Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S., Past President of the Institute of Civil Engineers / Comprising the history of his professional life, together with reminiscences dating from the commencement of the century to the present time.

by Sir John Rennie

In 1833, having now completed London, Hyde Park, Staines, and Crammond bridges, the great naval works at Sheerness, Woolwich, and Chatham, the Victualling Department, or Royal William Yard, and a large portion of the breakwater at Plymouth, Sunderland, Port Patrick, Donaghadee, Port Rush, and a large portion of Kingstown Harbours, the Eau Brink Cut, the Nene Outfall, the Witham Outfall, the Ancholme Drainage, and several other minor works, I was almost knocked up, and was recommended to take another continental journey for recreation. As I had never seen Spain I determined to go there, and accordingly started in the mail for Falmouth, and reached Cadiz on the fifth day.

Whilst at Gibraltar there was a grand military and civil fête, given by the governor of the fort Algesiras on the opposite side of the bay, to celebrate the establishment of the constitution, when he invited the governor of Gibraltar, Sir W. Houston, one of King William IV.’s most attached followers, and who had received me most kindly, and all the officers of the garrison. The governor of course could not go, nor all the officers; but a considerable number did, and I went in a boat in company with a number of the officers of the Rifles, while a great many rode round by land. We were received in the most courteous manner by the governor and the Spanish officers, and were most hospitably entertained.

On leaving Gibraltar I bargained with a respectable Spanish muleteer named Manuel, well known and recommended by my landlord, for the hire of four good mules, one each for myself and servant, and two for the baggage—which Manuel and his man occasionally mounted also. My idea was to go by Ronda to Malaga, but I was advised not to do it, as it was reported to be greatly infested by brigands; moreover, Spain at the time of my visit was in a very disturbed state on account of the Carlist war, and to add to this the cholera spread dismay and terror in most quarters, so that the time was very unfavourable for travel; still I determined to go on, and trusted to Providence for a happy deliverance, only instead of going by Ronda I determined to take the coast road. We proceeded through a wild, uncultivated country, and after two days’ travelling reached Malaga about sunset, and took up our quarters at a comfortable little hotel situated in a narrow street near the Alameda. Here our consul, Mr. March, warned me against going any farther without waiting for some companions; but as my time was valuable, I thanked him for his advice, and determined to proceed, and after two days’ stay started again, sleeping the first night at Velez, or Old Malaga. After supper Manuel came in and said that there were several suspicious characters about the village, and that, moreover, our arrival had caused some commotion; he had therefore told the landlord that we should start at daybreak, but strongly recommended our setting out two hours earlier. This we accordingly did, and at midday reached the old Moorish town of Alhama, perched upon the summit of the pass which separates Malaga from the vale of Granada; from here we descended into another rich vale, which, well irrigated and cultivated, teemed with wine, oil, corn, and fruits, and was filled with villages and chateaux, all indicating wealth and prosperity; yet withal there was a certain degree of wildness intermixed with it, which made it appear as if they were only half-civilized. It was long after dark before we reached Granada, then we had to go to the custom-house, where the officers were very much inclined to be troublesome; but I made friends in the usual comfortable manner, and got to a posada near the centre of the town—not a bad place, and which I was very glad to get into. Manuel came in whilst I was at supper and congratulated me upon our safe arrival; he said that for the last two hours he expected that we should be attacked every minute, and he therefore had urged us on as fast as possible; in fact, we came latterly at the rate of about eight miles an hour, which, he said, had saved us. The city of Granada, although extensive, appeared to be, like most of the towns I there saw, in a state of decadence, little trade, and consequently no prosperity. The lords of the soil seldom visited their estates, but left the whole to their factors or managers; and when the proprietor did come, he seemed to take no interest in his tenants or labourers, but lived in a half-ruined château in a miserable manner, reserving all for show and extravagance. Manuel said, that as our route lay through the mountains, and as it was very unsafe, it was absolutely necessary to take one or two escopoteros or armed police, to escort us at least as far as Andujar: this I at once consented to do, and we were now no contemptible party, consisting as we did of six well-armed men.

After halting at midday at Jaen, we proceeded through an open country, which presented anything but a thriving and prosperous appearance; the peasants were returning from their labour armed with guns, and they had a savage and discontented look. Manuel, who did not like the look of things, went up and spoke to one of them. When he came back to me he said that we must not go to Andujar that night, as the peasant had told him that there was a strong band of brigands in the neighbourhood, who had plundered the country right and left, so that all the country people were obliged to go armed and keep together. On hearing this news I resolved to stop for the night at a small village about two miles in front of us, which Manuel said was decidedly the best plan. We halted there a little before sunset, and a wretched place it was, without even a venta or public inn of any kind; I therefore hired one of the most respectable of the cottages, which was more like a stable or cowhouse than anything else, although it had a kitchen, and one or two rooms abovestairs; the floors were of broken brick, there were no windows, and only some planks on tressels for beds, with one or two broken chairs. However, we were able to purchase materials for supper, and with cloaks, saddles, and bags very soon made beds. I confess I did not like the place at all. As we might be attacked during the night, we barricaded the house as well as we could, and slept in our clothes, with our arms ready, and one man keeping watch. Having done this we went to sleep, but were awoke soon after midnight by loud cries and screams, and a man began knocking violently at our door asking admittance, crying out that the robbers were come. We were up in an instant, prepared to give the rascals a warm reception. We had scarcely made our dispositions for defence when the robbers, to the number of at least a dozen, made their appearance, well armed, and demanded our money, horses, and baggage, on pain of death. These I determined not to yield, and defied them. They, seeing that we were well armed and prepared for a stout resistance, hesitated for a minute; and I, not wishing to push matters to extremities, called to Manuel to tell them, that as for yielding to their demands it was ridiculous, and if they did not go away at once, I should be joined by some troops, and then every rascal of them would be shot; but if they chose to send four or five of their men to escort me towards Andujar I would pay them liberally. They then consulted, and agreed to the proposal, when I told them that I should be ready to start at five in the morning. Accordingly, at the appointed time, our friends, armed to the teeth and well mounted—as rascally-looking a set as ever one saw—made their appearance. I gave them a cigar and glass of brandy each, which put them in good humour. I could get on tolerably with Spanish, and entered into conversation with them; they were very agreeable, and told some curious stories. Manuel came riding up to me and told me to be upon my guard, for that one never could be sure of them for a moment; however, I thought the best plan was to show no fear. At nine o’clock we got to our destination, at a miserable village between Andujar and Cordova, where we went to a wretched venta; I gave them a breakfast of such as we could get, with cigars. I paid them handsomely, and so we parted, apparently the best of friends. My guide and worthy friend Manuel, as we left, said, “You seem to be very well pleased, but you don’t know these ratteros. I hope that we have done with them, but I very much doubt it; you have paid them too well not to make them wish for further acquaintance with you, and depend upon it we shall meet them again, when we shall perhaps not be so well prepared.” “Well,” I said, “we have got rid of them for the present, and if we happen to make their acquaintance again, depend upon it we shall have the best of it.” We jogged on all the day through a wild but not uncultivated country; the land was rich—plenty of vines, olives, corn, maize, and fruits, and everything, if properly cultivated, well calculated to make the people comfortable and prosperous; yet everything around denoted misery, poverty, and wretchedness. When I talked to the people they seemed reasonable enough; they said that they toiled from morning to night, but never got paid, or at least so little that they could not live upon it; and then, what with the government taxes and the priests, it was impossible to live, so that there was no use in working. I certainly could not help sympathizing with them, for they are really a fine generous people, and if they were properly treated, there is not a finer race anywhere. Unfortunately there is no middle class, and the nobility are completely worn out, so that the unfortunate peasants are ground down to the lowest misery; yet with all this there is a nobleness, independence, and enduring fortitude about a Spanish peasant which causes you to admire them the more you know of them. I soon recognized their character, and appreciated it accordingly. Whenever I entered a venta or posada I always made it a point to treat the host and hostess with frankness and courtesy as if we were equals, also to show myself ready to oblige and to assist in any preparations that might be going on. Thus I secured the utmost attention, and they readily produced their best at the cheapest rate, a result which no amount of money would have obtained.

But to return to my story. When within seven miles of Cordova, while passing near the small fortress of Ercaloro, at about half-past five in the evening, i.e. not long before sunset, I met a priest, who told me that it would be impossible to proceed, as he had observed five mounted robbers prowling in the olive woods between the fortress and Cordova, who would be certain to fall upon us; and that, moreover, they were in all probability only the scouts of a much larger body. Manuel exclaimed, “Did I not tell you that we should meet these rascals again?” I, however, replied that I was determined to reach Cordova that night, and asked the priest to introduce me to the governor of the fort. To this he willingly consented, and the governor having heard my story, was so obliging as to say that he intended sending fifty men to Cordova next day, but that they might accompany me now. We accordingly started and soon came in sight of the five mounted men, who sure enough proved to be our five old friends, who very soon turned and galloped off as hard as they could. We fired one or two shots at them; but as night was coming on we thought it best not to pursue, and continued on our way to Cordova, which we reached at eight o’clock, very glad to get off so well.

From Cordova we reached Seville, where Mr. Wetherall, the Consul, strongly advocated the introduction into England of Manzanilla, a wine then scarcely known. I requested him to send me a hogshead, which was universally approved of, and henceforth the taste for pale dry sherry has entirely superseded that for the old golden and brown, and there is no doubt that as a tonic it is far superior.

The road across the Sierra Morena was kept clear by the singular expedient of intrusting its defence to a body of German colonists, who held considerable lands and dues on condition of keeping the roads free from brigands. This plan answered admirably; in a very short time the brigands were exterminated, and after that, though no patrols were ever seen, yet if any fresh bands ventured to appear, the Germans were instantly under arms and never relaxed their pursuit until the brigands were either destroyed or driven out of the country.

We proceeded by diligence from Seville to Madrid; and when we reached Ocãna, after having travelled three days and nights, our majoral or conductor had compassion on us, and said we should halt for the night; that is, we arrived about nine o’clock and he said we must be off again at five in the morning; this, however, was a great release, and we all thanked him; but I believe we had no great reason for being so very grateful for his kindness, as it was rumoured that if we had proceeded we might have been attacked by the Carlists. However, be that as it may, we got a comfortable bed, to my great surprise. The cholera had been flying about the neighbourhood, and I felt a slight attack of it, which I got rid of by a few drops of sal volatile and camphorated spirits in a wineglass of cold water. At five in the morning we started from Ocãna, after getting a biscuit, a cup of chocolate, and glass of cold water, which one finds almost everywhere in Spain; indeed, rough as the travelling was in those days—and it could not be worse—we always got most excellent bread, eggs, and sometimes milk and wine, although the latter was generally new, and as thick as porridge and almost undrinkable; still with bread, eggs, and milk one could always get on.

When I arrived at Madrid, the city was in the greatest state of excitement; the Carlists were making war in the most vigorous and successful manner, headed by the celebrated Zumalacarragui; and it being dangerous to talk politics, I particularly avoided them, and went about seeing everything I could as a stranger. I also called upon our minister, Sir George Villiers, whom I had known in England, and was most kindly received by him. I here met a Colonel Downie, who had served under Wellington and afterwards settled in Spain. He spoke Spanish perfectly, and was much respected by the natives, which was saying a good deal for him; for the Spaniards are a most peculiar people, and especially the upper classes, extremely reserved and exclusive towards strangers. Personally, however, I have no reason to complain, for they were very civil to me. I was introduced by Downie and other friends, and had an opportunity of visiting some of the first families of the place, amongst others the Veraguas, the descendants of Columbus, of Cortez, Viluma, Frias, and others. I went to their tertulias or conversaziones, which were the only kind of society to be had when I was there; in fact, parties were so divided on account of the civil war that many of the great houses were shut up. At the tertulia there was nothing but conversation, so that with the exception of the lights there was no expense of entertainment. As you were leaving the house, in the hall the servant presented you with a glass of cold water, with a biscuit of flour and sugar, which, when taken with the water, was not unpalatable. At one of these tertulias the servant, in the midst of the conversation, brought to the lady of the house her supper, which she set to work on, without making the least remark; in fact, it was usual, and no person thought anything of it.