“That is the Guadiana.”
“And where are its eyes, of which Professor Mapps spoke in his lecture?”
“We passed them in the night, and also went over the underground river,” replied the doctor. “The region through which we are now passing was more densely peopled in the days when it was a part of the Roman empire than it is now. Without doubt the same is true of the period of the Moorish dominion. After America was discovered, and colonization began, vast numbers of emigrants went from Estremadura. In the time of Philip II. the country began to run down; and one of the reasons was the emigration to America. About four o’clock we shall arrive at Merida,” added the doctor, looking at his watch.
“What is there at Merida?”
“There is a great deal for the antiquarian and the student of history. You must be on the lookout for it, for there are many things to be seen from the window of the car,” continued the doctor. “It was the capital of Lusitania, and was called Emerita Augusta, from the first word of which title comes the present name. The river there is crossed by a Roman bridge twenty-five hundred and seventy-five feet long, twenty-five wide, and thirty-three above the stream. The city was surrounded by six leagues of walls, having eighty-four gates, and had a garrison of eighty thousand foot and ten thousand horsemen. The ruins of aqueducts, temples, forum, circus, and other structures, are still to be seen; some of them, as I said, from the train.”
Unfortunately the train passed the portion of the ruins of the ancient city to be seen from the window, so rapidly that only a glance at them could be obtained; but perhaps most of the students saw all they desired of them. An hour and a half later the train arrived at Badajos, where they were to spend the night, and thence proceed to Lisbon the next morning. Each individual of the ship’s company had been provided with a ticket; and it was called for in the station before he was permitted to pass out of the building. As soon as they appeared in the open air, they were assailed by a small army of omnibus-drivers; but fortunately, as the town was nearly two miles from the station, there were enough for all of them. These men actually fought together for the passengers, and behaved as badly as New York hackmen. Though all the vehicles at the station were loaded as full as they could be stowed, there was not room for more than half of the party.
The doctor and his pupils preferred to walk. In Madrid, the principal had received a letter from the avant-courier; informing him how many persons could be accommodated in each of the hotels; and all the excursionists had been assigned to their quarters.
“We go to the Fonda las Tres Naciones,” said the doctor as they left the station. “I went there when I was here before. Those drivers fought for me as they did to-day; and with some reason, for I was the only passenger. I selected one, and told him to take me to the Fonda de las cuatro Naciones; and he laughed as though I had made a good joke. I made it ‘Four Nations’ instead of ‘Three.’ Here is the bridge over the Guadiana, built by the same architect as the Escurial.”
“What is there in this place to see?” asked Sheridan.
“Nothing at all; but it is an out-of-the-way old Spanish town seldom mentioned by tourists.”