Cartagena and Orihuela, the old Visigothic centres, declined, and Murcia, practically a Mohammedan foundation, took their place. The city rivalled Toledo and Cordova as a manufactory of arms and munitions of war. It underwent the usual vicissitudes of Moorish states, forming now part of one kingdom, now of another, at times independent, more often subject to Valencia, Granada, or Cordova. Finally, in 1243, Abu Bekr, the titular amir of Murcia, acknowledged the suzerainty of Castile, only to repudiate it in 1252. The war lasted some time, but the desertion of Al Ahmar of Granada left Abu Bekr at the mercy of the Christians. Murcia was taken in 1266 by Don Jaime of Aragon, who immediately handed over his conquest to his son-in-law, Alfonso of Castile. The step, though probably not dictated by motives of policy, was a wise one, for it left a sort of buffer state between Aragon and Granada, and preserved the frontiers of the former kingdom from molestation by the Moors for the next two centuries. The town of Murcia has completely rid itself of all outward evidences of its erstwhile subjection to Islam. Gone is the Alcazar, where the amirs mimicked the state of Cordova and Toledo, gone is the wall which kept the Christian out, gone is the mosque wherein thousands of turbaned heads were bowed daily towards Mecca. Yet in the narrow dark streets like the Sierpes of Seville, across which awnings are stretched, we might recognize something of the East, were not such thoroughfares equally characteristic of the Christian South. The Calles de la Traperia and de la Plateria, however, irresistibly recall Smyrna. They lead into one of those dazzling white, dusty squares which every Southern and Eastern city boasts, and which is always named in Spain after the Constitution, in Italy after Victor Emmanuel, and in France after the Republic. Murcia is hotter than Seville, and the passage of this plaza between eleven in the forenoon and five in the afternoon requires the courage of a Mutius Scævola. In the evening you may join the citizens in their promenade upon the Malecon, which affords a charming view of the rich "huerta" or vale of the Segura. This is described by Mr. Brunhés as "an admirable zone of model agricultural establishments. The soil is levelled and prepared for irrigation with geometrical precision. To each particular crop corresponds a design with little shelving beds of special forms." Not an inch of ground is wasted; on the summit of the slopes, for instance, sweet potatoes are planted at regular intervals. The cereals and vegetables are tended with special care, almost individually. The melons are protected by coverings. No one can visit the environs of Murcia without being impressed by the extraordinary industry and thriftiness of its people. And field labour in this climate must be arduous in the extreme. But no doubt the mythical "dolce far niente" Spaniard will continue for many years to