised off the ground, the fore knees are bent and kept so by iron clasps near each knee, the hind feet are extended on a board, so as to present the flat of the hoof to receive the shoe, and the tail is made fast to the top of the frame, so that altogether the animal makes a strange ludicrous appearance as if going to fly.

From the summit of a hill we got the first view of the village of Salinas, where we were to breakfast; it appeared to be perpendicularly beneath us, and no visible road to descend by; we however found a zig-zag, which reminded me of Ladder Hill, in the island of St. Helena; but with this difference, that there nothing but barren black rocky precipices present themselves to the eye, commanding a boundless view of the Ocean; while here you wind down the hill through a thick wood, and hear the fall of a cascade concealed among the trees.

As we entered Salinas, a discharged French soldier solicited charity, telling me a lamentable story of his sufferings and wounds; I gave him a picette,*  and while sitting at breakfast at a fonda, I was surprised to see him enter the room, draw a chair and seat himself at the table, with all the nonchalance possible, while with a part of my small donation he procured a hearty breakfast, and during the repast conversed with me with perfect familiarity. Here I may observe, that certainly I gained more knowledge of the manners of foreigners during this bon gré mal gré journey through Spain, than I should probably have done in travelling my whole life in the usual manner; for I was now obliged to mix with all descriptions of persons, from the General to the private soldier, and with Spaniards, French, Poles, and that motley and debased species of Germans that forms the contingents of the Confederation of the Rhine.

* A silver coin worth about fourteen pence.

From Salinas, the distance to Mendragon is only four leagues, by a rapid descent, so that we reached this latter place early, and I had the good fortune to be again billetted on a priest. I found however much difficulty in procuring rations for myself or provender for the mules, from not having a feuille de route (my name being only included in the general list of prisoners) which was left with the officer commanding the preceding convoy; but at last succeeded, and after dinner spent the evening in the kitchen, where were assembled several girls, who while they spun, amused the time chanting Spanish ditties, which derived an increased agreeableness from the innocence and simplicity of the singers. I was told that a girl could earn by spinning at her leisure hours only, and merely as a pastime, three reals a week, or about twenty-one pence English.

The appearance of the French chasseur who took care of the mules, immediately checked the gaiety of the Spanish girls, and a gloomy silence succeeded, of which I immediately perceived the cause, and taking an opportunity of getting rid of the chasseur, good humour was immediately restored.

Mendragon contains about three thousand inhabitants; is built between two lofty hills, and intersected by a large river and several rivulets; and was formerly much frequented for its mineral waters. A few days before our arrival, the Cabildo and his son had been executed, for (as we were told) the assassination at various times of upwards of two hundred French. When led to execution, instead of feeling any compunction for their murders, they gloried in them, and reminded their countrymen, “that, if every Spaniard had, like them, performed his duty! the French would long before this have been exterminated and the country freed.”