I took my seat in the waggon at four in the morning, and the day dawned about half an hour after leaving Audujar. The whole way to Cordova, the road lies through the extensive plain that borders the Guadalquivir:--this plain is chiefly divided between wheat and olives; the latter forming a complete forest a few leagues from Andujar:--they are the property of the Duke of Medina Cœli, who is said to be the only man in Spain who waters his olives. The river flows at about a mile distant, and the whole of the olive land is subjected to irrigation by means of machinery, which raises the water into channels and wooden troughs laid for it. I learned that the Duke finds his advantage in this system, having frequently fine olive crops when other proprietors have none. The wheat crops raised upon this plain are of the finest quality, but only one crop is expected. There can be no doubt, however, that if the wheat land were also subjected to the process of irrigation, as in Valencia and Murcia, more than one crop might be obtained from the soil. The road, in approaching Cordova, is bordered on either side by magnificent hedges of aloe. I had the curiosity to measure some of these, and found several leaves eleven and twelve feet long, and the stalks of the flower from twenty-four to thirty feet high. The aloe is a useful plant to the natives. Ropes are made from the fibres of the leaves; and the stalks of the flowers are cut into light beams for constructing cottages. The wild olive, which grows in great abundance in this district, is also a useful tree, although its fruit be worthless; the wood is among the hardest known, and is much used in agricultural implements, particularly in the construction of cart wheels.