After satisfying my curiosity in the cathedral, I ascended the tower. The view of the plain is superb. Though not greener, or more beautiful, than the vale of Murcia, its immense extent, and great populousness, produce a more striking effect. I should guess the extent of the plain to be little less than thirty miles long, and twenty wide; on three sides it is bounded by the mountains, and on the fourth, by the sea; and throughout the whole of this vast extent, there is not an acre that does not produce its crop of grain, or vegetables, or rice. The olive, the mulberry, the ilex, the algarrobo, the orange tree, and the palm, with all of which the plain is thickly dotted, give to it the appearance of a union of garden and orchard; but the populousness of the plain is even more striking than its beauty and fertility. I counted in it no fewer than forty-two towns and villages, and sixty-four spires of churches and convents, exclusive of the sixty spires and towers of the city. The plain, the towns and villages, the mountains, the sea, the city, and the line of coast terminating in the hill of Murviedro (the ancient Saguntum), formed altogether a prospect, that in richness and animation, cannot be equalled in any other country. The plain of Valencia produces every kind of crop that is congenial to the climate; two and three crops in the year are taken from it; and the greater part of the land returns as much as eight per cent. The rice crops are among the most valuable in this plain; they are chiefly found in the territory of Albufera, surrounding the lake of the same name; the nearest part of which is distant from Valencia about two leagues. This was the property first proposed to be granted to the Duke of Wellington; but the Cortes of Valencia objected to it; and the estates near Granada were substituted. The rice grounds produce only one crop in the year; but the return is from eight to ten per cent. The rice is put into the ground in June, and cut in September,--water is then let in upon the ground,--and when the stubble rots, the land is ploughed up; and no other manure is required. In Valencia and its neighbourhood, rice is in universal use by all classes; but the produce is much greater than the consumption of the plain; and the surplus is exported to the different ports of Andalusia. The whole produce is estimated at twelve million of arrobas (three hundred million of pounds), one half of which at least is exported; and the average price may be taken at fourteen reals, about 3_s._ the arroba, nearly 1½_d._ per pound; but the best rice for exportation is one dollar the arroba. The neighbourhood of the rice grounds is extremely unhealthy, being pregnant with all those maladies that originate in exhalations from stagnant water; for rice is sown in water, grows in water, and rots in water.