Santander

“ Nothing could exhibit a stronger contrast to the desolate tracts and the half ruined towns through which we had lately passed, than the bustle and activity of Santander, which, though it stands on the confines of the Basque provinces, the stronghold of the Pretender, is almost the only city in Spain which has not suffered by the Carlist wars. Till the close of the last century it was little better than an obscure fishing town, but it has of late years almost entirely engrossed the commerce of the Spanish transatlantic possessions, especially of the Havannah. ”

“ The province is traversed from north to south by the railway and high road from Santander by Palencia to Madrid; the highest point on the railway (Venta de Pazozal) is 3229 ft. above the sea. Other railways connect Santander with Bilbao on the east and with Cabezona de la Sal on the west; there are also many good state, provincial and municipal roads, besides several narrow-gauge mining railways. Santander was part of the Roman province of Cantabria, which, after passing under the empire of the Goths, became the principality of Asturias (q.v.) ”

“ The ceremonies of the Ascension were consummated while I was there, in the presence of a vast assemblage from town and country, giving one a good opportunity to observe the variety of character and costume.
From Burgos to Santander, the northern Atlantic shore of Spain, is ninety miles; the first portion is dreary and badly cultivated, and the hills are high and arid; but suddenly some of the most charming valleys appear, and the face of nature as well as the condition of men changes, as we approach a commercial port. Santander is an important trading town of sixteen thousand souls ”

“ Santander was taken aback by this unlooked-for rebuff. He had come to the Acordada to indulge in the luxury of a little vapouring over his fallen foes, whom he knew to be there, having been informed of all that had befallen them from Mier up to Mexico. He expected to find them cowed, and eager to crave life from him; which he would no more have granted than to a brace of dogs that had bitten him. But so far from showing any fear, both prisoners looked a little defiant; the Texan with the air of a caged wolf seeming ready to tear him if he showed but a step over the threshold of the cell. ”

“ Isn’t it so, Señor Colonel?”
Santander’s face reddened, as he made reply—
“Not altogether, your Excellency. There’s something besides, for which he deserves to be treated differently from the others.”
Santa Anna could have given a close guess at what the exceptional something was. To his subtle perception a little love drama was gradually being disclosed; but he kept his thoughts to himself, with his eyes still searchingly fixed on Santander’s face.
“This Kearney,” continued the latter, “though an Irishman, is one of Mexico’s bitterest enemies, and especially bitter against your Excellency. ”

“ It was on this day that General Patterson sent back Brigadier General Pillow to tell Second Lieutenant Smith to cut down a tree around which it was impossible to go!!
December 31st. We left Encinal at daybreak and arrived at about 2 P. M. at Santander, o’ Jimenez. Road good for about ten miles when we found ourselves on the brow of a hill, some 350 feet above the vast plain, in the midst of which was the little town of Santander. No other indication of life was to be seen than its white houses. The descent was very steep, the road bad from the foot of the hill to Santander. ”

“ The rest of the day passed without incident, while he gathered information about Santander’s commercial life from the loquacious manager of the hotel. By deft questioning he also learned that the bellicose colonel was Henriquez, commandant of the Palace Guard. The youngster was Captain Juan Navarro, whose father, Don Rafael, was a wealthy landowner on the shores of Ramona Bay, and highly esteemed throughout Santander. ”

“ Colonel Santander it was, like all the rest somewhat excited by drink; but still not so far gone as to forget gallantry, or rather the pretence of it.
“Ladies,” he said, with a bow and air of maudlin humility, “I have to apologise for requiring you to start out on a journey at such a late hour. Duty is often an ungracious master. Luckily, your drive is not to be a very extended one—only to the city; and you’ll have company in the carriage. The Doña Luisa will find her father at home.” ”

“ The Cantabrian Sierras, already sufficiently majestic, now reach their culmination in the acknowledged monarchs of the range—the Picos de Europa, the landmark of all the old navigators who once steered their Mexican argosies into Gijon or Santander. This vast mass of snow-crowned peaks forms a most imposing spectacle. They are great “cloud compellers,” and are seldom entirely clear. ”

“ Santander has also a great trade with Cuba and Porto Rico, and possesses almost a monopoly of the supply of cereals to those islands. A port of equal natural excellence is Santoña, which the first Napoleon would have made the Gibraltar of Northern Spain, but which is now frequented only as a bathing-place by the inhabitants of the interior. The mountain scenery of these two provinces is most picturesque, both along the sea-board and in the interior, where the snow sometimes lies on the Picos de Europa until July or August. The coal-mines of the Asturias are rapidly assuming importance. ”

“ Santander had been already thinking of this, and turning to the officer by his side, he said—
“Take the men on, Ramirez. Halt at a hundred yards or so, and wait for me.”
In obedience to the order the escort moved on, stopping as directed, the dialogue between Santander and the dwarf meanwhile continuing. It was more of a monologue, the latter giving a detailed relation of all that had occurred to him since the time of their escape from the chain-gang, with comments and suggestions added. ”

“ When he returned on deck, the schooner was closing up with the rock and the wreck was plainly visible to the naked eye, with the gulls shouting around her.
The Santander rock, shaped and spired like a cathedral, runs north and south, three hundred246 yards long, two hundred feet high, caved here and there by the sea and worn by wind and rain into ledges and depressions where the gulls roost—where they have roosted for ten thousand years.
It is the top of a big submarine mountain that rises gradually from the depth of a mile. ”

“ But as soon as we arrived at the Spanish port of Santander I forgot everything in the excitement of a reception that amounted to a carnival. With a staff of officers and dignitaries in uniform, and a troop of cavalry as escort, we were driven in an open carriage, drawn by four horses, through streets of which I could not see the fronts of the houses—they were so covered with the reds and yellows of flags and bunting that were dazzling in the vivid sunlight of Spain. ”

“ Santander, written also with Sur, south of Santander del Norte and of Magdalena, has Boyacá on the east and south; Antioquia and Bolívar are across the Magdalena River on the west. Similar to Santander del Norte, it has more low plains. Gold, silver, copper, talc, asphalt are found. ”

“ Santander del Norte, north of Santander, is also traversed by the East Cordillera. The mean temperatures vary greatly: 46° on several paramos, and 81° in the valleys of the Catatumbo and Zulia. Gold, silver, copper, lead, coal are mined. Rio de Oro, tributary to the Catatumbo, has rich auriferous deposits, and what is now of greater importance, it passes through a district rich in petroleum. The varied crops are the chief source of wealth: wheat and potatoes, coffee and cacao.
Cúcuta, the capital, altitude 1000 feet, with a temperature of 84°, is an important commercial city. ”

“ Now, I am glad to tell you, that out of the nine States of the Colombian Union, seven enjoy an order and tranquillity as absolute as unchangeable. The heroic State of Santander, so maltreated by the Centralists during four years, does not contain on its soil one armed enemy, and its Government, diligent and efficient in peace as in war, is directing its attention to the re-establishment of commerce and the good exercise of its administration. ”

“ For the sake of the safety of Santoña all these places must be retaken at once: from the mouth of the Bidassoa to Santander every maritime position should be in French hands. Santander especially is, by the Emperor’s express orders, to be permanently occupied by an adequate garrison.
‘It is necessary that all these operations should be carried out simultaneously. The pursuit of Mina in Navarre should synchronize with the operations in Biscay. The insurgents should be hunted in the inland, at the same time that they are attacked on the coast. ”

“ The Province of Santandér, hardly less wild and mountainous than the Asturias, presents somewhat similar conditions of water, fish, and sport. The Cantabrian range, extending from Pyrenees to Atlantic, the common southern boundary of all the Biscayan provinces, attains in Santandér some of its greatest elevations, including the celebrated Picos de Europa (9,000 feet) , the home of the Spanish bear and chamois. The trend of the land dips gradually from these inland heights towards the sea: yet even on the coast the scenery is savage and grand, some of the altitudes being very great. ”

“ So, for the time, Carlos Santander had escaped the brand of infamy due to his dastardly act.
His reappearance on the scene in such grand garb needs little explanation. A fairly brave and skilled soldier, a vainer man than General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna never wore sword, and one of his foibles was to see himself surrounded by a glittering escort. ”

“ The Puerto del Escudo attains an elevation of 3,241 feet above Santander, its southern descent to the valley of the Virga hardly exceeding 500 feet. The Pass of Reinosa (2,778 feet) , farther west, through which runs the railway from Madrid to Santander, is even more characteristic. An almost imperceptible height of land there separates the plateau from the steep declivity which leads down to the coast, and by means of a canal sixty feet deep, and a mile in length, the waters of the Ebro might be diverted into the river Besaya, which enters the Atlantic at San Martin de Suances. ”

“ Bolívar then sent General Santander, with 1,200 muskets and a group of officers, to raise a new army in the Province of Casanare, from the parties of Patriots scattered on the plains, with orders to threaten the frontier of New Granada, which step had very important results.
Santander was a native of New Granada, he had served through all the campaigns of the revolution, and was a well-educated man of great intelligence.
Bolívar also issued a prophetic proclamation to the people of New Granada:—
“The day of America has come. No human power can stay the course of Nature guided by Providence. ”

“ These are built in the French style, and are chiefly occupied by the merchants. The population of Santander is estimated at sixty thousand souls.
On the day of my arrival I dined at the table-d’hôte of the principal inn, kept by a Genoese. The company was very miscellaneous—French, Germans, and Spaniards, all speaking in their respective languages, whilst at the ends of the table, confronting each other, sat two Catalan merchants, one of whom weighed nearly twenty stone, grunting across the board in their harsh dialect. ”

“ Santander had, from the commencement of the revolution, dedicated himself with enthusiastic constancy to the cause of his country. He now expelled the Spaniards from their formidable position of Paya, and opened the way for the president to cross the terrific Andes, in effecting which, nearly a fourth of his army perished from the effects of cold and excessive fatigue.
On the 11th of July, the president attacked the royal army at Gamarra. After a long engagement, the Spanish general Barrero retired, and did not again offer battle, except in positions almost inaccessible. ”

“ Santander (42) , a flourishing port of North Spain, stands on a fine bay facing the Bay of Biscay, 316 m. N. of Madrid; actively engaged in cigar-making, brewing, cotton-spinning, flour-milling, &c.; exports flour, wine, and cereals; a popular seaside resort.
Santerre, Antoine Joseph, a popular wealthy brewer, born in Paris; assisted at the fall of the Bastille; played a conspicuous part during the Revolution; became commander of the National Guard in 1792; proposed as a relief in famine that every citizen should live two days a week on potatoes, and that every man should hang his dog ”

“ Nuevo Santander.—Wars with England and Indian hostilities now made imperative the colonization of the Gulf coast between the San Antonio River and Tampico—the eastern portion of Nuevo León—and in 1746 the district was erected into a new colony called Nuevo Santander. Colonel José de Escandón, a distinguished officer of Querétaro, was put in charge of the enterprise, [Pg 300] and the missionary work was entrusted to the Zacatecan friars. Within the next three years the entire region was explored by Escandón and his lieutenants and a number of colonies were planned. ”

“ The motive will easily be guessed. Nothing of either friendship or humanity actuated Santander. Alone the passion of love; which had to do not with Don Ignacio—but his daughter. In New Orleans he himself dared no longer live, and so could no more see Luisa Valverde there. Purely personal then; a selfish love, such as he could feel, was the motive for his intercession with the political chief of Mexico to pardon the political criminal. But if he had been the means of restoring Don Ignacio to his country, that was all. ”