Page:Impressions of Spain in 1866.djvu/30

16 them. It is needless to say that the carriage was not his property. At last, the horses came to a stand-still; they could go no farther, and the rest of the way had to be done on foot. But our travellers were not to be pitied ; for the day was lovely, and the path across the moor was studded with flowers. At last, on climbing over a steep hill which had intercepted their view, they came on a lovely panorama, with a background of blue mountains tipped with snow ; a wooded glen, in which the brown convent nestled, and a wHd moor foreground, across which long strings of mules with gay trappings, driven by peasants in Spanish costumes, exactly as repre- sented in Ansdeirs paintings, were wending their way towards the city. Tired as some of our party were, this glorious view seemed to give them fresh strength, and they rapidly descended the hill by the hollow path leading to the con- vent. Over the great entrance is a statue of the Cid, moimted on his favourite horse, 'Babicca,' who bore him to his last resting-place, and was afterwards buried beside the master he loved so well. But the grand old building seemed utterly deserted, and a big mastiff, fastened by an ominously slight chain to the doorway, appeared determined to defy their attempts to enter. At last, one of them, more courageous than the rest,