At the foot of the
hill was an alameda, or public walk, which, though not so
fashionable as the more modern and splendid paseo of the Xenil,
still boasted a varied and picturesque concourse. Hither resorted
the small gentry of the suburbs, together with priests and friars, who
walked for appetite and digestion; majos and majas, the beaux and
belles of the lower classes, in their Andalusian dresses; swaggering
contrabandistas, and sometimes half-muffled and mysterious loungers of
the higher ranks, on some secret assignation.
It was a moving picture of Spanish life and character, which I
delighted to study; and as the astronomer has his grand telescope with
which to sweep the skies, and, as it were, bring the stars nearer
for his inspection, so I had a smaller one, of pocket size, for the
use of my observatory, with which I could sweep the regions below, and
bring the countenances of the motley groups so close as almost, at
times, to make me think I could divine their conversation by the
play and expression of their features. I was thus, in a manner, an
invisible observer, and, without quitting my solitude, could throw
myself in an instant into the midst of society- a rare advantage to
one of somewhat shy and quiet habits, and fond, like myself, of
observing the drama of life without becoming an actor in the scene.
There was a considerable suburb lying below the Alhambra, filling
the narrow gorge of the valley, and extending up the opposite hill
of the Albaycin.
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