Page:Impressions of Spain in 1866.djvu/17

Rh old town which stood so many sieges and was looked upon as the key of Northern Spain. The hotel appeared but tolerably comfortable to our travellers, fresh from the luxuries of Paris. When they returned, four or five months later, they thought it a perfect paradise of comfort and cleanliness. After wandering through the narrow streets, and walking into one or two un- interesting churches, it was resolved to climb up to the citadel which commands the town, and to w^hich the ascent is by a fair zig-zag road, like that which leads to Dover Castle. A small gar- rison remains in the keep, which is also a mili- tary prison. The officers received our party very courteously, inviting them to walk on the battle- ments, and climb up to the flag-stafi*, and offering them the use of their large telescope for the view, which is certainly magnificent, especially towards the sea. There is a tiny chapel in the fortress, in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. It was pleasant to see the sentinel presenting arms to IT each time his round brought him past the ever open door. On the hill-side, a few monumental slabs, let in here and there into the rock, and one or two square tombs, mark the graves of the Englishmen killed during the siege, and also in the Don Carlos revolution. Of the siege itself, and B 2