Unexplored Spain Part 34

The Sierra Nevada with its striking skylines, crisp and clean-cut against an azure background, is yearly surveyed by thousands of tourists in southern Spain. The majority content themselves with the distant view from the battlements of Alhambra or from the summer-palace of Generalife. Few penetrate the alpine solitude or scale peaks that look so near yet cost some toil to gain.

We are not ashamed to admit that these glorious sierras have in themselves possessed for us attractions that transcend in interest the acc.u.mulated art-treasures, the store of historic and legendary lore that illumine the shattered relics of Moslem rule--of an Empire City where during seven centuries the power and faith of the Crescent dominated south-western Europe and the focal point of mediaeval culture and chivalry. None, nevertheless, can long sojourn in Granada wholly uninfluenced by its stirring past, by the pathetic story of the fall of Moorish dominion, and the words graven on countless stones till they seem to represent the very spirit of this land, the words of the founder, King Alhama: LA GALIB ILLA ALLAH = Only G.o.d is Victor.

Abler pens have portrayed these things, and we will only pause to touch on one dramatic episode--since its scene lies on our course to the "high tops"--when Boabdil, last of the Caliphs, paused in his flight across the _vega_ to cast back a final glance at the scene of his former greatness and lost empire. "You do well," snarled Axia, his mother, "to weep over your kingdom like a woman since you could not defend it like a man." That the maternal reproach was undeserved was proved by Boabdil's heroic death in battle, thirty years later, near Fez.[54]

From this spot--still poetically called El Ultimo Suspiro del Moro--the Sierra Nevada stretches away some forty miles to the eastward with an average depth of ten miles, and includes within that area the four loftiest alt.i.tudes in all this mountain-spangled Peninsula of Spain. The chief points in the Pyrenees, nevertheless, run them fairly close, as shown in the following table:--

GREATEST ALt.i.tUDES IN FEET

_Sierra Nevada._

Mulahacen 11,781 Picacho de la Veleta 11,597 Alcazaba 11,356 Cerro de los Machos 11,205 Col de la Veleta 10,826

_Pyrenees._

Pico de Nethou 11,168 Monte de Posets 11,046 Monte Perdido 10,994

By way of comparison it may be added that the next greatest elevations in Spain are:--

Picos de Europa (described in Chap. XXVIII.) 10,046 feet Sierra de Gredos (already described) 8,700 "

Curiously all the loftiest elevations occur outside the great central table-lands of Spain, the highest point of which latter is the last-quoted Sierra de Gredos.

Adjoining the Sierra Nevada on the south, and practically filling the entire s.p.a.ce between it and the Mediterranean, lie the Alpuxarras, covering some fourteen miles by ten. The Alpuxarras are of no great elevation (4000 to 5000 feet), and are separated from their giant neighbours by the Valle de Lecrin, the entrance to which bears the poetic name of El Ultimo Suspiro del Moro, as just described.

Here is a Spanish appreciation of Nevada:--

Compare this with northern mountains--Alps or Pyrenees: the tone, the colours, the ambient air differentiate this southern range.

Snow, it is true, surmounts all alike, but here the very sky flashes radiant (_rutilante_) in its azure intensity contrasted with the cold blue of glacier-ice. Here, in lower lat.i.tude, the rocks appear rather scorched by a torrid sun than lashed by winter rain and hibernal furies. The valleys present a semi-tropical aspect, resulting from the industry of old-time Moors, who, ever faithful to the precepts of the Koran, introduced every such species of exotic fruit or herb as was calculated to flourish and enrich the land.[55]

The main chain of the Sierra Nevada const.i.tutes one of the strongholds of the Spanish ibex; and, curiously, the ibex is the solitary example of big game that these mountains can boast. Differing in geological formation from other mountain-systems of southern Spain, the Sierra Nevada shelters neither deer of any kind--red, fallow, or roe--nor wild-boar. The ibex, on the other hand, must be counted as no mean a.s.set, and though totally unprotected, they yet hold their own--a fair average stock survives along the line of the Veleta, Alcazaba, and Mulahacen. This survival is due to the vast area and rugged regions over which (in relatively small numbers) the wild-goats are scattered; but even more so to the antiquated muzzle-loading smooth-bores. .h.i.therto employed against them. That moment when cheap, repeating cordite rifles shall have fallen into the hands of the mountain-peasantry will sound the death-knell of the ibex.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LAMMERGEYER (_Gypallus barbatus_)

A glorious denizen of Sierra Nevada.]

While writing the above we hear (from two sources) that the "Mauser" has at last got into the hands of at least one local goat-herd, who last summer killed four out of a band of five ibex--all s.e.xes and sizes.

There is no mistaking the import of this. It signifies that the end is in view unless prompt measures are taken to save the ibex of Nevada from extirpation.

So long as local hunters were restricted to their old ball-guns, the contest was fairly equal and the game could hold its own. But neither ibex nor any other wild beast on earth can withstand _FREE_ shooting (unlicensed and unlimited) with 1000-yard "repeaters." Personally the writer regards the use of repeating-rifles on game as sheer barbarism.

These are military weapons, and should be excluded from every field of sport.

A precisely a.n.a.logous case is afforded by Norway and her reindeer. The Mauser first appeared there in 1894. Three years later we pointed out, both to the Norwegian Government and also in _Wild Norway_, that unless steps were taken to regulate and limit the resultant ma.s.sacre, the wild reindeer would be extinct within five years. Our warnings pa.s.sed unheeded; but the prediction erred only on the side of moderation. For only four years later (in 1901) the Norsk Government was forced to _prohibit absolutely_ all shooting for a period of seven years, and to impose, on the expiry of that time, both licence-duties and limits, alike on native as well as on foreign sportsmen.

Free shooting, unregulated and unlimited, means with modern weapons instant extermination--a matter of a few years. Then, after some creature has perished off the face of the earth, we read a gush of maudlin regret and vain disgust. It is too late; why do not these good folk bestir themselves while there is time to safeguard creatures that yet survive, though menaced with deadly danger? Warnings such as ours pa.s.s unnoticed, and platonic tears are bottled-up for posthumous exhibition.

In winter the ibex are driven downwards by the snow. They first descend southwards to the Trevenque--one of those abruptly peaked mountains that "stretch out" even skilled climbers to conquer. A long knife-edged ridge is Trevenque, culminating in a sheer pyramidal aiguille, its flanks scarred by ravines with complication of scarp and counter-scarp, upstanding crags and steep shale-shoots that defy definition by pen or pencil.

A main winter resort is supplied by the Alpuxarras, and, beyond the dividing Valle de Lecrin, ibex are distributed along the whole series of mountain-ranges that lie along the Mediterranean as far as the Sierras Bermeja and Ronda.

Among those subsidiary ranges, the following may here be specified as ibex-frequented, to wit: the Sierras de Nerja and Lujar near Motril, Sierra Tejada lying south of the Vega de Granada (especially the part called Casulas, which, with most of the range, is private property and preserved), Sierras de Competa and Alhama, and, nearer the sea, the Sierra Frigiliana belonging to the late Duke of Fernan Nunez, who secured trophies thereon exceeding thirty inches in length.

Westward, in the Province of Malaga, lie the Sierra de Ojen, Sierra Blanca, and Palmitera (a great area of these being now preserved by Mr.

Pablo Larios), and last the Sierra Bermeja, described in _Wild Spain_.

Several of these ranges are of bare rock, while others are covered to their summits with gorse and other brushwood.

The most enjoyable season for ibex-shooting (and on preserved ground the most favourable) is during August and September, when the snow has practically disappeared, except the permanent glaciers and stray patches in some northern ravines. Camp-life is then delightful and exhilarating and, given sound lungs and limbs, the game may be fairly stalked and shot. The photo shows a typical trophy--a grand ibex ram shot years ago on the Alcazaba, horns 28-1/4 inches--another specimen measuring 29 inches is figured in _Wild Spain_. Our own experiences with ibex, however, are now rather remote and might appear out-of-date. We therefore content ourselves with the following extract from our work quoted.

On a bitterly cold March morning we found ourselves, as day slowly broke, traversing the outspurs of the sierra--on the scene of the great earthquake of 1884, evidences of which were plentiful enough among the scattered hill-villages. Already many mule-teams, heavily laden with merchandise from the coast town of Motril, were wending their laborious way inland. It is worth noting that in front of five or six laden mules it is customary to harness a single donkey. This animal does little work; but always pa.s.ses approaching teams on the proper side, and, moreover, picks out the best parts of the road. This enables the driver to go to sleep, and the plan, we were told, is a good one.

At Lanjaron (2284 feet) we breakfasted at the ancient _fonda_ of San Rafael, where the bright and beautifully polished bra.s.s and copper cooking utensils hanging on the walls were a sight to make a careful housewife envious. We watched our breakfast cooked over the charcoal-fire, and learned a good deal thereby. We were delayed here a whole day by snow-storms. There is stabling under the _fonda_ for 500 pack-animals, for Lanjaron in its "season" is an important place, frequented by invalids from far and near. Its mineral springs are reputed efficacious; but the drainage arrangements are villainous in the extreme, and altogether it seemed a village to be avoided. Sad traces of the cholera were everywhere visible, many doors and lintels bearing the ominous sign: it was curious that in so few cases had it been erased.

We left before daybreak, and a few leagues farther on the ascent became very steep and abrupt, the hill-crests whither we were bound within view but wreathed in mist. Only one traveller did we meet in the long climb from Orjiva to Capileira, and he bringing two mule-loads of dead and dying sheep, worried by wolves just outside Capileira the night before.

Expecting that the wolves would certainly return, we prepared to wait up that night for them; but were dissuaded, the argument being "that is exactly what they will expect! No, those wolves will probably not come back this winter." But return they did, both that night and several following. The night before we left Capileira on the return journey (a fortnight later) they came in greater numbers than ever and killed over twenty sheep.

Capileira is the highest hamlet in the sierra and is celebrated for its hams, which are cured in the snow. Here we put up for the night, sleeping as best we could amidst fowls and fleas, after an amusing evening spent around the fire, when one pot cooked for forty people besides ourselves. The cold was intense, streams of fine snow whirling in at pleasure through the crazy shutters, so we were glad to go to bed--indeed I was chased thither by a hungry sow on the prowl, seeking something to eat, apparently in my portmanteau.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PEAKS OF SIERRA NEVADA.

ALCAZaBA. MULAHACEN.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NEST OF GRIFFON.]

Heavy snow-falls that night and all next day prevented our advance; but at an early hour on the following morning we were under way--six of us--on mules, though I would have preferred to walk, the snow being so deep one could not see where the edges of the precipices were. No sooner had I mounted than the mule fell down while crossing a hill-torrent, and I was glad to find the water no deeper.

After climbing steadily upward all the morning, the last two hours on foot, the snow knee-deep, we at length sighted the cairn on the height to which we were bound. Before nightfall we had reached the point, but few of the mules accomplished the last few hundred yards. After bravely trying again and again, the poor beasts sank exhausted in the snow, and we had to carry up the impedimenta ourselves in repeated journeys. The deep snow, the tremendous ascent, and impossibility of seeing a foothold made this porterage most laborious, but we had all safely stowed in our cave before sundown.

The overhanging rock, which for the next ten or twelve days was to serve as our abode, we found a ma.s.s of icicles. These we proceeded to clear away, and then by a good fire to melt our ice-enamelled ceiling, fancying that the constant drip on our noses all night might be unpleasant. The alt.i.tude of our ledge above sea-level was about 8500 feet, and our plateau of rest--our home, so to speak--measured just seven yards by two.

Early next morning we proceeded to erect snow-screens at favourable "pa.s.ses," wherein to await the wild-goats as they moved up or down the mountain-side at dawn and dusk respectively, their favourite food being the rye-gra.s.s which the peasants from the villages below contrive to grow in tiny patches--two or three square yards scattered here and there amidst the crags. It is only by rare industry that even so paltry a crop can be s.n.a.t.c.hed at such alt.i.tudes, and during the short period when the snow is absent from the southern aspects. At present it enveloped everything--not a blade of vegetation nor a mouthful for a wild-goat could be seen.

Although during the day the snow was generally soft--the sun being very hot--yet after dark we found the way dangerous, traversing a sloping, slippery ice-surface like a huge glacier, where a slip or false step would send one down half a mile with nothing to clutch at, or to save oneself. Such a slide meant death, for it could only terminate in a precipice or in one of those horrible holes with a raging torrent to receive one in its dark abyss, and convey the fragments beneath the snow--where to appear next? Each step had to be cut with a hatchet, or hollowed--the b.u.t.t of a rifle is not intended for such work, but has had to perform it.

Every day we saw ibex on the snow-fields and towering rocks above our cave. They were now of a light fawn-colour, very s.h.a.ggy in appearance, some males carrying magnificent horns. One old ram seemed to be always on the watch, kneeling down on the very verge of a crag 500 or 600 yards above us, and which commanded a view for miles--though _miles_ read but paltry words! From where that goat was he could survey half a dozen provinces.

These ibex proved quite inaccessible, and nearly a week had pa.s.sed away ere a wild-goat gave us a chance. One night shortly after quitting my post, little better than a human icicle, and not without fear of scrambling caveward in absolute darkness along the ice-slope, a little herd of goats pa.s.sed--mere shadows--within easy shot of where, five minutes before, I had been lying in wait. On another morning at dawn the tracks of a big male showed that he, too, must have pa.s.sed at some hour of the night within five-and-twenty yards of the snow-screen.

But it was not till a week had elapsed that we had the ibex really in our power. Just as day broke a herd of eight--two males and six females--stood not forty yards from our cave-dwelling. The fact was ascertained by one Esteban, a Spanish sportsman whom we had taken with us. Silently he stole back to the cave, and without a word, or disturbing the dreams of his still sleeping employers, picked up an "Express" and went forth. Then the loud double report at our very doors--that is, had there been a door--aroused us, only to find ... the spoor of that enormous ram, the spot where he had halted, listening, above the cave, and the splash of the lead on the rock beyond--_eighteen inches_ too low! an impossible miss for one used to the "Express." Oh, Esteban, Esteban! what were our feelings towards you on that fateful morn!

Life in a mountain-cave high above snow-level--six men huddled together, two English and four Spaniards--has its weird and picturesque, but it has also its harder side. Yet those days and nights, pa.s.sed amidst majestic scenes and strange wild beasts, have left nothing but pleasant memories, nor have their hards.h.i.+ps deterred us from repeating the experiment. These initial campaigns were too early in the season (March and April).

The only birds seen were choughs and ravens; ring-ouzels lower down.

There were plenty of trout, though small, in the hill-burns. On one occasion a circular rainbow across a deep gorge perfectly reflected in the centre our own figures on pa.s.sing a given point. The ice-going abilities of the mountaineers were marvellous--incredible save to an eye-witness. Across even a north-drift, hard and "slape" as steel and hundreds of yards in extent, these men would steer a sliding, slithering course at top speed, directed towards some single projecting rock. To miss that refuge might mean death; but they did not miss it, ever, in their perilous course, making good a certain amount of forward movement.