distant view of the sea and the Tagus; and, besides (though that is a secondary consideration), is remarkable as the scene of Sir H.D.’s Convention.[122] It unites in itself all the wildness of the western highlands, with the verdure of the south of France.  Near this place, about ten miles to the right, is the palace of Mafra, the boast of Portugal, as it might be of any other country, in point of magnificence without elegance.  There is a convent annexed; the monks, who possess large revenues, are courteous enough, and understand Latin, so that we had a long conversation:  they have a large library, and asked me if the English had any books in their country?”

An adventure which he met with at Seville, characteristic both of the country and of himself, is thus described in the same letter to Mrs. Byron:—­

“We lodged in the house of two Spanish unmarried ladies, who possess six houses in Seville, and gave me a curious specimen of Spanish manners.  They are women of character, and the eldest a fine woman, the youngest pretty, but not so good a figure as Donna Josepha.  The freedom of manner, which is general here, astonished me not a little; and in the course of further observation, I find that reserve is not the characteristic of the Spanish belles, who are, in general, very handsome, with large black eyes, and very fine forms.  The eldest honoured your unworthy son with very particular attention, embracing him with great tenderness at parting (I was there but three days), after cutting off a lock of his hair, and presenting him with one of her own, about three feet in length, which I send, and beg you will retain till my return.  Her last words were, ’Adios, tu hermoso! me gusto mucho.’—­’Adieu, you pretty fellow! you please me much.’  She offered me a share of her apartment, which my virtue induced me to decline; she laughed, and said I had some English “amante” (lover), and added that she was going to be married to an officer in the Spanish army.”

Among the beauties of Cadiz, his imagination, dazzled by the attractions of the many, was on the point, it would appear from the following, of being fixed by one:—­

“Cadiz, sweet Cadiz, is the most delightful town I ever beheld, very different from our English cities in every respect except cleanliness (and it is as clean as London), but still beautiful and full of the finest women in Spain, the Cadiz belles being the Lancashire witches of their land.  Just as I was introduced and began to like the grandees, I was forced to leave it for this cursed place; but before I return to England I will visit it again.

“The night before I left it, I sat in the box at the opera, with admiral ——­’s family, an aged wife and a fine daughter, Sennorita ——.  The girl is very pretty, in the Spanish style; in my opinion, by no means inferior to the English in charms, and certainly superior in fascination.  Long, black hair, dark languishing eyes, clear olive complexions, and forms more graceful in motion than can be conceived by an Englishman used to the drowsy listless air of his countrywomen, added to the most becoming dress, and, at the same time, the most decent in the world, render a Spanish beauty irresistible.