some yellow, some deep orange, and some brown. The taste of the yellow, bordering upon brown, they found the most agreeable. After passing through a wild country, they reached Alicant late; discovering first the sea, and then the castle on its high rock. They were conducted to an inn that overlooked the sea, against the walls of which the sea beat vehemently; and before them was the harbour, a busy and animated scene. The gardens of Alicant lie along the sea-shore, surrounded on three sides by lofty mountains. The houses are magnificent, and the rooms and staircases paved with the Valencia tile; the ground white, and a flower in the middle, executed with great delicacy and truth.

There was not much in Alicant to interest the young people. There is a manufactory of cloth; but the only interest attached to it is, that it is wholly a charitable institution, in which none but orphans are admitted, or children whose parents are unable to provide them with any occupation.

"And, papa," said Frank, on hearing this mentioned, "there is a military school here, for the children of poor soldiers, who are taught to read and write, and cipher."

"How did you find that out, Frank ?"

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Why, I met one of them this morning at the harbour, and I showed him I knew how to bear arms as well as he did."

MOORISH PHYSICIANS.

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"I dare say you did," said Mr. Delville, laughing. "I hope you will not get into any scrape with that ready tongue of yours."

"O, papa!" said Ellen," there is the diligence. No hope for us now: we cannot see the castle."

“We should not have been allowed, I think, whatever might have been our leisure; and therefore take a last look of the harbour, and let us be off. Frank, are we going to have a companion ?”

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"Yes, papa; a wine-merchant of Alicant; an Englishman. I have spoken to him."

Mr. Mordaunt proved an agreeable addition to their party. He was going to Valencia, and knew well the country through which they were to pass. When they entered upon the Sierra, between Villena and Fuente de Higuera, he mentioned to them a singular circumstance. "An English gentleman," he said, "was travelling through a narrow valley, in this Sierra, covered with aromatic shrubs, when his attention was excited by two figures on the opposite ridge of the hill. They were evidently employed in collecting something, he could not see, into large baskets. On enquiry they proved to be Moorish physicians, who came, every spring and autumn, from the coasts of Africa, to gather medicinal herbs."

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This, I should think," said Mr. Delville, " must be the only remaining tie between Spain and Barbary."

"It is; and the deadly enmity with which they

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VALENCIAN SUPERSTITION.

are still regarded in this country, is indescribable."

The diligence stopped no where; and they were compelled to pass the beautiful Moorish ruins at San Felippe with only an earnest passing gaze. They are built on the summit of a hill, behind the city. The mountain is one hundred and twenty feet high; and they rose in fine relief, against the cloudless sky, in an irregular line of not less than two miles in extent.

O, if we could but stop!" said Ellen.

But this was impossible. On they went, at the same regular and excellent pace of seven miles an hour, till at length they descended the mountain; and saw Valencia three leagues before they reached it. Its extensive buildings, massive walls, and numerous spires were very imposing.

"You will find," said their fellow-traveller, "that Valencia is a hot-bed of superstition. You will see some curious relics at the Cathedral." His information was correct. Their first visit was paid to that ancient edifice. They were shown, with much ceremony, an arm of St. Luke, the entire body of one of the innocents, and a picture of the Virgin, painted by St. Luke. The astonishment of the English travellers, at the unblushing effrontery with which these things were shown and told, imparted an air of gravity to their features which they would not otherwise have had.

"You have," said Mr. Delville to the sacristan

MANUFACTORY OF TILES.

after a pause, 66 thing I see here."

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a relic more precious than any

"We have, senhor; the cup, the real cup out of which our Saviour drank at the last supper."

May we see it?"

'No, senhor; it is too precious to be shown to heretics."

"You are quite right," said Mr. Delville. "This," he said, as they walked quietly away, "is what I call prudence. The sacristan is a very judicious man."

"I wonder they showed us any thing," said Edward.

"It is not at all improbable," said his father, "that the cup may be French or English; and it would have been awkward, had we pointed out the stamp. Cunning, my son, has its own lefthanded wisdom."

Among the curiosities of Valencia is her beautiful manufactory of tiles. There was a large assortment very beautifully executed; the best about a shilling a square. A good workman gains in their manufacture a dollar a day.

"Surely," said Mrs. Delville, "they must be dearer than a carpet."

"Very much dearer," said Mr. Delville. "They are nine inches square: at one shilling a piece, only calculate how many they would take for a large room!"

"And," said Ellen, "the comfort of a carpet,

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IRRIGATION OF RICE-FIELDS.

even of plain Kidderminster, outweighs their beauty."

"Not in this climate, Ellen. A carpet would be an insupportable nuisance, and not a comfort. Think of the fleas," said Frank.

"And the heat," said his mother.

"I was thinking of the look, I believe," said Ellen.

"Ah, true woman!" exclaimed her elder brother, with a good-natured smile.

"And I was thinking," said Frank, "I should like the tiles; for if any thing was thrown down, a flannel would set it all to rights; but a carpet is spoiled; and if one does it, it is never forgotten."

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But they break, Frank," said his mother; " and a fracture is as durable as a stain."

"Oh! if they break, I give them up entirely; and range myself firmly on the side of the carpet faction."

"We will take a few home," said Mrs. Delville, "for the old china-pantry; it will suit very well with the rest of the porcelain."

Mr. Delville hurried them in their purchase, for he was anxious to see the rice-grounds, a species of agriculture wholly new to them. It is confined to the low valleys which are almost always wet. The rice is always under water, and it is only drained to reap it. At the rice-harvest, the labourers are almost up to their knees in water. The sheaves