would last until the hand on the outer arch should reach down and
grasp the key, when the whole pile would tumble to pieces, and all the
treasures buried beneath it by the Moors would be revealed.

"Notwithstanding this ominous prediction, we ventured to pass through
the spell-bound gateway, feeling some little assurance against magic
art in the protection of the Virgin, a statue of whom we observed
above the portal.

"After passing through the barbican, we ascended a narrow lane,
winding between walls, and came on an open esplanade within the
fortress, called the Plaza de los Algibes, or Place of the Cisterns,
from great reservoirs which undermine it, cut in the living rock by
the Moors for the supply of the fortress. Here, also, is a well of
immense depth, furnishing the purest and coldest of water; another
monument of the delicate taste of the Moors, who were indefatigable in
their exertions to obtain that element in its crystal purity.

"In front of this esplanade is the splendid pile commenced by Charles
V., intended, it is said, to eclipse the residence of the Moslem
kings. With all its grandeur and architectural merit, it appeared
to us like an arrogant intrusion, and, passing by it, we entered
a simple, unostentatious portal, opening into the interior of the
Moorish palace.

"The transition was almost magical: it seemed as if we were at once
transported into other times and another realm, and were treading the
scenes of Arabian story. We found ourselves in a great court, paved
with white marble, and decorated at each end with light Moorish
peristyles: it is called the Court of the Alberca. In the centre was