sometimes called Upper Andalucia, is bounded on the E. and S. by the Mediterranean and Murcia, and on the N. and W. by Andalucia. It is situated between N. Lat. 36° 16' and 38° 4', and between W. Long. 1° 38' and 5° 30'. Its greatest extent from E. to W. is about 200 miles, and from N. to S. about 140. The area is 9630 square miles English; and the population (in 1849) amounted to 1,157,584. The form of this province is an irregular triangle, with the base to the E. on Murcia, and the apex to the S.W. towards the Straits of Gibraltar. Granada is beautifully diversified with majestic mountains, extensive plains, and rich valleys, all fringed with a tropical maritime border. The Sierra Nevada chain extends throughout the province, from N.E. to S.W., under the names of Ronda, Antequera, Orca, Huescar, and Sierra Nevada, "with its diadem of snow," which, in its highest point, the Cerro de Mulhacen, a little S.E. from Granada, is 12,762 feet above sea-level. All this chain has an elevation of more than 9900 feet, and above this height is covered with perpetual snow. Thus, under a latitude of 37°, eternal snow and the temperature of Africa are combined; hence every variety of vegetable production from the lichen to the cotton plant and sugar-cane is found here. Towards the south the mountains gradually decline to the Sierra de Gador, near Almeria, where the elevation is 7800 feet. At this extremity, near Macael, stands the famous rock Filabres, 2000 feet high, and 4 miles in circuit, consisting of one solid mass of white marble. The secondary mountains are of several kinds; but many of them are formed of marble of various colours, red, black, white. About 8 miles from Granada, on the banks of the Xenil, there is a quarry of beautifully veined green serpentine, capable of receiving a fine polish. In the mountains immediately surrounding the city of Granada occur many kinds of alabaster, some of which are as transparent and brilliant as Oriental cornelians; there are also quarries of jasper, and a considerable variety of precious stones. Some lead, copper, and silver mines still exist, and several of them were worked by the Moors. In the sands of the Darro gold is found; and mineral waters, chiefly chalybeate and sulphurous, are abundant in the province, yet few of them have been analyzed. The most famous of them are those of Alhama (with a temperature of 118° Fahr.), Almeria, and Javal-conol. As might be expected, the climate of Granada is cold in the mountainous districts, temperate in the plains, and extremely hot and sultry in the valleys. The hot wind called Solano, which blows from the S.E., is here attended with pernicious effects. It shrivels up the vegetation, and affects the human body with the sensations of strong fever; assassinations, murders, and suicides, are most frequent during the prevalence of this wind. The snowy range is a perpetual alembic of fertilizing water, which is beautifully commensurate with the heats; for the hotter the weather the more copious do the waters become from the melting of the snow. This water is wealth; for the soil of the plains, though light, becomes very productive under the combined effect of moisture and warmth. Here the succession of crops is continuous, and the hemp is the finest in the world. Agriculture, though much degenerated since the expulsion of the Moors, still forms the wealth of the province, which teems with corn and wine, oil, silk, and delicious fruits, in great abundance. The line of irrigation divides the desert from the paradise; all lying within its influence is green and fruitful; Granada all beyond it is brown and barren. Agriculture is more flourishing in this province, however, than in any other part of Spain. The Vega of Granada is considered the richest plain in the kingdom. The estate of the Duke of Wellington is formed of part of this rich plain, and is occupied by nearly 300 tenants. This estate is so managed as to form an excellent model for Spanish agriculturists. The principal assistance rendered to the crops is the irrigation of the soil, which is accomplished by conveying streams along the more elevated side of every field by means of embankments, in which sluices are cut, which convey the water into small rills, which occur at short intervals, so as to flood the whole field with ease in the hot season. The preservation of manure is carefully attended to. It is collected in large pits, well rammed to prevent leaking; and as soon as well rotted it is distributed in an almost liquid state over the land. This is according to the old Moorish mode, which has always proved the best. This manure is not applied to the production of corn, but is used for gardens, melon-grounds, and mulberry plantations. The most abundant grain crops are raised by the mere assistance of irrigation, without any manure; and the average annual produce of land well watered is fifty bushels of wheat per acre English.
Near the rivers in the lower grounds considerable quantities of rice are cultivated, but often before sowing the rice a crop of hemp or flax is taken from the land. The breeding and fattening of cattle, however, is much more attended to by the Spanish than the cultivation of cereals. In winter the cattle are pastured in the uplands, where grass is best; but no hay is made by the farmers; and after harvest, which occurs in June, the flocks and herds are fed in the stubble fields. The horses of Granada are inferior to those of Cordova, but the asses are very fine animals, and are highly esteemed in all the eastern countries of Europe. The wool produced in this province is coarse, and of comparatively little value. The best sailcloth is made from the hemp of Granada, which has a very strong fibre. The mulberry tree is cultivated solely for the sake of its leaves as food for the silk-worm. In the Vega as much silk is produced as furnishes employment to 1500 persons; and the manufactures in Granada alone require a supply of 120,000 lbs. annually. The mountains surrounding Granada itself are well adapted for the nurture of the vine; but so badly managed are all things connected with its cultivation, that the wine is of very inferior quality, and mostly has the flavour of the sheep-skins with tarred seams in which it is carried from the vineyards. The Tierno, Moscatel, and Malaga, however, which are made in other parts of this province, are excellent wines, and in high repute. Though olive-trees are extensively cultivated, yet sufficient oil is not produced for home consumption. The sugar-cane is especially cultivated around Velex-Malaga, and is of excellent quality, quite equal to that of the West Indies for size and juiciness. The foreign trade is chiefly carried on from the ports of Malaga and Almeria, and consists in exports of snuff, lead, kail, dried fruits, almonds, lemons, anchovies, oil, and wine; while the chief imports are cloths, mercury, hardware, &c. The internal commerce consists chiefly in exchanging dried fruits, corn, and wine, for silk and oil.
The people of Granada, like the rest of the Andalucians, are generally considered by the Castilians as the Gascons of Spain. The women are rather handsome and very attractive. The features and complexion of the people generally indicate traces of their mixed Moorish descent. The posterity of those Moors who professed Christianity in order to escape persecution are chiefly to be found here; and they are at present equally as bigoted as the Spaniards themselves. In the Alpujarras, however, there still remain a few scattered families of that unfortunate race who still secretly cling to the doctrines of the Koran, and reluctantly concede an external conformity to the Roman Catholic creed. Since the fall of the last Moorish kingdom in 1492, when Granada was united to the crown of Castile, this province has been governed by the Castilian laws. At Almeria resides a captain-general, as well as the civil and military provincial authorities; but the law-courts were transferred to Albacete in 1835. In order to protect the province from the corsairs of the African coast, watch-towers are erected along the shores at short distances from the mouth of the Rio-Frio to the Straits of Gibraltar.
This province contains 18 cities or towns; 300 villages; and about 200 convents of both sexes. Thirty-five of these religious houses are in the city of Granada.
city of Spain, and the capital of a province of the same name, is situated on the Xenil, at the influx of the Darro. The Moorish name of this famous city is Karifatthah, "the city of strangers," composed of the Arabic Kar, the same as the Celtic caer, or cahir, "an eminence," or what is built on it, and nattah, "a pilgrim," or "stranger." Others consider it the name of a local goddess. At the Moorish invasion one of Tariq's generals gave Karifatthah, or Granada, to the Jews, whence it was called Karifatthah-el-Yahood. It occupied the site of the modern Torres Bermejas, and ranged above the Campo del Principe, being quite distinct from Iliberis (which in Basque means "new city"), with which it has been often confounded. Iliberis was built on the Sierra Elvira. Granada stands partly on level ground near the river, at an elevation of 2445 feet above the sea, and partly on the slopes of two adjacent hills. It is divided into four quarters—the Alhambra with the fauxbourg Charna; the City properly so called; the Albaycin fauxbourg; and the Antequeruela fauxbourg. Of these the city proper is surrounded by high walls, flanked by towers now in ruins; the Alhambra and the Albaycin have separate walls and ramparts; but the Antequeruela is quite open. On the summit of the Alhambra Hill stand the magnificent remains of the regal palace, which attest the perfection of art among the Moors, as well as the splendour of their princes during their palmy days in the Peninsula. (See ALHAMBRA.) The Albaycin occupies the other hill; the Antequeruela is the chief residence of the working classes; the town proper occupies the space between the two hills, and extends into the plains. The streets are generally narrow and tortuous; but the houses are tolerably well built, while their oriental structure and antiquity render them objects of great interest. There are several handsome squares, and a number of public fountains in the town. Though the great object of attraction is the Alhambra, Granada contains several other edifices worthy of notice. The cathedral, though an irregular and heavy building, is profusely ornamented with jasper and coloured marble. It is surmounted with a dome resting on twelve arches upheld by as many pilasters, beneath which stands its richly decorated high altar. In the adjoining royal chapel are numerous fine monuments, among which are those of their "Catholic majesties," Ferdinand and Isabella. The church of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias has a splendid high altar and two magnificent towers. The church of San José is an elegant modern edifice built on the site of a very ancient one, of which the tower still stands. Among the other public buildings of Granada may be mentioned the unfinished palace of the Emperor Charles; the monastery of San Jerónimo, founded by the famous Gonzalo de Córdoba, whose remains were deposited in a splendid mausoleum in its church; the old Carthusian convent, situated
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1. It is estimated that 1 lb. of silk is produced by 1500 worms, and that a mulberry tree ten years old will barely supply food for as many worms as yield 7 lbs.
2. Casiri, Bib., Esc. ii. 247.
3. Ford's Handbook of Spain, iii. 124. on an eminence in the suburbs, and adorned with paintings by Murillo, Morales, and Cano; the Generalife, a Moorish palace, surrounded with gardens and fountains; the episcopal palace; the university; and the general hospital. Its manufactures are unimportant; the chief being silk and coarse woollen stuffs, hats, and paper. It has, also, a royal manufactory for saltpetre and gunpowder. The trade of the city is insignificant, and carried on entirely in the weekly markets, which are lively and well attended. The roads to Granada are kept in wretched repair, so that during the rainy season it is nearly isolated from the rest of the world.
Granada was founded by the Moors in the tenth century, near the site of the ancient Ilíberis, and at first belonged to the kingdom of Córdoba. In A.D. 1235 it became the capital of the new kingdom of Granada, and rose to almost unparalleled splendour. Its population at this time is said to have amounted to 500,000. In 1491, when it had become the last stronghold of the Moors in Spain, it mustered the extraordinary number of 60,000 men to defend it against the Christian forces of Ferdinand and Isabella. The besiegers, after innumerable deeds of valour on both sides, gained possession of the city, January 2, 1492, when the banner of Castile first floated on the towers of the Alhambra. The Moors still continued to constitute the great body of the inhabitants till 1610, when they were expelled from all parts of Spain; and in no part of the kingdom was this severe and impolitic proceeding more keenly felt than in Granada, which has never recovered from its effects. Pop. (in 1845) 70,025.
Gines Pérez de Hita, Historia de los Moros de Granada; Washington Irving, A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, London, 1829, 2 vols. 8vo; Luis de Marmol, Historia de los Moriscos de Granada, Malaga, 1806, folio; Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Guerra de Granada que hizo Felipe II contra los Moriscos; Romeyn, Histoire d'Espagne depuis les premiers temps jusqu'à nos jours, Paris, 1839-47, 7 vols.; but especially—Madoz, Diccionario Geográfico-Estadístico-Histórico de España, Madrid, 1847-1854; this is the most elaborate and trustworthy historical, geographical, and statistical work on Spain. See also the fine plates of Antigüedades Arabe de Granada y Córdoba, and the magnificent volume of Murphy.
Granada, New, is the most important of the three republics into which the South American republic of Colombia resolved itself at the dissolution of that confederation in 1831. Till 1810 it was a vice-royalty under the Spanish crown, but subsequently a part of the republic of Colombia, the middle and western portions of which it now embraces. New Granada is bounded on the N. by the Caribbean Sea, on the E. by the republic of Venezuela, on the S.E., by Brazilian Guiana, on the S. by the republic of Ecuador, and on the W. by the Pacific Ocean. It lies mostly between the equator and 12° N. Lat., and between 70° and 83° W. Long. Area about 480,000 square miles.
Several offshoots of the Andes traverse the western and larger portion of the republic; but the eastern portion belongs to the immense llanos or plains of the Orinoco. On the borders of Ecuador, not far north of the town of Pasto, the great chain of the Andes separates into two branches—the western branch, called the Cordillera de la Costa, running parallel to the coast of the Pacific; and the other to the east, containing several paramos or elevated plains, as well as the sources of the Japura and Putumayo, affluents of the Marañon. Further north rise the Rio Grande or Magdalena, and its largest tributary the Cauca, which flow nearly due S. to N., and fall into the Caribbean Sea by delta-like mouths nearly seven miles broad. Again, in N. Lat. 1° 50', the Eastern Cordillera parts, forming two branches nearly parallel, inclosing the broad, rich valley of the Rio Grande. Of these chains, the most easterly, stretching to the Sierra Nevada de Merida, along the right bank of the Rio Grande, is called the Eastern Cordillera de Cundinamarca; the valleys of the Rio Grande, and its tributary the Cauca, are separated by the Central Cordillera; and the valley of the Cauca is separated from the Choco districts by the Western Cordillera. These three Cordilleras are by some designated respectively—Cordillera de la Suma Paz, from the colossal group of this name near Santa Fe de Bogota; Cordillera de Quindiu; and Cordillera de Choco. The eastern chain does not exceed 13,000 feet in elevation so long as the central one rises to the perpetual snow-line; but at the point where the Western Nevadas cease, the eastern chain rises to the snow limit (N. Lat. 5° 5'), and is collectively the most elevated of the three Cordilleras. The Peak of Tolima (N. Lat. 4° 46'), which rises to the height of 18,270 feet, and is the culminating peak of the Andes in the northern hemisphere, belongs to the Quindiu chain. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which extends along the coast between the Cundinamarca and the Quindiu chains, does not properly belong to the Andes. About 30 miles from the shore this Sierra rises abruptly from the plains between the Sea of Maracaybo and the Gulf of Darien to the height of nearly 19,600 feet. The vast tract of country between the Western Andes and the Pacific contains the basins of the rivers San Juan and Atro, as well as a narrow tract along the sea-shore. This narrow strip has a soft, alluvial, and very fertile soil, but is almost always in a swampy state from the incessant rains which drench it, and render it most insalubrious, especially for Europeans. Hence it is abandoned almost exclusively to native tribes and a few negroes, who are employed in washing the gold sand found along the western declivity of the Andes in considerable quantity, and is here and there intermixed with platinum. The most southern of the table-lands which extend along the western declivities of the Eastern Andes, as well as those of Tunja and Bogotá, are at an average elevation of 9000 feet above sea-level; and on them are cultivated the cereals and fruits of Europe, as well as the root called aracacha. Those further north are much less elevated, and adapted to the cultivation of tropical grains, fruits, roots, coffee, sugar, tobacco, and cotton. The low country, extending between the plateaux of Cucuta and Girona and the mountain group of Santa Marta, is mostly covered with extensive forests, and almost destitute of population from the insalubrity of the climate, caused by the almost incessant rains, numerous swamps, and frequent inundations. It contains the extensive lake of Zapataos.
The llanos or plains of the Orinoco extend over the entire tract, stretching away to the western banks of the Orinoco and to the Cassiquiare, between the Rio Negro on the S. and the Rio Apure on the N. As far south as the Vichada, the northern part is a complete level, averaging only 300 feet above sea-level near the mountains, whence it gradually but almost imperceptibly declines towards the Orinoco. With the exception of a few palms that occur at great intervals all over the plain, and some low bushy trees along the rivers, this district is quite destitute of trees. During the rainy season, which is from April till November, rain falls in torrents, accompanied with fearful thunderstorms, which usually occur between two and four o'clock in the afternoon; but the contrast is very striking in December, January, and February, when a cloud never crosses the sky. This immense plain is not at all fit for cultivation; but innumerable herds of cattle and horses find abundant pasture on it during the rainy season, though they suffer much during the dry months from November till April. The wet season is, on an average, 8° Fahr. hotter than the dry, and the mean annual temperature is 80° Fahr. The part of this great plain south of the River Vichada is covered with immense forests, infested with numerous wild beasts; and it is somewhat billy in several districts, especially between the rivers Negro and Guaviare, where steep rocks start out of the plain abruptly to an elevation of from 300 to 600 feet. No breeze ever passes over this part of the plain, and its temperature averages three or four degrees above that of the northern portion. In it also rain falls every day in the year, except during December and January, sometimes in the form of dense mist, and oftener in great torrents. Such is the state of the climate, that the most S.E. part of it, inclosed by the Atabapo, Negro, Orinoco, and Cassiquiare, is uninhabited, though covered with enormous forest-trees. At all seasons since A.D. 1788 the navigation between the Atlantic and the Pacific has been practicable for boats by means of a canal dug in the Raspadura Ravine between the two rivers, under the superintendence of a monk.
The principal rivers of New Granada are the Magdalena and Cauca, which run their whole course within the territory of the republic, taking their rise in the Andes near the southern frontier, and, after flowing nearly the entire length of the country from S. to N., unite in one channel, and discharge their combined waters through a delta by three channels into the Caribbean Sea, about W. Long. 75°. Besides these two principal streams, a large number of the tributaries of the Orinoco, having their sources in the different ranges of the Andes, drain the llanos of the east. Of these the principal are the Apure, Meta, Vichada, Guaviare, Rio Negro, and Japura on the mutual boundary with Ecuador. The lakes of New Granada are inconsiderable; the most celebrated is the Guatavita, not far from the city of Bogotá, into which, it is affirmed, large treasures were thrown by the natives during the Spanish invasion and conquests.
The mineral riches of New Granada are considerable, and mostly occur in the western declivity of the three chains of the Andes. They consist of salt-rock, lead, iron, copper, mercury, platinum, silver, and gold. Along all the central and western declivity of the Andes gold is found, and is obtained by washing the sand of the rivers as well as that on the sides and foot of some hills. It is found on the plateaux of Cucuta and Girona in the Eastern Andes, where silver also is obtained in considerable quantity. There are also some very rich mines in the mountain region between the Rios Cauca and Magdalena N. of N. Lat. 5°. Platinum is found in the western declivity of the Western Andes, and mercury in the valley of Santa Rosa, near Antioquia, and near the Pass of Quindia in the Central Andes. Copper is found in the Eastern Andes, near Pamplona, and N. of Tunja. Iron and coal occur in the mountains bordering on the table-lands of Bogotá, and lead in various parts of the Eastern Andes. In some mountains N.E. of Bogotá large masses of rock-salt are found, and it is worked by the government. Large quantities of salt are furnished also by salt-springs in the same mountains.
From the great diversity of surface, soil, and climate of New Granada, the natural productions are extremely varied, embracing almost every variety found in the temperate as well as in the tropical zone. The chief objects of culture over the table-lands of Bogotá, and the district north of it along the western slopes of the eastern range, are the cereals as in Europe, the aracacha-root, and potatoes; but in the river-valleys, and on the coast-plains, maize is the chief grain cultivated with rice, sweet potatoes, and plantains. As articles of commerce are cultivated coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, some sugar, and indigo. The forests abound with numerous kinds of useful timber trees; but those converted into articles of export are the logwood, Brazil, Nicaragua, and fustic trees, which grow most abundantly in the forests of the Santa Marta chain. The balsam of Tolu, so named from a village near Cartagena, is collected largely on the banks of the Rio Sinu, and ipecacuanha on those of the Rio Magdalena; cinchona, or Peruvian bark, is obtained in large quantities in the region of the Sierra de Santa Marta, as well as in several other places; cochineal of the finest quality is procured from the banks of the Sogamoso.
Previous to the discovery of this country by Europeans, horses and cattle were unknown in these regions; but now tasafo, or jerked beef, and hides, as articles of commerce, are furnished by the immense herds of cattle which the llanos support; and mules, horses, and cattle are exported to the West Indies.
The population of New Granada are descendants of the Spaniards who have settled there during the three last centuries, and some of the native tribes intermixed with a few negroes. Very different degrees of civilization are found among the native tribes. Before the invasion of the Spaniards, those of the table-lands along the Eastern Andes had organized a political system and made some progress in the simpler arts of civilization. These, with the Indians in the valley of the Upper Magdalena, are still the best husbandmen in the republic. Between the Pacific and the Western Andes, nearly all the population are descendants of the aboriginal native tribes, whose progress in the arts of civilized life is very small, and almost exclusively owing to the few Spanish priests scattered among them as missionaries. None but the descendants of Europeans dwell in the treeless llanos; and their occupation is the care of the herds of mules, horses, and cattle. Wandering Indians, still in a very barbarous state, occupy the southern wooded portion of the llanos. The numbers of the respective races occupying New Granada have been estimated by Hubner as follows:
| Race | Population | |-----------------------------|------------| | White Caucasians | 450,000 | | Native civilized Americans | 301,000 | | Negroes | 89,000 | | Metis (descendants of Spaniards and natives) | 299,000 | | Mulattoes | 283,000 | | Samoyeds | 120,000 | | Zambos (in Magdalena) | 100,000 | | Quadrones | 30,000 |
Total estimated population in 1853: 2,353,000
Agriculture holds the first place in the industry of New Granada. Rice, cotton, tobacco, cocoa, sugar, and tropical fruits, are among the productions of the coast region; while the elevated plains yield maize, wheat, and all the products of a temperate zone. The cultivation of the soil, however, is carried on very carelessly; and reclaimed land bears but a small proportion to the whole. On the llanos towards the Orinoco, almost the sole occupation of the people is the rearing of cattle and horses. Agriculture is chiefly in the hands of the converted Indians, who manifest a very decided predilection for these labours of peace. Manufacturing industry is of so little importance that it can hardly be said to exist in the republic. It is limited to home-made coarse woollens and cottons, adapted for the use of the lower classes only. At Bogotá the capital, and the other principal towns, indeed, straw-hats, carpets, and some other articles are made, but in no case does the native industry become commensurate with the demands of the country, so that nearly all manufactured goods in use are imported. Mining is carried on, but only to a very inconsiderable degree. There is a silver mine at Santa Ana, in Bogotá, the only one now worked; and gold is collected in a few localities. Emeralds, diamonds, and pearls, are also obtained. The salt mines of Zipaquira are, however, extensively worked. With the exception of this last, the mining business of the country is left entirely to the poor and ignorant.
The principal ports of New Granada are,—on the Caribbean Sea, Santa Marta, Cartagena, Chagres, Rio de la Hacha, and Portobello; on the Pacific, Panamá and Buenaventura. Steamers now navigate the Magdalena; and the only railway in the country is that from Aspinwall to Panamá.
The commerce of this republic was much more extensive before its independence than at present. This arises from almost incessant internal war, the unsettled state of the government, and the inadequate means of communication with the interior, which, for want of roads, cannot export its superabundant produce. Another great hindrance is the swampy insalubrious nature of the climate over the tracts bordering on the sea, endangering the lives of those who traverse them. So thoroughly inaccessible is the valley of the Upper Cauca, which is the most fertile tract in the republic, that none of its produce can be exported except what is carried over its inclosing mountains on the backs of men. It is everywhere surrounded by lofty mountains, and the Cauca becomes unfit for navigation on issuing from the valley. The exports of New Granada average annually about L900,000; while the imports somewhat exceed L1,000,000. The total value of the exports from New Granada to the United Kingdom in 1854 was L376,065; of imports therefrom L284,695; of which L270,722 were goods of British manufacture. The trade of the interior is carried on chiefly by mule-carrage, the roads being exceedingly bad; but of late years considerable improvement has been made in this respect.
New Granada enjoys a republican form of government, based on the written constitution of 1832, which was a close copy of the constitution of the United States of North America. On this, however, some amendments have since been made. Every man born in the country, able to read and write, and that without distinction of class or colour, is a citizen; and foreigners are naturalised at the age of twenty. The supreme government is centralized, and not as in the United States federal. The legislature consists of a chamber of deputies, with 65 members, elected by the people, and a senate of 39 members, elected by provincial colleges. The president, in whom the chief executive power is vested, is chosen for four years. Justice is administered by an independent judiciary, consisting of a supreme court, and provincial and other inferior courts; and all judges are appointed by the president, with the consent of the senate. Representation is based on population, but each province must be represented by at least one deputy. All religious sects are tolerated in the state, but the Roman Catholic is the only religion that receives support from the public treasury. They do not, however, recognise the supremacy of the Pope—the Archbishop of Bogotá being considered the head of the church. The bishops of Cartagena, Mompox, Neyva, Pamplona, Santa Marta, and Popayan, are his suffragans, and exercise authority in their particular dioceses. Education, formerly greatly neglected, has of late years received the attention of government, and the public generally have become alive to its great importance. Public schools, on the Lancasterian system, are established in all the large towns. In Bogotá there is a university; and in the provincial capitals colleges, or high schools, have been established. Bogotá has also an observatory, a public library, and several special schools; and in several places associations have been formed for the promotion of science, art, and literature. Much, however, is still wanting to a complete educational system.
The armed force of the republic is still small. The army proper consists of less than 2000 men; while the active militia does not amount to 6000. In time of war, however, every male adult is liable to military service. The navy is only fit for coast service.
The war of the revolution bequeathed to the state a bankrupt treasury and a heavy debt. In 1852 the national liabilities amounted to £37,060,888; and this sum is being constantly increased by unsatisfied interest, and a deficiency in the annual receipts. The expenditure in 1851-2 amounted to £2,145,779, while the receipts were £1,553,513.
The republic of New Granada is now divided into five departments, which are again subdivided into 18 provinces:
- **Cundinamarca**, containing the four provinces of Bogotá, Antioquia, Neyva, and Mariquita. - **Boyacá**, containing also four, Pamplona, Socorro, Tunja, and Casanare. - **Magdalena**, also four, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Rio Hacha, and Mompos. - **Cauca**, also four, Pastos, Popayan, Choco, and Buenaventura. - **Istmo**, two, Panamá and Veragua.
**The principal towns:**—In Cundinamarca—Bogotá, the capital not only of the department but of the republic, having a population of about 40,000; Honda, which has about 5000 inhabitants; Rio Negro, 6000; Mariquita, a small town near rich mines of gold, west of Honda; Neyva, pop. 4000; Timana, 2000—both these are noted for their plantations of cacao, and gold is washed near Timana—Ibague has a college, and is situated nearly 4900 feet above sea-level, at the foot of the Central Andes; in the valley of the Cauca are Antioquia, pop. 4500, and Madellín, 9000.
In Boyacá—Tunja, the capital, has a population of about 7000; Socorro, 12,000; Rosario de Cucuta, a pretty large town carrying on an active commerce in cacao, sugar-cane, coffee, and cotton; Pamplona, with 4000 inhabitants, and several gold mines in its vicinity.
In Magdalena—Cartagena, the capital; Mompos, pop. 10,000; Ocaña, 8000; Santa Marta, 3000; Ciudad de la Hacha, 3000; west of this town, along the coast, pearls were formerly fished.
In Cauca—Popayan, the capital, has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is situated 5824 feet above sea-level, near the sources of the Cauca river; and the volcanoes Porace and Sotara are in the vicinity; Cali, in the vale of Cauca, from which the chief road over the Western Andes leads to Buenaventura on the Pacific; Buenaventura, a collection of a few miserable huts built on posts, and yet it is the only port that supplies the valley of the Cauca and Popayan with wares, and it has mostly several vessels anchored there, both coasters and foreign. Atacames and Barbaconas are small harbours also on the Pacific. Pasto, with a population of 5100, stands at an elevation above the sea of 8580 feet in the Andes, near the boundary of Ecuador, on a fine plain near the foot of a very restless volcano.
In Istmo—Los Santos has a population of about 1600; David, 2800 inhabitants; Panamá, 6000; and Santiago, 2200.
New Granada was discovered by Columbus 1498-1502. Different governments having been established throughout the country, a vice-royalty was at length, in 1732, formed of what is now the republics of Ecuador and New Granada. In 1810 the Spanish authority was thrown off, and an incessant war against that power maintained until 1824, when the Spaniards were finally vanquished. Bolívar, the most distinguished leader of the Spanish-American revolution in 1818, proposed the union of Venezuela with New Granada; and when the Congress of Angostura met early in 1819, the fundamental law was enacted, which established the republic of Colombia, and which was inaugurated on the 17th December of the same year. This union was never cordial, and lasted only ten years. In November 1829, Venezuela seceded from it; and in May 1830, Ecuador also withdrew. The central part of Colombia constituted itself the Republic of New Granada, 21st November 1831. In 1832 the constitution was promulgated, and the republic divided into provinces. Under the constitution, New Granada became an integral state, and the powers of government were divided into legislative, judicial, and executive, each independent of the other. The provinces secured to themselves municipal bodies, having powers over all local legislation. In 1843 the constitution was reformed, but without any variation in the organization of the government. On January 1, 1852, slavery was entirely abolished, and no slave has been born in the republic since 1821. In 1855 the Isthmus of Panama was constituted a state under the name of Istmo, subject to the national government, however, in certain specified affairs.
town of Central America, state of Nicaragua, on the N.W. bank of the lake of Nicaragua. By means of the lake and the river S. Juan, it communicates with the Caribbean Sea, and thus carries on a considerable trade. Pop. about 12,000.
Fray Luis de, a celebrated Dominican friar, one of the greatest of the ascetic writers of Spain, was born in 1505, and died in 1588. His father was one of those whom Ferdinand the Catholic induced by valuable privileges and immunities to settle in Granada after the conquest of the Moors. At five years of age Luis was left a destitute orphan by the death of both his parents; but the Conde de Tendilla, alcalde of Alhambra, struck with the singular intelligence of the child, took him under his protection and had him educated with his own sons. Having completed his nineteenth year, Luis determined to devote himself to the Church, assumed the habit of the preaching friars in the convent of Santa Cruz, and became the first evangelical orator of his day. In vain did the queen offer him the bishopric of Viseu, and afterwards nominate him to the metropolitan church of Braga: he declined all ecclesiastical honours and emoluments in order that he might spend his life in what appeared to him a sphere of humble but extensive usefulness.
Luis de Granada wrote several things in Latin; but his Guide to Sinners, his Meditations for the Seven Mornings and Evenings of the Week, and his Symbol of Faith, which are all in the vernacular, are his most celebrated works. His friend, and predecessor of the same school, Juan de Avila, had created, so to speak, a powerful, deeply-coloured language for embodying religious sentiment, and Granada beautified it by retouching it with light and shade, giving it additional harmony, fluency, and dignity. These authors long seem to have been considered the great models for Spanish prose; and though we cannot enter into the rapture of the Spanish critics in extolling the power and pathos of their effusions, yet we may mention those on the sufferings and death of the Saviour as exquisite specimens. The Descent into Hell, to emancipate the spirits there imprisoned, we consider the finest specimen of the style and eloquence of Luis de Granada. This is justly considered one of the most sublime passages in the Spanish language. Fray Luis de Granada lived to the age of 83, honoured by all ranks, and died in a convent at Lisbon, where he had spent his declining years in strict seclusion.