Bilbao

“ Hillary led the way in that chase, Bilbao following just behind, yelling forth mighty bets as to the winner, his big, sea-booted feet stirring the silvery sands into clouds of moon-lit sparkle as he thundered behind the apprentice.
“It’s Macka! It’s Macka Rajah!” Bilbao roared, as he stopped a second and held his stomach, that heaved with a mirth which seemed considerably out of place at such a time. Suddenly the flying figure fell down. The white men, who were rushing down a steep incline, could not stay themselves, and in a moment they had all fallen on top of the gasping, terrified figure. ”

“ The many English in Bilbao, miners and artisans, with the influence they shed around them, make the streets rougher and uglier than in purely Spanish towns. On the other hand, they bring a spirit of religious independence, so that it is not strange to find the Spanish Protestants of Bilbao a numerous and vigorous body, counting as a pronounced element in the community. ”

“ It was an occupation that filled them with pride and elevated them above their fellow mortals, to sit quietly at the door of their club breathing the fresh air and knowing exactly, without interested exaggerations, what had happened that afternoon in the corrida of Bilbao, Coruña, Barcelona, or Valencia; how many ears one matador had received, how another one had been hissed, while their fellow-townsmen remained in complete ignorance, waiting about the streets till the evening papers were published. ”

“ Bilbao’s face flushed with rapturous thoughts; he blew clouds of tobacco smoke from his lips and chuckled: “I’m bound for New Guinea! Bound for a heathen, a Macka Rajah! Good old Macka—he’s mine! He’s destined to meet one by name Samuel Bilbao. I’ll find him! I’ll claim the girl too!” he added, as he nudged Hillary in the ribs and winked. Following this sally, he gave the apprentice a tremendous thump on the back and said: “Youngster, don’t get down in the mug; come to Parsons’s parlour in the morning and we’ll see what’s best to be done to secure the girl.” ”

“ The busy industries of Bilbao have unfortunately gone some way towards marring its lovely situation. Its valley is choked with smoky factories; and its mountains are one vast red scar from base to{7} summit, the entire face having been flayed away for ironstone, and ladled out into the ore ships along the aërial railways to feed the blast furnaces of Sheffield and Middlesborough. Our uglier trades seem to take malicious delight in ruining the prettiest landscapes. ”

“ In all Spain no province has profited as have those of the North by the settled advance of the country.{11} Bilbao, once a small trading town, twice devastated during the terrible civil wars, has forged ahead in a manner perhaps only equalled by Liverpool in the days of its first growth, and is now more important and more populous than Barcelona itself; with its charming outlet of Portugalete, it is the most flourishing of Spanish ports, and is able to compare with any in Europe for its commerce and its rapid growth. ”

“ The beauty of the Spanish coast is a favourite theme of visitors to San Sebástien, but they know not a tithe of the truth which they are so eager to proclaim. The whole Atlantic littoral from the Bidassoa to the Miño is teeming with equal attractions, and the immediate vicinity of Bilbao is a stretch which is second to none. ”

“ From the idle peace of the Begoña cloisters, as from the old-time world, we looked long on this Spanish city of to-day, seething with manifold activities. We seemed to understand how, to the middle-class Spaniard, hemmed in by all this mediæval encumbrance of barracks, cathedrals, castles, and thrones, such cities as Bilbao and Barcelona, pulsing with industrial energy and enterprise, are "more beautiful than 374 Beauty's self." The Basques, like the Catalans, take readily to business. ”

“ If a transatlantic liner touched at one of the northern ports, such as Vigo, Santander, Bilbao, it would open up an untrodden Switzerland with fertile valleys and noble hills. No pleasanter summer tour, on bicycle or afoot, could be made than through the Basque provinces, Asturias, the national cradle of Spain, or in beautiful Galicia with its trout rivers. In summer the climate is cool and pleasant, and the most isolated valleys are so safe that any two women could travel alone with security. ”

“ At a given moment, sir, you might have seen all these miry roads filled with men of the same country whose only thought it was to cut one another’s throat.
“You know the story of the siege of Bilbao, that the Carlists squeezed as if they had it in a vise. The city had to be relieved, and Don Carlos’ soldiers held the passes between Saint Sebastian and Bilbao, repelled the attacks that were made on them and thrashed the columns of troops that were hurled against them with the bayonet. The Carlist chief who commanded in this quarter was named Zucarraga. He was a hero, sir! ”

“ I mounted a last hill and descended quickly through a smoke-laden atmosphere into Bilbáo. Here was the first entirely modern city I had seen in Spain; one might easily have fancied one's self in Newcastle or Seattle. The Spanish casa de huéspedes seemed not even known by name, and in its place were only boisterous taverns, smacking of sea-faring custom and overrun with the touts that feed on the simple mariner.
As I sat toward evening in one of these establishments, there entered a man something over thirty-five, dressed in boína and workingman's garb that showed but slight wear. ”

“ They are very clannish, and at Madrid and elsewhere have founded “Patriotic Societies,” but in spite of these they soon become merged with the rest of the population. The few towns are principally inhabited by strangers, for the Basques prefer a country life. Their homesteads are scattered over hill-slopes and through the valleys, and beneath the oaks in front of them the inmates meet after the day’s labour to pass their time in music and dancing.
Bilbao, the largest town of the Basque provinces, has at all times proved a rival of Valencia, Santander, and Cádiz. ”

“ Bilbao, with its five railway stations, its {179}electric tramways, and its population of sixty-six thousand, has become the first and most important shipping outlet of Spain. Nor have the southern ports of Huelva and Seville been much behind it in their rapid progress; while on the Mediterranean coast are Malaga, Almería, Aguilas, Cartagena, Valencia, and Tarragona—all vying with the older, and once singular, centre of commercial and industrial activity, Barcelona. ”

“ Those who landed at Bilbao were received in the kindest and most hospitable manner by Mr C.B. Vignoles, the engineer-in-chief of the Bilbao and Tudela Railway, which was then under construction. This gentleman made arrangements for the conveyance of parties to points in the interior of the country which were judged suitable for the observation of the eclipse, and placed all the resources of his staff at the disposal of the expedition in the most liberal manner. ”

“ Bilbao went down into the main hold. Hillary and the mate held the taut rope as he swung himself down, down into those inky depths. After a deal of hunting and swearing Ulysses yelled out: “Haul me up!” In a few moments his curly head appeared above the rim of the hatchway. Then he uttered a tremendous oath that harmonised with the look of disgust on his face. He had discovered that someone had been there before them and had evidently searched the hulk in a most drastic fashion, for they had emptied the hold and had cleared off almost every movable article of value. ”

“ A Spanish war-craft, moored behind him, began pelting the Carlists with shot; the Carlists replied, and the Pierre-Alcide came in for the bulk of the favours distributed. Three bullets penetrated the captain's cabin, and four rent holes in the French flag. Neither pilots nor tugs were for hire at Bilbao, and captains of sailing vessels had only to whistle for a favouring wind and rely on their own good fortune and skill. Bilbao had to be dismissed on the merits. ”

“ BARACALDO, a river-port of north-eastern Spain, in the province of Biscay; on the left bank of the river Nervion or Ansa (in Basque, Ibaizabal) , 5 m. by rail N.W. of Bilbao. Pop. (1900) 15,013. Few Spanish towns have developed more rapidly than Baracaldo, which nearly doubled its population between 1880 and 1900. During this period many immigrant labourers settled here; for the ironworks and dynamite factory of Baracaldo prospered greatly, owing to the increased output of the Biscayan mines, the extension of railways in the neighbourhood, and the growth of shipping at Bilbao. ”

“ Navarre, continues El Cuartel Real, is dominated by our valiant soldiers under the skilful direction of his Majesty; Lizarraga has occupied in a few days Mondragon, Eibar, Plasencia, Azpeitia, Vergara, and other important places in Guipúzcoa, and obtained "considerable booty of war;" the standard of legitimacy is waving triumphantly in Biscay, and Bilbao is blockaded. There the tale of victory ends; but we arrive at matters not less gratifying in another sense. ”

“ Of the three Spanish-Basque provinces, Guipúzcoa (capital San Sebastián) alone is entirely Basque. At Bilbao, the capital of Vizcaya, no Basque is spoken; and long before reaching Vitoria, the capital of Alava, the language spoken is Castilian. Nor is Basque spoken at Pamplona, the capital of Navarre, though it reaches almost to its walls, and till quite recently had a wider extension in Navarre, names of places such as Mendigorria (“red mountain”) surviving. ”

“ Even the city of Bilbao was largely composed of Carlist supporters, but the forts which commanded the river there and at Portugalete, the deep-water port of Bilbao on the coast at the mouth of the river, were manned by unfriendly troops. ”

“ Such towns—Barcelona, [82] Bilbao—there are, but mostly the cities are, in the words of Burton, “cities decayed,” which contain many “Spanish loiterers,” though they are not “base and poor towns,” nor are the people “squalid, ugly, uncivil.” The southern cities show a softer influence. The surrounding country is less abrupt and harsh, and the stern features of the north are forgotten. Cadiz lies out into the sea, a Spanish Venice, cut in straight white streets, like the slices of an iced cake. Seville is wonderful at all times, a maravilla to foreigners and Spaniards. ”

“ The central one naturally has its focus in Madrid, and radiates thence over the whole of Spain; but a large output is always forthcoming from the cities of Seville and Valencia, which appear, by the light of tradition, as the most brilliant centres of pictorial art. There are, moreover, two other regions which have produced rich and flourishing art—Catalonia and the Basque provinces, with their two capital cities, Barcelona and Bilbao. ”

“ A dozen miles higher up the Bayas the road from Bilbao crosses that stream, and threading the defiles of the northern hills comes down straight on Vittoria. The French, who were in fact to fight for the plunder of Spain and the accumulated material of the army, had been already weakened by large detachments sent forward in charge of convoys. Outnumbered in fact, outweighed still more in imagination, they were massed, except Reille's divisions, at the western end of the basin, the plain behind them being full of waggons of all descriptions. ”

“ The part of the town on the right bank is, however, still the great centre of business, the narrow streets containing the best shops. There, too, are the banks, the town hall, the theatre, the principal clubs, and the principal churches, including that of Santiago, which dates from the 14th century. In and around Bilbao there are more than thirty convents and monasteries, and at Olaveaga, about a mile off, is the Jesuit university, attended by 850 students. Public education is not, however, entirely in the hands of the priesthood and nuns ”

“ I proposed to general Blake that he should send officers to Biscay to stir up the people there, and into the Asturias to beg that of their 15,000 men, 8,000 might be pushed into Biscay to Bilbao, to assist the people, who were all ready, and only waited for arms and ammunition, for both of which I wrote to Mr. Hunter at Gihon, and learned from him that he had sent a large supply of both, and some money to Bilbao, where already 14,000 men had enrolled themselves. ”

“ A great part of the way, the wretchedness of our accommodation exceeds all description.
At Bilbao we fare very well, and have received much civility from Messrs. Gardoqui and Sons, as we did at Ferrol and Corunna from M. de Tournelle and M. Lagoanere. I wish I could send you some few things for the use of the family from hence, but the risk is such that I believe I had better wait until we get to France. I have undergone the greatest anxiety for the children through a tedious journey and voyage. I hope their travels will be of service to them, but those at home are best off. ”

“ The north is awakening to industrial life; Bilbao, Santander, Gijón, Coruña, Vigo, will soon be strong trading centers, and the older commercial city can gather supporters to work for fiscal autonomy, since the chief grievance is the centralized system of government in Madrid. ”

“ Like Bilbao, it is quite a modern city; and the direct road through the mountain glens behind it brings us down to the sea again at Torrelavega by a very much pleasanter line.
Meanwhile we pursued our career to an intermittent orchestral accompaniment—a tune in two keys, like M‘Alpin’s drone and small pipes, but far more powerful and piercing than the most brazen-lunged piper could blow. Occasionally we met the musician. He is only an ordinary ox-cart—a pair of wheels, a pole, and a plank or two, actuated by a pair of sleepy kine.
In Galicia the yoke is fastened round the necks{16} of the oxen ”