SEVILLE, the largest, the richest, and most populous of the four kingdoms or provinces of Andalusia, in Spain. Its extent is 752 square miles, and its population amounts to 970,087 souls. It is bounded on the east by Granada and Cordova, on the north by Estremadura, on the west by Portugal, and on the south by the Mediterranean Sea.
The principal river of this province is the Guadalquivir, which, rising in the southern part of New Castile, passes through the whole of the province. This river is navigable for small ships up to the centre of the capital, and much higher for boats and small craft. Below Seville the Guadalquivir is divided into three branches, forming large islands between them, after passing which it unites and enters the ocean at St Lucar.
A great portion of this province is very mountainous. Next to the mountains of Ronda, the loftiest and most picturesque are the Trocha, to the westward of Algesiras, and those on which the city of Medina is situated, and a part of the Sierra Morena. Although these mountains are for the most part uninhabited and uncultivated, yet they afford excellent pasture for sheep during the winter season, when all is bare in the north of Spain. In the valleys is found the most extensive plains of the richest alluvial land, which, though frequently so burnt up by the heat of the summer sun as to display no traces of vegetation, yet, after two or three days of autumnal rain, produce the very richest pasture. As no hay is made in any part of Andalusia, the greatest distress is experienced by the farmers in keeping their cattle through the summer months, and at that period they feed mostly on broken straw, and become very lean; but after the autumnal rains the verdure is abundant, and the cattle become fat. Though the province of Seville does not grow corn sufficient for its own consumption, yet considerable quantities of wheat and barley are produced. The former grain is generally sown after a fallow, which may be made by about three ploughings in the summer months. Where they have manure, as is the case near the large towns, the increase is very great; and where they have not, the fallow alone will produce a very fair crop. The rotation of crops is little attended to. Clover and turnips are not cultivated. The harvest generally takes place in the latter end of June or beginning of July, when the weather is invariably fine. As soon as the wheat is cut, it is thrashed in the field where it is grown. This is done by piling the sheaves on a floor of round pebbles in the open air; and a number of unbroken mares, with a long rein held by a driver, are galloped in a circle over the sheaves. By this operation, from the dry state of the corn, it is easily
separated, and the straw is broken into small fragments. They then wait till the wind rises, when the breeze performs the operation of separating the grain from the chaff and broken straw. The former is sent to the granary in a kind of rush paniers on the backs of asses, and the latter is made into a clumsy stack in the field, and kept there for food in the dry season. The barley sown in the spring is most rapid in its growth: sometimes in less than twelve weeks from the period of its being sown, it is cut, thrashed, and fit for the market. But grain is not the most important branch of rural economy in this province. Oil, the substitute for butter in warm climates, is the chief dependence of the Andalusian farmer, and the cultivation of it is more congenial to the indolent habits of the natives. The trees only require planting, and will then yield their produce for ages, with but little attention on the part of the proprietors. The oil, though an important article, and the chief source of the wealth of the province, is not made with much attention either to its cleanliness or its sweetness. The oils of Spain are inferior to those of France and Italy, though the olives from which they are made are decidedly superior. Wines are made to a considerable extent in this province, but not sufficient for its consumption.
Few articles of husbandry are of more universal attention than garlic, which grows in prodigious quantities, and forms in all the markets of Andalusia the most prominent object. The capsicum, or pimento, is also much in demand, and is used in almost every culinary preparation. Instead of hedges formed by thorn bushes, the enclosures are secured by the aloe plant, which makes excellent fences, and, by their sharp points, are a security against all cattle. Instead of orchards of apples and pears, nothing is seen but oranges, lemons, pomegranates, and other fruits of a southern climate.
One production, not alimentary, is of vast importance, and is sedulously cultivated, the Spanish broom or esparto, which is made into a variety of articles for domestic uses.
The breed of horses in Andalusia has at all times been very highly esteemed; they have in them a considerable mixture of the Arabian breed. As cows are not kept for the purposes of the dairy, they are rather neglected, and the breed is by no means good. The sheep are numerous; those of the merino kind are migratory, and belong rather to the whole kingdom of Spain than to this particular province. There are, however, large flocks on the mountains; but as their propagation is left in a great measure to nature, neither their flesh nor their wool is very good.
Some of the largest estates in the province belong to convents, cathedrals, or municipal corporations: they are frequently let to tenants, who pay rent in a portion of the produce. The richer inhabitants in all parts of the peninsula prefer mules to horses for drawing their carriages; and they are used by the corps of artillery in the military service, where they can be procured, in preference to horses.
Besides its agricultural riches, this province is stored with mineral wealth to a great degree. It is well known that the Romans drew from this district, then called Betica, a great portion of their silver; and it continued equally productive during the power of the Arabian race; but the discovery of America, an event contemporaneous with the final extinction of the Moorish government, rendered the industry applied to mining less productive, and in consequence it has greatly diminished. There are, however, mines of silver, copper, mercury, lead, and iron, still worked. The commerce and manufactures of this province are almost wholly confined to the cities of Cadiz and Seville. The inhabitants are estimated at 746,221. It possesses the laws and privileges of Castile. The captain-general resides at Puerto Maria, but there is a royal audiencia at Seville.