Bridges, River, Convents; prevalence of Religious Bigotry; Moorish Remains; Beggars, and the cause of their abundance in Valencia; the Archbishop; the University; Academy of Fine Arts; the Cathedral and its Tower; the plain of Valencia and its productions; Rice Grounds and their produce; produce of Silk, and Silk Trade; export of Fruit; prices of Provisions; Pictures; Valencia Society; the Ladies of Valencia; the port of Valencia; Paseos; Valencia Tiles; Journey to Murviedro, (the ancient Saguntum); Convento de los Reyes; Murviedro, its Fortress, and Ruins of Saguntum; an Arrest; a visit from the Alcalde; Journey to Tarragona; pleasing Scenes; Catalunia; Catalunian industry and its causes; Tarragona, its Antiquities and Cathedral; Provincial Dialects; sorting of Nuts, and the Nut trade; Journey to Barcellona, and arrival. When I had dispatched my introductory letters, I sallied, as usual into the street, and accident brought me to one of the bridges across the Guadalaviar, called Puente del Mar. The river sometimes fills its channel, a channel so wide, that some of the bridges have as many as thirteen arches; but I saw only an inconsiderable rivulet not much larger than the Manzanarez, as it flows through the bridge of Toledo at Madrid. I believe, however, the apparent scantiness of the stream is partly owing to its being diverted in numerous channels to water the plain. The view from any of the bridges over the river is fine, for a handsome line of irregular buildings follows the curve of the river, and the bridges one beyond another, and the great Moorish gates, give an air of grandeur to the scene. Almost all the conspicuous buildings seen from this point are convents; these add much to the external beauty and effect of the great Spanish cities; and few are more favoured in this respect than Valencia, for it contains no fewer than twenty-seven convents and monasteries for men, and twenty-two for women; and these, with sixteen churches, and twenty-four chapels and hermitages, amount altogether to eighty-six religious edifices. No wonder, therefore, that the streets abound in friars and priests, and that the influence of the religious bodies should be great in Valencia. Bigotry is not upon the decline here among the mass of the population; and whether for the sake of appearance, or from sincerity, religious observances are strictly practised by the inhabitants of all classes. I have not seen in the convents and churches of any town in Spain so great a number of persons at devotion as in those of Valencia. I several times attempted to enter the Dominican convent to see some pictures that I understood adorned the walls of the church; but though the Dominican church be one of the largest in Valencia, I always found the floor entirely covered with kneelers, not scattered, but so crowded, that it was impossible to wade among them.