Ultimate Splunk for Cybersecurity: Practical

Strategies for SIEM Using Splunk’s Enterprise

Security (ES) for Threat Detection, Forensic
Investigation, and Cloud Security (English
Edition) Sinha pdf download
https://ebookmeta.com/product/ultimate-splunk-for-cybersecurity-
practical-strategies-for-siem-using-splunks-enterprise-security-
es-for-threat-detection-forensic-investigation-and-cloud-
security-english-edition-sinh/

Download more ebook from https://ebookmeta.com

We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click
the link to download now, or visit ebookmeta.com
to discover even more!

Splunk Certified Study Guide: Prepare for the User,

Power User, and Enterprise Admin Certifications 1st
Edition Deep Mehta

https://ebookmeta.com/product/splunk-certified-study-guide-
prepare-for-the-user-power-user-and-enterprise-admin-
certifications-1st-edition-deep-mehta/

Azure Cloud Security for Absolute Beginners: Enabling

Cloud Infrastructure Security with Multi-Level Security
Options Pushpa Herath

https://ebookmeta.com/product/azure-cloud-security-for-absolute-
beginners-enabling-cloud-infrastructure-security-with-multi-
level-security-options-pushpa-herath/

Deep Learning Approaches to Cloud Security Deep

Learning Approaches for Cloud Security 1st Edition

https://ebookmeta.com/product/deep-learning-approaches-to-cloud-
security-deep-learning-approaches-for-cloud-security-1st-edition/

Stories from the Deep Earth: How Scientists Figured Out

What Drives Tectonic Plates and Mountain Building
Davies

https://ebookmeta.com/product/stories-from-the-deep-earth-how-
scientists-figured-out-what-drives-tectonic-plates-and-mountain-
building-davies/
Altered Part One Altered Shifters Universe 1 1st
Edition M.F. Moody

https://ebookmeta.com/product/altered-part-one-altered-shifters-
universe-1-1st-edition-m-f-moody/

Kampfgruppe Peiper The Race For The Meuse David Cooke

Wayne Evans

https://ebookmeta.com/product/kampfgruppe-peiper-the-race-for-
the-meuse-david-cooke-wayne-evans/

International Marketing 18th Edition Daniels

https://ebookmeta.com/product/international-marketing-18th-
edition-daniels/

How to Grow Your Small Business : A 6-Step Plan to Help

Your Business Take Off 1st Edition Donald Miller

https://ebookmeta.com/product/how-to-grow-your-small-
business-a-6-step-plan-to-help-your-business-take-off-1st-
edition-donald-miller/

Distant Gardens Worlds Apart A Universe of Sapphic

Science Fiction and Fantasy 1 1st Edition Various
Authors

https://ebookmeta.com/product/distant-gardens-worlds-apart-a-
universe-of-sapphic-science-fiction-and-fantasy-1-1st-edition-
various-authors/
Indian Economy and Neoliberal Globalization Finance
Trade Industry and Employment 1st Edition Murali
Kallummal Editor Santosh Kumar Editor P L Beena Editor

https://ebookmeta.com/product/indian-economy-and-neoliberal-
globalization-finance-trade-industry-and-employment-1st-edition-
murali-kallummal-editor-santosh-kumar-editor-p-l-beena-editor/
 Ultimate Splunk
for
Cybersecurity

Practical Strategies for SIEM Using

Splunk’s Enterprise Security (ES) for
Threat Detection, Forensic Investigation,
and Cloud Security

Jit Sinha

www.orangeava.com
Copyright © 2024 Orange Education Pvt Ltd, AVA™

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in
critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy
of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is
sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author nor Orange
Education Pvt Ltd or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any
damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Orange Education Pvt Ltd has endeavored to provide trademark information

about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate
use of capital. However, Orange Education Pvt Ltd cannot guarantee the
accuracy of this information. The use of general descriptive names, registered
names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in
the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the
relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

First published: January 2024

Published by: Orange Education Pvt Ltd, AVA™
Address: 9, Daryaganj, Delhi, 110002

ISBN: 978-81-96815-02-8
www.orangeava.com
 Dedicated To
My son, Caesar Sinha,
My mother, Smriti Das Sinha,
My aunt, Dipa Das,
And my wife, Saptapadi Sen Sinha
whose love, guidance, and support have shaped my journey and
inspired every page
 About the Author
Jit is a distinguished IT professional with an impressive 12 years of
experience in the technology sector. He is currently serving in a
leading multinational IT company. His expertise as a certified
Solution Architect in renowned platforms like Splunk, AWS, Azure,
and Google Cloud has positioned him as an authority in designing
and implementing advanced IT solutions for clients across various
industries, including banking, telecommunications, and healthcare.
His deep involvement in these sectors has provided him with a rich
understanding of diverse business needs. Within the banking
industry, Jit has developed security-centric solutions adhering to
rigorous compliance standards. His contributions to the
telecommunications sector have centered on establishing scalable
and resilient IT infrastructures vital for robust communication
networks. In healthcare, his emphasis has been on safeguarding
sensitive data while enhancing the efficiency of IT systems.
His professional journey is marked by a strong passion for
cybersecurity and data analytics. Recognized as an expert in utilizing
Splunk for security operations and threat detection, he has
significantly contributed to enhancing cybersecurity measures in
complex IT environments. His recent foray into the realm of
generative AI reflects his commitment to staying at the forefront of
technological advancements. By exploring generative AI applications
in cybersecurity and data analysis, Jit is pioneering in integrating
cutting-edge technology with traditional IT practices to offer
innovative solutions.
His interests extend beyond technical prowess to mythology,
geopolitics, and storytelling. His storytelling skills, in particular,
enable him to communicate complex concepts in an engaging and
understandable way, adding a unique flair to his professional and
training endeavors.
Jit's passion for knowledge extends beyond his work. He is an avid
participant in training programs, workshops, and public speaking
engagements. As a Udemy trainer, Jit recently developed a course
on generative AI, sharing his insights and expertise on this
groundbreaking technology. This course reflects his dedication to
educating others and staying at the forefront of technological
advancements. His ability to demystify complex technical concepts
and present them in an accessible manner has made him a sought-
after speaker and trainer. Through these platforms, he shares his
insights and experiences, contributing to the growth and
development of professionals in the IT industry.
 About the Technical Reviewer
Aditya Mukherjee is a Global Information Security Leader with
over 15 years of industry experience in spearheading security,
technology, and business transformation initiatives across diverse
environments. His expertise includes design, strategy planning, road
mapping, and implementation. Aditya has consistently pioneered
operational streamlining and service creation to enhance delivery
and adhere to regulatory requirements. Additionally, he possesses
deep consulting experience in briefing boards and risk committees
about the organization's cybersecurity posture, maturity, and
roadmap.
Aditya holds various cybersecurity certifications, such as SANS,
C|CISO, CRISC, and CISM, and has been a Member of the NCDRC
Technical Committee. He has also published three books on InfoSec
and has been featured in over 20 articles in leading publications.
Aditya has actively contributed to course content design for
EC|Council Code Red and C|CISO, and has reviewed several books
for Packt Publishing and Peerlyst.
Aditya has spoken at over 200 speaking engagements and has
numerous prestigious industry awards to his name, including being
featured in Forbes - India's 50 Best Technology Leaders, India's Best
CXOs and Leaders at WhitePage Leadership Conclave, and Business
Leadership Award at the Indian Achievers' Award.
 Acknowledgements
As I pen down the final words of this book, I am filled with immense
gratitude towards those who have been instrumental in its creation.
First and foremost, I extend my heartfelt thanks to my family, who
played a pivotal role in the creation of this book. To my son, Caesar
Sinha, born just a year ago as I embarked on this journey, his arrival
not only marked the beginning of a new life but also the
commencement of this literary endeavor. His youthful curiosity and
joy have been a constant source of inspiration. To my mother, Smriti
Das Sinha, for her mental fortitude and the values she instilled in
me, guiding my path through challenging and uncertain times.
Special gratitude goes to my Aunt, Dipa Das, for her unwavering
support and wise counsel, offering a steadfast presence throughout
this process. Lastly, my wife, Saptapadi Sen Sinha, whose endless
encouragement has been a sustaining force throughout this journey.
I am deeply grateful to one of my colleagues and mentors in the
industry, whose insights and experiences have enriched the content
of this book. Their willingness to share knowledge and provide
feedback has been invaluable.
Special thanks go to the Orange AVA team, whose dedication and
hard work behind the scenes have been crucial in bringing this
project to fruition. Their commitment to excellence has been a
driving force throughout this journey.
I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the editorial
and publishing team. Their expertise and attention to detail have
been instrumental in refining and polishing this work to its final
form.
To the readers and the broader community of cybersecurity
enthusiasts and professionals, your eagerness to learn and evolve
continues to inspire authors like myself to share knowledge and
experiences. This book is a product of our shared commitment to
advancing the field of cybersecurity.
Finally, I extend my gratitude to anyone who has directly or
indirectly influenced the creation of this book. Your collective wisdom
and support have served as a guiding light.
Thank you all for being a part of this journey.
 Preface
In the rapidly evolving world of digital security, "Mastering Splunk for
Cybersecurity" serves as a comprehensive guide, bridging the gap
between theoretical knowledge and the practical applications of
Splunk in the field of cybersecurity.
Chapter 1: Introduction to Splunk and Cybersecurity sets the stage
for our exploration, outlining the importance of Splunk as a tool in
the cybersecurity landscape and its relevance in the current digital
era.
Chapter 2: Overview of Splunk Architecture delves into the
structural aspects of Splunk, providing a detailed understanding of
its framework and components, essential for grasping its full
potential.
Chapter 3: Configuring Inputs and Data Sources focuses on the
initial steps necessary for integrating various data sources into
Splunk, a fundamental process for effective data analysis.
Chapter 4: Data Ingestion and Normalization discusses the
techniques and importance of processing and standardizing data
within Splunk to ensure accuracy and relevance in security analysis.
Chapter 5: Understanding SIEM explores the concept of Security
Information and Event Management, emphasizing its critical role in
modern cybersecurity strategies and how Splunk enhances these
systems.
Chapter 6: Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) introduces readers to
Splunk's dedicated security platform, highlighting its capabilities in
enhancing organizational cybersecurity measures.
Chapter 7: Security Intelligence covers the strategic use of Splunk
in gathering and analyzing security intelligence to proactively identify
and mitigate potential threats.
Chapter 8: Forensic Investigation of Security Domains examines
how Splunk can be utilized for in-depth forensic analysis, aiding in
investigating and understanding security incidents.
Chapter 9: Splunk Integration with Other Security Tools emphasizes
the importance of integrating Splunk with a variety of other security
tools, enhancing its functionality and scope in cybersecurity
ecosystems.
Chapter 10: Splunk for Compliance and Regulatory Requirements
discusses how Splunk aids organizations in adhering to compliance
standards and managing regulatory challenges, a critical aspect in
the current security landscape.
Chapter 11: Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response
(SOAR) with Splunk highlights the role of Splunk in automating and
streamlining security operations, enhancing the efficiency and
effectiveness of response strategies.
Chapter 12: Cloud Security with Splunk addresses the unique
challenges of securing cloud-based environments and how Splunk
can be effectively leveraged in these scenarios.
Chapter 13: DevOps and Security Operations explores the
integration of Splunk within the DevOps framework, demonstrating
its impact on aligning security operations with software development
processes.
Chapter 14: Best Practices for Splunk in Cybersecurity shares
expert tips and practices to maximize the effectiveness and
efficiency of using Splunk in cybersecurity applications.
Chapter 15: Conclusion and Summary concludes the book by
summarizing the key insights and contemplating the future role of
Splunk in the ever-changing world of cybersecurity.
This book is designed as a thorough guide for anyone looking to
harness the power of Splunk in their cybersecurity endeavors,
whether you are just beginning your journey or seeking to deepen
your existing expertise.
 Downloading the code
bundles and colored images
Please follow the link or scan the QR code to download the
Code Bundles and Images of the book:

https://github.com/ava-orange-
education/Ultimate-Splunk-for-
Cybersecurity

The code bundles and images of the book are also hosted on
https://rebrand.ly/2fadf7
 In case there’s an update to the code, it will be updated on the
existing GitHub repository.

Errata
We take immense pride in our work at Orange Education Pvt Ltd
and follow best practices to ensure the accuracy of our content to
provide an indulging reading experience to our subscribers. Our
readers are our mirrors, and we use their inputs to reflect and
improve upon human errors, if any, that may have occurred during
the publishing processes involved. To let us maintain the quality and
help us reach out to any readers who might be having difficulties
due to any unforeseen errors, please write to us at :
[email protected]
Your support, suggestions, and feedback are highly appreciated.
 DID YOU KNOW
Did you know that Orange Education Pvt Ltd offers eBook
versions of every book published, with PDF and ePub files
available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at
www.orangeava.com and as a print book customer, you are
entitled to a discount on the eBook copy. Get in touch with us at:
[email protected] for more details.
At www.orangeava.com, you can also read a collection of free
technical articles, sign up for a range of free newsletters, and
receive exclusive discounts and offers on AVA™ Books and
eBooks.

PIRACY
If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on
the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with
the location address or website name. Please contact us at
[email protected] with a link to the material.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN AUTHORING WITH

US?
If there is a topic that you have expertise in, and you are
interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please write
to us at [email protected]. We are on a journey to
help developers and tech professionals to gain insights on the
present technological advancements and innovations happening
across the globe and build a community that believes Knowledge
is best acquired by sharing and learning with others. Please reach
out to us to learn what our audience demands and how you can
be part of this educational reform. We also welcome ideas from
tech experts and help them build learning and development
content for their domains.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
the Resurrection and the Life of Santo Domingo, of which some still
remain. “It is the number of the apses,” writes Villa-Amil, “which
constitutes the singularity of this church, for it is the only one of all the
conventual churches built in Galicia during the Middle Ages which has that
number, all the others (and here he mentions ten) have only three.
Otherwise there is nothing remarkable about it.” The door which opened
between the church and the sacristy is still there; it is Gothic, with an
archivolt decorated with fluted mouldings, leaves, and twisted fillets; the
statues which adorned it are gone. In the largest apse there is still preserved
the original altar table of one solid piece of stone.
Santo Domingo, now an archæological museum, was once the principal
necropolis, the Westminster Abbey, of the province of Pontevedra. As far
back as the close of the fourteenth century, illustrious men left money to it
in their wills, and the command that they should be interred within its
precincts. The sepulchral effigies of Don Payo Gomez de Sotomayor and his
wife the Infanta de Hungria, Donna Juana, are still there in their Gothic
niches. Don Payo is coated with mail, his head is covered by a helmet, and
his sword is by his side. The family of Sotomayor is one of the oldest in
Spain, and the chapel in which their effigies lie was founded by them. Payo
Gomez de Sotomayor was one of the two ambassadors sent by King Enrique
III. of Castille to the court of Tamerlane in 1402; the other was Hernan
Sanchez Palazuelos: they helped Tamerlane in his fight against the Turks.
Tamerlane loaded them with presents, and also presented them with two
beautiful captives (one of whom was said to be a member of the royal
family of Hungary), whom they eventually married. Donna Juana, whose
effigy is in Santo Domingo, was the captive who became the wife of Payo
Gomez. On her tomb is an escutcheon in which the arms of the Sotomayors
are united to those of the house of Hungary. Close by there is also the effigy
of Don Suero Gomez de Sotomayor, the son of the ambassador to Persia.
[255]
The ruins of Santo Domingo rise in the midst of a modern town; on two
sides they overlook the street, and on a third side a huge grammar school
for boys is being erected. The plot on which the ruins stands is shut in with
a railing, and has been turned to the best possible use, for it now serves as
an Open-air Archæological Museum. Rows of Roman
 OLD JEWISH QUARTER, PONTEVEDRA

THE RUINS OF SANTO DOMINGO, NOW AN

OPEN-AIR ARCHÆOLOGICAL MUSEUM,
PONTEVEDRA
PHOTO. SHOWS MILESTONES FOUND ON
OLD ROMAN ROADS

mile-stones decorate one of its paths, and a row of ancient coats of arms
lines another, while the wall behind them is a mass of ivy, laden when we
were there with heavy black berries, that hang like bunches of grapes
between the escutcheons. Cannon balls, a cannon that was thrown
overboard by the sailors of a Spanish gallion when pressed by the Dutch in
1702, and an old iron anchor sixteen feet long with a ring at one end, were
the first objects that attracted my attention; near them was an old stone
cross (taken from the old church of San Bartolomé) some twenty-five feet
high, and the horizontal tombstone of one of the monks of Santo Domingo
which had been found in an old cemetery belonging to the monastery. There
was also an old altar covered with tessellated work, and on it a curious
statue of St. John the Baptist dating from the fourteenth century. St. John
holds a plate on which there is a lamb sculptured, and the front of his tunic
terminates with a human hand (very clear in the photograph). The frontal of
an altar taken from the church of la Virgen del Camino, and dating from the
fifteenth century, had a curiously sculptured representation of the Descent
from the Cross; Mary is taking the body of Christ in her arms, two disciples
support the head, another supports the knees; the Christ has a long drooping
moustache which reaches almost to His waist, and the monk who supports
the head has a similar moustache, only a shorter one. We also noted several
horizontal tombstones, with emblems upon them indicating the class of
work in which the respective persons buried beneath had been engaged.
One half of this museum is reserved for Roman, and the other for
Iberian, Celtic, and Sueve antiquities. In the latter I saw several stones that
were thought to belong to the period of the Sueves; there were also some
rough boulders with strange markings on them thought to be Iberian
writing. Near a bed of purple and white irises was a fine stone fountain that
formerly stood in the principal square of the town, also a circular font
covered with sculpture. The inscriptions on the Roman milestones are
dedicated to Trajan, to Hadrian, to Constantine the Great, and other
emperors. There are with them a number of aras, capitals, and funereal
inscriptions; belonging to a later date there are Byzantine statues, hand-
mills, sarcophagi, and numerous objects of antiquity. These are all scattered
among the flower-beds, and the whole is like a rock-garden rather than a
museum. The ivy-draped walls of the Church of Santo Domingo are
covered on the inside with lapidary signs—stonemasons’ marks—I counted
some eighty-five of them.
The founding of this most unique and fascinating Museum in 1896 was
due to the suggestion and energy of Señor Casto Sampedro, who has not
only devoted endless time to its arrangement, but has published with the
minutest care, in the local Archæological Journal, all the inscriptions it
contains as well as those from the local churches. Señor Sampedro is a
lawyer by profession, but his office is a veritable curiosity-shop, filled with
antiques of every class and description: he is also an epigraphist, highly
skilled in deciphering ancient documents. When a manuscript gives him any
trouble, he pins it on his office wall, and looks at it at intervals during his
work, sometimes for days together, before the correct meaning occurs to
him. Señor Castro was also the founder of the Pontevedra Archæological
Society.
We next visited the church of the Franciscan monastery. This edifice is
built in the shape of a Latin cross, with one very wide nave and a wide
transept; at the head of the nave are three Gothic apses, a large one the
width of the nave, and a smaller one on either side. The apses have recently
been restored, and the lancet windows which had been bricked up are now
filled with coloured glass from the manufactory at Leon. The transept was
begun in the fifteenth century, but the rest of the church, with the exception
of the chapels, dates from the middle of the thirteenth. The apses have fan
vaults, and are of the first period of Gothic art, very similar to those of
Santo Domingo. The side chapels are filled with the sumptuous tombs of
wealthy families of the vicinity. The table of the chief altar is a great stone
slab, seventeen feet long and three wide; it is thought to date from the
foundation of the edifice. On one of the lateral altars I noted a black-faced
statue of St. Benedict of Palermo. Two pairs of sarcophagi at the foot of the
steps leading to the chief altar had the recumbent effigies of two interesting
couples; their length is about seven feet. One on the right is thought to be a
famous admiral of the fourteenth century, the legendary Chariño. The feet
of all these effigies are crossed, their heads rest upon stone pillows, while
the top of each sarcophagus represents a couch. The inscription on the tomb
thought to be that of Chariño has been the subject of considerable
discussion in books and pamphlets. Payo Gomez Chariño was the admiral
who, at the head of a fleet composed of twenty-seven ships from
Pontevedra and thirteen from Noya, broke and burned the famous bridge
over the Guadalquivir
 PART OF THE MUSEUM OF ARCHÆOLOGY
AT PONTEVEDRA

TOMB OF AN AMBASSADOR TO
TAMERLANE IN THE MUSEUM OF SANTO
DOMINGO

near Seville, Puente de Triana, which, being the key to the Moorish
dominion of that part of the country, enabled Ferdinand III., to take the city.
Besides the Open-air Museum of Santo Domingo, there are also a couple
of rooms devoted to antiquities in the handsome new municipal buildings
overlooking the Alameda, but the keys are not always forthcoming for
visitors, and I only visited one of them; it contained a collection of coins,
some bronze agricultural instruments, a few arrow-heads, and a few Roman
amphoras, and round the walls were a series of pictures to show what
Pontevedra looked like before the English destroyed its battlemented walls
and towers. In a bookcase I saw among other books an old copy of Pliny’s
History. There was also a collection of ancient keys, and another of
fifteenth-century bells. In a glass case there were some medals, among
which was the square medal worn by the Inquisitors. The room to which I
could not get the key contains the pieces of the seventeenth-century retablo
that was removed from Santa Maria la Grande, and many interesting pieces
of old furniture.
The archives of Pontevedra were very rich in historical documents
relating to the past history of the town and province, but about three years
ago the authorities of Madrid took it upon themselves to send some one to
fetch them bodily to the capital, where they now lie in piles unread and
uncared for, while local archæologists, who for the love of their town would
willingly devote to them the most painstaking study, are left behind to
lament the departure of a precious mental pabulum. What Madrid can gain
by thus robbing the smaller towns of their archæological treasures, and
damping the ardour of local enthusiasts, I fail to see. This is not the way to
educate the people and make them value all that is connected with their
past. No wonder that the citizens of Pontevedra should look upon the ruins
of Santo Domingo as an eyesore; why should they do otherwise when they
feel that if it had any value it would be carted to Madrid!
In the public gardens the azalias were covered with white blossom, and
in the private gardens between the houses the wisteria was also resplendent,
so too were camellias and oranges. One of the finest houses, standing in its
own grounds, was that of Admiral Mendez Nuñez; it is here that our
English admirals who come with the fleet are usually entertained.
One of the most charming drives in the vicinity of Pontevedra is to
Marin, a little fishing town which lies upon a crescent-shaped bay on the
south-east coast of the ria; there is also a steam tramcar route, but it is far
pleasanter to drive. Marin is a diminutive port, it has a little wharf, and is so
safe and commodious that ships, all except the largest, can enter it in the
most stormy weather, and its bottom affords splendid anchorage. As our
carriage left the town behind us, we caught a fine view of the bridge over
the Lerez, and the bull-ring near it. To our left we passed the handsome
summer residence and grounds of the Marquis de Monfero Rios: here an
orange grove had recently been planted, and some of the trees were laden
with golden fruit; beside them was an avenue of tall pines which led up to
the principal entrance of the villa. Hyacinths, nemopholi, and drooping
narcissi covered the banks beneath the hedges that bordered our road as we
proceeded, and behind them in the gardens were wisterias again, and
camellias, and white roses creeping in profusion over the walls; but the
principal feature of the whole drive was the vines; they showed as yet no
signs of leaves, yet their dark knotted branches looked as if they had plenty
of life in them, for tendrils were shooting all over the frames. These vines
were not trained like hops on sticks, as they are in the Crimea, nor on
trellis-work like those of the Austrian Tyrol, but rested upon bamboo canes
from eight to twelve feet long, especially cultivated for that purpose; the
cottages had bamboo brackets swinging out over their doors and lower
windows to form supports for the vine branches; these make a deliciously
cool covering in hot weather. The hills did not slope down to the water, but
descended in terraces cut like steps; there were steps of vines, steps of corn,
steps of grass, and steps of green peas; but always steps, never patches. At
Marin we were kindly welcomed by some English Protestant missionaries,
who do what they can to improve the condition of the poor fisherfolk; they
have recently built a tasteful little chapel near their dwelling: the priests do
not favour their presence, but the same liberty is accorded to them as is
accorded to Mohammedans in England. At Marin numbers of fisherwomen
are occupied in gathering cockles and other shell-fish on the shore;
cartloads of cockles are taken up to the mountain villages, where the
peasants live on them for days together. I constantly found groups of
cottage children picking cockles out of their shells and making of them their
mid-day repast.
An excursion by boat upon the river Lerez was planned for us, but had to
be abandoned on account of the rain; this is one of the most beautiful
excursions that tourists can take from Pontevedra; the banks of the Lerez
are thickly wooded, and are one mass of flowers and ferns in April and
May.
The convent of Santa Clara is surrounded by lofty and forbidding walls;
part of it is very old and part quite modern. Tradition says that the original
building was a centre for the Knights Templars, whose duty it was to protect
pilgrims and travellers on their journeys through the wilder parts of the
country: it is said that this accounts for the fact that there is no escutcheon
of the Order of Santa Clara upon the walls. The apse of the conventual
church is Gothic, and resembles, with its lancet windows, those of Santo
Domingo and San Francisco: the nuns are not allowed to leave their
convent on any pretext whatsoever—they are cloistered for life; they do not
even enter the body of their church, but worship in a gallery behind a
wooden trellis, like the Jewesses in the synagogues of Bokhara.
Our next drive was across the bridge to the village of Combarro, and
then on to the monastery of San Juan de Poyo Grande, to hear the monks
sing the Salve Regina at their Saturday afternoon Mass. As we were just
reaching the bridge, we got out of our carriage to look at the little house in
which Pedro Sarmiento is said to have been born. Pedro Sarmiento de
Gamboa was a celebrated navigator of the sixteenth century. Sir Clements
Markham tells us that Sarmiento’s writings on the Straits of Magellan are
admirable work, and well known to English naval surveyors.[256] It seems
that Sarmiento left Pontevedra at the age of eighteen, and devoted seven
years of his life to studying the Incas. The Inquisition found him guilty of
possessing mysterious and magic rings, and although his confessor had
authorised his collecting them, he was condemned to say Mass, on his
knees and nearly naked, in the Cathedral of Lima. While this sentence was
being carried out, he was shut up in the convent of Santo Domingo without
a single book, fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, and reciting seven
psalms a day. At length his case was brought before the Pope, who
somewhat softened the severity of his punishment. He eventually returned
to Spain, equipped a large fleet and sailed forth, to be caught by three
English ships and tortured to confess that he carried precious metal. The
English took him to Plymouth; he travelled thence to Windsor, where he
was kindly treated by Queen Elizabeth, till his enemies got up some
scandals about him, whereupon Elizabeth sent him on a diplomatic mission
to Flanders and afterwards on another to Spain. He was taken prisoner,
while asleep at Burgos, by Viscount de Bearny, and put in prison; thence he
was ransomed by the king for six thousand escudos, and four horses. Such
was the early history of the eminent navigator. He wrote many books,
including a Treatise on Navigation, Information concerning the Stars, and a
Treatise on Fortification.
The little house in which Pedro Sarmiento passed his childish days[257]
is nothing but a white-washed granite cottage with the usual red-tiled roof.
The last relic of the Sarmiento family is still there in the shape of two old
maiden ladies, whom the townsfolk call Las Sarmientas. They have sold
most of the original house, and only kept one little end of it for themselves
to live in. No one who had studied the massive build of the granite cottages
of Galicia would feel any surprise that one of them should last for nearly
five centuries; they are as solid and firm as the rock from which their blocks
are hewn.
About two kilometres distant from Pontevedra is the quaint little village
of Combarro, with about four hundred inhabitants; it is thought to be very
ancient and to have derived its name from the Greek word χαμπτο. We left
our carriage to scramble up and down its steep, narrow, and stony streets,
with its houses of granite and its balconies of wood, and its red-tiled roofs.
Some of the balconies were painted green, others blue, while most of the
walls were covered with whitewash. We were invited to visit the inhabitants
of several of the houses, and found all very poor. The village covers a steep
hillside sloping down to the water, and most of the people are fisherfolk.
At the door of one of the houses there suddenly appeared a woman of
about forty-five years of age. I could see threads of silver in her thick black
hair, but her face (though it had a wrinkle or two) was still beautiful. She
addressed us in tones of the most passionate fervour; she wrung her hands,
she lifted them to heaven, she swayed her body like a reed swayed by the
wind, and at length burst into a flood of tears. “What is all this?” I asked of
the friend who was with me, for the woman spoke in the Gallegan dialect,
and so fast that I could catch very few of her words.
“She is telling us of all the hardships that she and her neighbours have to
bear,” replied my friend. “She says they are all being ruined by the heavy
taxes that the Government

VILLAGE OF COMBARRO, PONTEVEDRA

 A NATIVE DOVE-COT

is imposing on all the produce of their industry, and the heavy rents
demanded by the landlords.
“ ‘We live from hand to mouth,’ she cried; ‘and everything we earn with
the sweat of our brow is swallowed up in discharging our liabilities, in
paying our rates, our rent, and our taxes. We cannot even buy bread for our
children because of the oppression of the rich—because we have no money.
There is plenty of money in the land, and plenty of food, but it does not
come our way; we are being ground down and killed by the heavy and
unjust taxes, and there is nothing to encourage us to work, and no hope for
the future. Oh, it is dreadful, dreadful!’ ”
Leaving Combarro, we now mounted the hill on which stood the church
and Benedictine monastery of San Juan de Poyo; the church with its two
naves and its two towers dates only from the eighteenth century, but the
cloister with its arcade dates from the sixteenth. Here we saw the stone
sarcophagus of Santa Tramunda which had recently been discovered in the
neighbouring hermitage of San Martin. On the lid of the sarcophagus was
an ancient form of the cross, rarely seen after the sixth century; behind the
sarcophagus was a full size painting of Santa Tramunda, with her name and
the date 1792. There is a tradition that she was captured by Mohammedans,
but, escaping from their clutches, was miraculously enabled to walk home
over the sea, without being drowned. The monks who now inhabit the
cloister are a begging Order, de la Merced, founded by San Pedro Nolasco
for the ransoming of captives; they have not been there long. At the
appointed hour they gathered before the altar and sang with candles in their
hands; they were all dressed in white with black leather girdles, and the
whole performance was interesting. At the close they filed out at the doors
to right and left of the altar. These monks have restored the church with
their own private funds; it is a handsome granite edifice. The two Padres
from Solesme, sent by the Pope Leo X. to instruct the monks of Spain in the
art of singing Gregorian music, had just left San Poyo, and so it was with
special interest that we listened to their rendering of the hymn composed by
their founder, San Pedro Nolasco. There is still a handsome carved wood
choir in the back of the church; the cloister too, with its groined vaulting, is
well worth inspection.
In front of the church there is a terrace commanding an exquisite view
over the Ria de Pontevedra, with the island of Tumbo in the distance, and
Marin away on the opposite side of the water.
In the old days, before the Jews were expelled from Spain, Pontevedra
had, like other towns, its Jewish quarter—it was called Lampas dos Judeus
(lampas, burying-place). At the end of the street was a space called Picota
d’os Judeus, where Jewish delinquents were publicly punished; Christians
were castigated on the spot now covered by the Capilla de la Peregrina, an
edifice of the eighteenth century. Several of the houses that were inhabited
by wealthy Jews are still standing. Those Jews who remained in Spain
became Christians. Señor Sampedro told me he had talked with an old man
of ninety, who said he remembered seeing on the wall of the old church a
list of the Jewish families into which the Christians were not allowed to
marry.
The old town mansion of the Sotomayor family is still preserved in
Pontevedra, and their castle, the Castillo de Mos, is the only remaining
example of a mediæval castle in Galicia: the latter is now the summer
residence of the Marquis de la Viga de Armijo. We drove to it from
Pontevedra in about two and a half hours, through beautiful and historic
country. The bridge, Puente de San Payo, by which we crossed the river
Verdugo, has given its name to the battlefield where Marshal Ney, at the
head of seven thousand French troops, was utterly routed on 7th June 1809,
by a force composed of rude undisciplined Gallegan peasants under the
command of Noroña, and backed by some English marines. The peasants
fought with anything that could be used as a weapon; in place of guns, they
made rough catapults out of the trunks of oak trees, and formed a kind of
battery under the direction of Colonel M’Kinley. Children still find skulls in
this battlefield and in the surrounding country, and bring them in to
Pontevedra as curios.
The vines that we passed on the drive were trained, not over bamboos,
but over rough granite columns, often nearly six feet in height; the hills
were terraced with verdant steps as before, and there was an absence of all
flatness and monotony; even the hedges round the gardens had changed to
granite, so plentiful was that material. The people find it easier and cheaper
to wall their fields and gardens with blocks of granite than to plant hedges.
We passed stretches of land covered with the canary-coloured blossom of
cabbages, others brilliant with some purple flower, others, again, with tall
green grass mingled with hyacinths. On all sides the horizon was bounded
by distant mountain peaks of a hazy blue, and the eye was free to travel
unhindered over many a mile of cultivated hills and valleys. Here and there
amongst the granite hedges would be a real English hedge of blackberries
with familiar wild flowers in the grass below. The kilometres were marked
by the quaintest of pointed milestones, which looked as if their proper place
was a cemetery. In some of the ploughed patches, women with red
handkerchiefs over their heads, and legs bare nearly to the knee, were busy
sowing seed in the freshly ploughed furrows. The cottages were all of
sparkling granite, and as solid in their build as if they had been cathedrals;
in many a cottage garden we saw a lemon tree full of yellow fruit; presently
we crossed the railway line, and near it a plantation of bamboos. Then a
granite quarry came in view; a second time we crossed the railway and then
came the river, its banks blazing with mica dust. Then came a village with a
granite church and a schoolhouse; the road itself has been hewn out of
granite rocks; boulders covered with moss and with ferns in their crannies
formed the sides of the road; now we had reached the top of a hill covered
with chestnut trees, whose bright green foliage was lit up by the powerful
sun, and from this point of vantage we looked across an exquisite valley
that lay on our right. Women were busy turning up the clods with antiquated
implements which appear to date from the days of Noah. One woman had
hung her giant umbrella in the branches of a neighbouring tree, and another
had stuck hers in the field. It is no unusual sight in Galicia to find umbrellas
apparently growing among the cereals, for every peasant takes his “gamp”
with him to his daily labour, and has to leave it somewhere while he works.
All at once we catch sight of a castellated wall on a distant hill; this is our
first view of the castle we have come to see. Our road now skirts the wide
luxuriant valley, and the castle towers upon one of the highest of the peaks
that command it. Terrace after terrace of cultivated land slopes down to the
bottom of the valley. Shrubs of white broom wave over our road, and banks
of primroses come into sight; then we see a signboard with the words el
Castello de Mos. Pine-covered hills are now surrounding us, and our road
ascends the one that is crowned by the castle; our way is now bordered on
both sides with high bracken and other ferns, and the air is fragrant with the
scent of the pine. Tall eucalyptus trees mingle with the pines near the road,
and we see the bark peeling off their mastlike stems and lying in sheaths
across the road. Another signpost comes in view upon which are two
fingers; one points out the road to Redondela, and the other shows us the
direction of the nearest railway station, that of Arcade.
At length we enter the grounds of the castle, not by the principal
entrance, which looks as if it were seldom used, but by a side gate. Inside
the grounds the first thing we notice is a small building opposite the castle,
with the word Teatro over the door, and a bust in a niche on either side. The
gardener who acted as our guide invited us to enter the little playhouse, and
explained to us that the plays performed in the theatre were got up and
acted by the family and their guests. The family comes there in the
beginning of August and stays till 1st October. The present master is a
widower with no children, but nephews and nieces help to make the place
merry, and there are always plenty of guests. Special seats are reserved for
the family and their guests, and the rest of the little theatre is filled by
servants and retainers.
The castle stands, as we have seen, upon the top of a pine-covered hill; it
is surrounded by a thick wall and parapet enclosing a green sward, and
beyond that are the beautiful park-like grounds. The entrance to the castle is
by way of its oldest part, an old keep dating from the fourteenth century
commanding the chief entrance. There are loopholes or crenelles, through
which arrows and other missiles could be discharged at assailants, from a
bulging wall behind which there is room for several men to conceal
themselves, and there are more of these holes in the passage. The pretty
Gothic staircase, pointed arches, and stone balustrade are quite modern, but
as nearly as possible a copy of the original. At the top of the stairs is the
chapel, and below the chapel is the family crypt containing the tomb of the
wife of the present marquis, who died some seventeen years ago. The
carving on the door represents St. Peter and St. Paul and is very good work.
Over the altar there is a picture, said to be a copy of the famous “San
Antonio” of Murillo at Seville; the saint is kneeling before the Child, which
has Its left hand resting upon his head. There is also some modern sculpture
in memory of Don Diego de Sotomayor, the builder, in 1543, of the walls
and fortifications which enclose the castle. Don Diego lies in full armour,
and the inscription tells us that this tomb was erected (in 1870) by his
descendant, “Don Antonio Aguilar y Torrea, Marques de la Vega de Armijo
y de Mos Conde de la Bobadilla, Visconde del Pegullal.” On the wall at the
top of the stairs are some magnificent antlers of deer killed by the father of
the present king of Spain, when he was a guest at the castle for the third
time in 1882. The rooms of the old keep have walls nearly three yards thick,
and the openings for the windows are like passages. Beneath the Sala de
Armas is a dark dungeon—a black hole—to which there was originally no
other entrance but the trapdoor in the floor; there is now a door to it from
below, and it does duty as a wine cellar; but it has had its victims, and the
story goes that a bishop was once confined there. On the wall of the Sala de
Armas there is a medallion of Alfonso II., and a curious genealogical tree of
the Sotomayor family, which grows downwards and begins at the top with
Froila Fernandez, Conde de los patremonios de Galicia. The present
marquis is in his eighty-fourth year; as he leaves no descendants, the estate
will go to the left branch.
We ascended to the castellated parapet at the top of the keep to enjoy the
exquisite panorama of the wide village-dotted valley and the surrounding
peaks; there was the river Verdugo, and yonder, the waterfall which supplies
Vigo with electric light; in the distance we could see the village of Puente
Caldelas; all the pine woods and the meadows in the vicinity of the castle
are part of the Sotomayor estate. Opposite the Castle Mos on a cone-shaped
hill, a little loftier, if anything, we could see ruined walls and a chapel. This
was the peak called la Peneda, and the chapel of la Virgen de la Peneda; the
walls are a remnant of fortifications placed there by a fighting Archbishop
of Santiago to whom all the valley was subject, that he might keep an eye
on the movements of the unruly Sotomayors.
The turret is filled now with small bedrooms for visitors, and huge
wardrobes stand in the passages, while in every bedroom there is a
commodious zinc bath. The reception-room, the ceiling of which is
handsomely carved, is draped with fine old tapestries, but those on the walls
of the dining-room are modern. Good old-fashioned stone chimneys and
wide hearths give the whole place an air of comfort; there is a billiard-room
with French windows opening into a stone balcony on two sides of it, and
from here we see three old cannon still perched upon the outer walls; they
are ornaments now, and covered with verdigris, but there was a day when
they had their use. In the billiard-room we found a little book describing the
castle, written by a niece of the present marquis, la Marquesa de Ayerbe;
[258] she has published several other works. The marquesa began her book
with a quotation from Taine,[259] about the kings and knights of the Middle
Ages being one and all warriors by profession, and who, in order to be
always ready, had their horses standing in their bedrooms while they slept.
Then came a verse by Molina, in which he enumerates the great families of
Galicia, including that of Sotomayor. “The reason that Sotomayor arrives so
far on in the list is,” explains the marquesa, “because Molina, to be quite
impartial, took the families alphabetically—there is no question of
precedence.” The authoress tells us she was herself born, baptized, and
married in the castle, so that she has spent nearly every summer of her life
there, and that she is a true native of beautiful Galicia, which she
passionately loves. She reminds her readers of Taine’s remark that in the
days of the Moors in Spain all the eminent medical men, surgeons, artists,
and men of brains and talent, generally were either Moors or Jews, and that
they exercised a beneficial influence upon the country by importing
civilisation from the East. She also gives an interesting quotation from the
will of a Sotomayor, which is still in existence and bears the date 1468, and
another from one dated 1472; she states further that the fort on a
neighbouring peak is called Castrican or Castrizan, and that the chapel
there is dedicated to Nuestra Señoro de los Nieves. Perhaps the Sotomayor
of the Middle Ages who has left the most vivid traditions in the minds of
the people is Don Pedro, nicknamed Madruga, of whose doings the
cottagers in the valley below have many strange legends.
There are three distinct periods exemplified in the architecture of
Castillo Mos: first, the old keep, with its massive walls, which forms the
kernel of the building; second, the outer walls and fortifications built by
Don Diego in the sixteenth century; and, lastly, the modern work done in
the lifetime of the present marquis, who has succeeded in turning an
abandoned ruin into one of the most beautiful and romantic of all the
summer residences I have ever seen. The grounds are delicious with their
fine old chestnuts hoary with age, their waterfalls, lawns, and flower-beds,
while the keep over the entrance in the outer wall is now used as the library,
and its walls are covered with bookshelves. The grass plot between the
castle and the wall has many orange trees, and I saw fine large oranges
lying about on the grass that no one had thought it worth their while to
touch, because they were of the bitter kind, only good for preserving! and
almost hidden among the long grass was a deep granite well approached by
a winding stone stair covered with ferns and moss. The chain bridge over
the remains of the old moat, the fine old trees, the bronze bust of the
celebrated painter Castro Placentia (who painted the “San Antonio” in the
chapel), sculptured by Mariano Bellini at Rome in 1891. A stream of pure
water gushes from the hillside and flows near the shady old chestnut trees

CASTILLO MOS, NOW THE SUMMER RESIDENCE OF THE MARQUIS

DE LA VEGA ARMIJO, PONTEVEDRA

whose huge moss-covered trunks must be at least two hundred years old.
Here and there the ground was thickly carpeted with camellia blossoms. In
hot weather the family dines out of doors in the shade, at a table consisting
of one solid piece of wood, brought from America, and which must have
been sawn from the trunk of a tree at least twelve feet in diameter.
It was two o’clock when we returned to our conveyance, and as we had
brought our lunch with us, we ate it in the carriage, and were thus able to
avoid a break in our homeward journey. At 4 p.m. we were once more in
our comfortable hotel in Pontevedra, after a delightful excursion, which we
would not have missed for a great deal.
My next outing was on foot, and of quite a different kind, my object
being to look with my own eyes upon some of the wonderful prehistoric
rock-drawings that have quite recently been discovered in the vicinity, and
to compare them with the hemispheric or “cup and ball” drawings that have
been discovered in various parts of Scotland and Ireland. These cup marks
were for a long time considered to be merely a primitive form of
ornamentation, without any further significance, but, according to the latest
theory, they are a very ancient form of writing, while the accompanying
circles are thought by some to represent the religious belief of the writers.
Mr. Rivett Carnac tells us that it has been suggested that these writings are
ideographic and belong to a period when the materials for record were
limited to stone—long before the discovery of an alphabetical system,[260]
and before the discovery of metal. In the Ethnographical Museum at Berlin
I have seen some fine specimens of Peruvian writing by means of knotted
cord—a method that was used in China in the very earliest days of that
country’s history. “This system,” says Mr. Rivett Carnac, “was ideographic,
just as the knot in the pocket-handkerchief is ideographic.” It seems not at
all unlikely that our distant ancestors may have understood the meaning of
these cup marks, just as the Chinese and Peruvians understood the knots
upon their string.
Cup marks are to be found in many varieties in almost every part of the
world, the most frequent being concentric circles with a central cup or dot,
and this is the kind that I found upon some flat granite boulders on a rocky
slope near a pine wood about half an hour’s walk from Pontevedra.
These cup marks had been discovered by Señor E. Campo only a few
months previous to my arrival, and as yet their existence is hardly known
outside Pontevedra. Señor E. Campo, who is a member of the Pontevedra
Archæological Society, lost no time in making drawings of this prehistoric
writing for his Society; it was this gentleman who kindly conducted me to
one of the spots where the writing is to be seen, and it was he who provided
me with the drawings that I now place before my readers. Those who have
studied the subject will notice at once the remarkable similarity that exists
between this writing and the examples found on rocks in India, in various
parts of Great Britain, in the Isle of Man, and in Denmark. It seems
incredible that such a similarity of design could possibly have arisen
without there having been at some time or other a close connection between
the peoples amongst whom they originated. Professor Nilsson has attributed
the circles and symbols found on rocks in Scandinavia to a Phœnician
origin—but how comes it, in that case, that there are no such carvings
amongst genuine Phœnician remains?
Humboldt considered the signs which he found upon rocks in South
America to be, not symbols, but merely “the fruits of the idleness of hunting
nations.”[261]
It is quite true that cup marks have been found in Cornwall and in
various places on the East Coast of Scotland, but this is no proof that they
were the work of Phœnicians, even if we take it for granted that these
people came to Cornwall for tin, and that they traded with the tribes
dwelling on the eastern shores of Scotland. Some writers have suggested
that these cups and dots represent primitive maps, others have taken them to
be sundials, and others, bolder still, have recognised them to be gambling-
tables! It has also been thought that they were symbolic enumerations of
families or tribes, emblems of philosophical views, or possibly stone tables
for Druidical sacrifice.[262] It is only during the last fifty years that the
attention of archæologists has been drawn to these widely diffused
examples of archaic writing, and until a few months ago it was not known
that Spain too could furnish examples.
In the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland for the year
1899, we are told that in Kirkcudbrightshire alone there are not less than
forty-nine separate surfaces on which cup and ring markings are found;
these surfaces vary in size, direction of slope, texture, and position to such a
degree “that no safe conclusions can be drawn as to the
 PREHISTORIC WRITING DISCOVERED ON
BOULDERS NEAR THE TOWN OF PONTEVEDRA
IN 1907

meaning or use of these mysterious incised markings, occurring, as they do,

not only on solid rock ... but upon thin slabs ... on boulders, and even at the
very apex of a piece of rock ... and also on stones within a cairn.... At the
present date Inverness heads the list with one hundred and twenty sites;
Kirkcudbrightshire is second with fifty-four, and Nairn and Perth have
forty-six each.”[263]
Many of the drawings above alluded to are almost exactly like those I
brought with me from Pontevedra. They look as if they must have been the
work of one and the same race. As they are nearly always found close to the
sea, it looks as if they must have been done by a seafaring people.
 CHAPTER XXI

VIGO AND TUY

Southey at Redondela—Sacked by the English—The most modern town in Galicia—

The finest climate in Spain—Submarine cables—Vigo’s harbour—Vicus Spacorum—
Bayona—Tuy—Early history—The Miño—The International Bridge—Occupied by the
French—Learned bishops—The oldest cathedral in Galicia—A puzzling inscription—
Quaint sculpture—Santo Domingo—The Cathedral—Its history—The portico—The
interior—A rectangular apse—The cloister—San Telmo—The Portuguese frontier—
Passports—Education in Portugal

T HE prettiest spot through which we passed on our railway journey from

Pontevedra to Vigo was Redondela, whose picturesque houses scattered
among the green hills and fringing the Ria de Vigo, with a tiny harbour
all to themselves, were a delight to the eye as we looked down upon them
from the train windows. Macaulay mentions Redondela, and alludes to the
fact that it was sacked by the English in 1715. Southey was charmed with it
when he passed through on his way from Coruña to Lisbon, and he took the
trouble to translate into English verse a long legend about one of its ancient
towers,[264] telling how a lover jumps into the sea in his despairing frenzy.
It was Southey, too, who wrote—

“Spain! still my mind delights to picture forth

Thy scenes that I shall see no more, for there
Most pleasant were my wanderings. Memory’s eye
Still loves to trace the gentle Miño’s course,
And catch its winding waters gleaming bright
Amid the broken distance.
... Galicia’s giant rocks
And mountains clustered with the fruitful pines,
Whose heads, dark foliaged when all else was dim,
Rose o’er the distant eminence distinct,
Cresting the evening sky.”

Redondela, once an important town, is now little more than a collection

of scattered villages, whose inhabitants are chiefly engaged in oyster
fishing. At high tide the waters of the Ria de Vigo come right into the town
by way of a little river that passes through it under a pretty bridge, which
separates Redondela from its neighbour, Villavieja. Out in the blue waters
of the Ria we could see the famous little Hospital of San Simon floating
like a shell upon the surface.
Our train hugged the shore of the Ria, winding and curving with the
water’s edge till we came into the station of Vigo. Vigo is the most modern
town in Galicia; it owes its rapid development to its geographical situation
and to its bay and harbour, famed for being among the finest in the world.
Some forty years ago Vigo was a tiny village, known as Vigo de Cangas.
Cangas, situated on the opposite bank of the Ria, is still nothing but a
village with a few scattered houses, and it seems incredible that Vigo was,
so short a time ago, one of its dependent hamlets. Vigo is built upon the
sloping side of a hill, from the top of which mountains may be seen on
every side except where the Ria bounds it on the west. Between the various
mountain peaks may be seen fertile valleys of all shapes and sizes, and
separated from one another by mountain ridges covered with oaks and
pines.
The climate of Vigo is reputed to be the finest in Spain; its soil produces
almost every kind of vegetable and fruit in the greatest abundance, and
much earlier than they can be grown in other parts of Galicia. The principal
industry of the town is fishing, in connection with which there are
numerous factories for salting and preserving fish. Other industries are
paper-making, the refining of petroleum, and tanning. The building of
fishing-boats also constitutes an important industry.
Vigo is a port of the first rank; it has three submarine cables, and is a
naval station for the British fleets. There are some forty-five young
Englishmen employed at Vigo in connection with the cables laid by the
British Government. I am told that a number of them have become Roman
Catholics in order to be able to marry Spanish ladies. The English at Vigo
publish a newspaper in their native tongue for circulation amongst
themselves. At present Coruña can boast of having greater commercial
importance than Vigo, but from its more favourable situation Vigo is bound
in time to take the lead.
At the mouth of Vigo harbour, about ten (Spanish) miles from the
anchoring-ground, lie the group of islands known as the Cies, formerly
called Cecas, or Siccas. Humboldt once visited them, and it was he who
first suggested that they might possibly be the “fabulous” or long-lost
Cassiterides.[265]
The Ria de Vigo, whose waters are part of the Atlantic Ocean, forms, as
we have seen, one of the finest and safest harbours in the world; many
consider it the best in Europe. The depth of the Ria varies from 90 to 150
feet; it is sheltered from all winds, and so large that the fleets of many
nations could anchor there at one and the same time.
Several of the streets of Vigo are lined with handsome blocks of white
granite buildings, after the style of those in Berlin, but handsomer, because
those of Berlin are only stucco. There are no ancient churches or other
sights of archæological interest to be seen at Vigo, and the chief business of
the traveller—after he has looked down upon the valley where the French
army capitulated on March 28, 1809—is to take the beautiful drive along
the shore of the Ria to Bayona, where there is an old church, the Colegiata
de Santa Maria, which once belonged to the Knights Templars, and an
interesting old Franciscan convent dating from the eleventh century.
It is thought that Vigo stands upon the ancient site of Vicus Spacorum,
but whether this supposition be correct or not, it is an accepted fact that
Bayona is a far more ancient settlement. Molina wrote that Bayona was
formerly called Voyana, from the fact of its having the figure of an ox on its
coat of arms. There is also a legend that a Roman prefect named Catilius
Severus retired thither after his power had been taken from him. Pliny
thought the ancient name of Bayona was Abobrica, and Vosius speaks of it
as Lambriaca.
From Vigo we went by train to Tuy. Tuy is a mediæval, walled city rising
in the midst of a fertile valley through which the river Miño flows, dividing
the two kingdoms of Portugal and Spain. The old walls have almost
disappeared, and the houses of Tuy now spread far beyond them, making
altogether a population of some five thousand three hundred inhabitants. At
the top of the conical hill which the city covers, stands the Cathedral,
looking more like a castle than a church, with its castellated walls and its
fortress towers.
Tuy is said to have been founded by Greek colonists, and to have derived
its name from Tyde, i.e. Diomedes, king of Ætolea (not of Thrace), whose
parents were Tydea and Delphyla.[266] Morales thought he recognised as
part of a Greek pillar a piece of stone fifteen feet in diameter which he
discovered in a garden at Tuy. The same writer also alludes to the wrestling
matches still kept up by the inhabitants of this town. He remarks that they
wrestled in his day with such violence, and squeezed each other so violently
in the contest, that their very lives were in jeopardy.
When the Romans took possession of Tuy, they moved the town from
the hill to the valley, thinking that once on lower ground it would require
less supervision. It was King Ferdinand II. who brought the town back to its
original hill and made it a walled city.
The river Miño brings Tuy a rich supply of fish, amongst which are fine
salmon, lampreys, and trout. The vines of Tuy make a better wine than
those of Ribadavia, and every kind of fruit grows in its fertile valley. From
the north-west there flows into the Miño, close to the town, a little river the
sands of which contain gold, and for this reason it has received the name of
Ouro. Opposite to the Ouro another river joins the Miño; this is called
Molinos, because of its many flour-mills. The land in this neighbourhood
fetches a very high price, on account of its remarkable fertility. The soil is
sandy, and every hillock is fringed with pine trees.
The railway station of Tuy is on the line that runs from Orense to Vigo,
and the town itself is nearly two miles from the station. By a branch line
across the Miño the Gallegan railway is connected with that of Northern
Portugal. The junction is effected by means of a very fine international
bridge over the river, which is known as the Puente Internacional. On the
southern bank of the Miño there rises another hill city confronting Tuy, the
Portuguese fortress of Valença.
Although the antiquity of Tuy is traced back to the days of Troy and
Diomedes, and although we know that the Romans struggled desperately
before they could master it, there is very little mention of Tuy in the history
of their times. In the days of the Goths, King Witiza is said to have
established himself there and to have raised the town to a position of great
opulence. During the Middle Ages, after it had been attacked both by Moors
and Norman pirates, Doña Teresa, a natural daughter of Alfonso VI., who
was mistress of Portugal in 1220, claimed Tuy as part of her dowry; but her
sister, Doña Urraca, appeared on the spot with a powerful army and forced
her to evacuate it and retire across the Miño. From that time on throughout
the Middle Ages, the two cities of Tuy and Valença scowled at one another
across the water—the sentinels of two clashing powers. Later on, during the
War of Independence, French troops occupied the citadel of Tuy, and the
town was blockaded by the Spaniards in 1809. The French General
Martinière made a successful sally, and the Spanish forces were driven back
at first; but on April 16, 1809, the French were forced to evacuate the
fortress.
Tuy was one of the seven provinces into which the ancient kingdom of
Galicia was divided. In 1833, when a new division of Spanish territory took
place, Tuy became part of the province of Pontevedra. As a diocese Tuy is
now a suffragan of the Archbishopric of Santiago.
Molina (writing in the sixteenth century) stated that “Tuy has always
been famous for the erudition of its bishops.” There was a grand council of
bishops held in the Cathedral of San Bartolomé at Tuy in the days of
Archbishop Gelmirez, about 1122.[267] Whether the existing church of San
Bartolomé is the actual one in which that council was held, is not known,
but at any rate we know that this edifice is the oldest church in Tuy, and,
what is more, it is the oldest cathedral in the whole of Galicia. The present
Cathedral of Tuy, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, crowns the summit of the
mediæval citadel; but San Bartolomé is situated lower down in the plain,
and dates from the time when Tuy was in the valley. San Bartolomé has
three naves, each of the two lateral ones being separated from the central
nave by four rectangular piers supporting vaulted arches. At the end of each
nave is a chapel. The apse chapels are covered with half-barrel vaulting.
The ornamentation is very plain, and shows, in the opinion of Casanova,
distinct traces of Oriental and Norman influence. The bases of the columns
are decorated with deep semicircular concave mouldings and plinths resting
upon the feet of monsters. The capitals are sculptured with classic leaves
interwoven with living forms, human and grotesque, with birds and
animals, singly and in groups. Above the abacus there is in many parts the
ornamentation known as the chess pattern, and here and there on the
imposts we find the billet ornament, or moulding in notches, of which we
have a specimen in Lincoln Cathedral. Villa-Amil considers the chess-
pattern ornamentation in this church to be one of the most definite signs of
its antiquity, and at the same time he points out the close resemblance in
form, dimensions, and ornamentation which this edifice bears to the
Cathedral of Mondoñedo, which dates from the eleventh century.
 This church has on the exterior of its northern wall an inscription which
has been the occasion of much controversy among archæologists and
epigraphists. No one has been able to decipher it, but Señor Manuel Lago of
Lugo has suggested that the characters may be Oriental, and written, like
Chinese, from right to left.
Here are drawings showing the sculpture of some of the capitals, for
which I am indebted to Señor Villa-Amil. On one capital is depicted a
dinner party. Three of the guests are standing with their hands upon the
table as if about to begin the repast: one of them is a woman. On the table
may be seen a large dish, in front of the woman, and a smaller one in front
of each of the men: a knife with a wooden or bone handle is also distinctly
visible beside one of the plates. A soldier, or sentinel, stands to the right of
the table, and confronting a man in the garb of a monk who appears to have
just arrived upon the scene, lays the blade of his sword upon the
newcomer’s shoulder in a most threatening manner, as if to warn him that
he interrupts the banquet at his peril. The whole grouping of this piece of
sculpture is most dramatic and lifelike. The work probably dates from the
tenth century, if not farther back still. Visitors who wish to see the most
interesting capitals must hunt for them, often in the darkest corners, and
with the aid of a candle.
In the sacristy there has lately been discovered some old columns which
date from the ninth century, and here too the sculpture on the capitals is
very curious.
Another church worth examination is that of Santo Domingo. This
building was consecrated by Bishop Sarmiento in 1534,[268] but the Gothic
vaulting was only completed in 1730. A large part of the expense of its
completion was borne by the Sotomayor family, two of whom became
bishops of Tuy. The church is in the form of a Latin cross with very short
arms, and only one wide nave terminating with a hectagonal apse and two
small circular chapels to right and left. The Pointed Gothic arches of the
nave rest upon Græco-Roman pillars supported by exterior buttresses. The
central arch leading to the apse is also Pointed Gothic, and rests upon
Gothic pillars. The vaulting of the transept is cylindrical, but the rest of the
vaulting is Gothic.[269] The Gothic apse, which reminds us strongly of that
of Santo Domingo at Pontevedra, was formerly lighted by three long and
narrow lancet windows, and the smaller apses had each two such windows,
but the bad taste of the eighteenth century led to their being all bricked in,
in order that a hideous reredos might be placed behind the altar. There are
two entrances to this church, the chief one at the end of the nave, and
another, called the Door of the Rosary, at the end of the south arm of the
transept. This last is pure Romanesque, and possibly the oldest part of the
edifice; it has an archivolt composed of two pointed arches which rest upon
two pairs of shafts. The capitals are curiously sculptured: on one I could
distinguish faces of angels and long-necked swans, on another was a
monkey with a long tail twisted round some small object. On the
tympanum, within a border of horseshoe arches, there is a very old group
representing the Adoration of the Magi, the figures of which have been
sadly mutilated. Enclosing the tympanum is an arch decorated with various
images of a symbolic nature. The Eternal Father is represented by a hand
stretched out from clouds in the act of benediction.
We now come to the Cathedral, which is the principal object of interest
in Tuy. King Ferdinand of Leon conquered Tuy and took it from Alfonso of
Portugal in 1170, and as he made a handsome donation in 1180 to its bishop
for the building of a Cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it is thought
that this was the date at which the foundations were laid.[270] The Cathedral
was consecrated in 1124, and at the same time opened for public worship.
The original plan of the building was in the form of a Latin cross with very
short arms, and with three naves in the transept as well as in the body of the
church.
The western façade is very fine, but the episcopal palace which has been
built to the right of the portico detracts greatly from the beauty of its
perspective. The chief façade, with its high flight of steps and its two
massive and castellated towers, has an exterior portico, also castellated and
supported on four pillars. This is the only portico of its kind in Galicia, for
those of Santiago and Orense are interior porticos, and that of Lugo is
merely an additional piece built into the original Romanesque doorway. The
interior of the Tuy portico is square and covered with Gothic vaulting. The
entrance door is flanked on either side by four columns and as many
statues: each statue stands upon the back of some animal, except one, which
rests upon the shoulders of a man;
 BELL-TOWER OF THE THE CATHEDRAL,
CATHEDRAL. TUY.
LOWER PART ROMANESQUE, TUY

three have their feet upon monkeys; between each pair of statues there is
also a column. This class of decoration is anterior to the use of niches; it is
also to be seen in the northern portico of Chartres.[271] The decoration of
the lintel is divided into three subjects, the central relief representing the
death of the Virgin. The tympanum is covered with a sculptured group
representing the Adoration of the Magi.
As we enter the building we are struck with its beautiful and airy
proportions; above the side naves are galleries covered with arches quite
separate from, and below, the Gothic vaulting. Graceful arcades decorate
the whole interior, but unfortunately the view is spoiled by modern brick
walls and pillars added towards the end of the eighteenth century. The choir,
too, is in the centre of the chief nave—a mistake, unfortunately, so common
in Spain, and, as I have before had occasion to observe, quite spoils the
perspective; this choir was constructed in 1700 at the expense of Bishop
Gomez de la Torre. The capitals on which the arches of the nave rest are
finely sculptured, but many of them are too high up to be examined without
a visit to the galleries—which, however, is quite worth while, for it is from
the galleries that the finest view of the elegant triforium, of French design,
can be obtained.
But the great feature of this edifice is the fact that it is a fortified
cathedral, and is at one and the same time a monument of war as well as of
religion; its granite towers with their castellated parapets and loopholes
dominate not only the city, but the country round, for miles. I went up to the
top parapet, and found that the walls of the tower were a yard thick. From
the parapet I looked down upon the old Cathedral Church of San Bartolomé
in the plain below, and upon Santo Domingo, which lay between. The bell
in the clock tower was cracked by lightning in December 1793. The clock
tower is older than any other part of the Cathedral. It was once a royal
tower, and was given by the Emperor Alonso VII.
In the Sala Capitula we saw many interesting parchments with curious
seals, dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries; these were only
discovered by accident in February 1907 by the Archivero José Martinez
Novas; many of these were the deeds by which the various kings conferred
their donations upon the Cathedral, and most of them had seals of lead or
wax. Here we were shown a number of Papal Bulls—one of Paul II., others
of Eugenius IV., Leo X., Julius VI., and Benedict XIV. respectively. Many of
the parchments shown us were of the second half of the tenth century. These
newly discovered trophies must have been hidden away by the priests at the
time of the French invasion. The lower part of the old tower is now covered
by fifteenth-century work, but the Romanesque arch of one of its upper
doorways is still visible in the wall.
This Cathedral is the only church of any importance in the whole of
Galicia which has a rectangular apse, the usual forms being semicircular or
polygonal. In England the practice of making the east end of churches
square began early in the Norman period; we have them, for instance, in
Winchester and Salisbury, but they were rare in France and Spain until
towards the close of the Gothic period. The only example I know of in
Galicia is that of the Colegiata at Bayona.
In its general form and structure of the naves and transept the Cathedral
of Tuy bears rather a close resemblance to that of Santiago de Compostela.
But the cylindrical vaulting of the nave and transept is quite Latino-
Romanesque, without any indication of Byzantine influence. The ribbed
ornamentation of the vaulting is somewhat after the style of the German
Gothic, in the opinion of Señor Casanova, and the triforium as seen from
the pavement of the central nave is not unlike those of the churches of
Southern France.
The Cathedral cloister has some very old arcades with sculptured
capitals, but the upper storey is modern and in bad taste. Behind the
Cathedral is the Capilla de la Misericordia, one of the oldest in Tuy; it is
built upon the solid rock. Close by is a little modern chapel dedicated to San
Telmo, the patron saint of Spanish fishermen, whose birthplace was Tuy.
The great naval school at Seville is dedicated to this saint, who, according
to tradition, has been known to appear to sailors in distress in the form of a
bright light and lead them safely to a haven.[272] One of the Cathedral
chapels is also dedicated to San Telmo, and was built in 1577 by Bishop
Diego de Torquemada.
The principal drive in the neighbourhood of Tuy is to the Portuguese
frontier town of Valença, on the opposite side of the Miño. We started at 2
p.m., on a fine afternoon in the end of April, and enjoyed crossing the
handsome bridge which joins Portugal to Spain above the blue waters of the
largest river in Galicia. Portuguese sentinels in blue uniform greeted us on
the farther bank, and questioned us in the language of their country as to our
object, but they did not ask for passports. At the post office in Valença we
posted Portuguese post-cards to various friends in memory of our afternoon
visit
 PORCH OF TUY CATHEDRAL

to Portugal, and while we were writing them a group of respectably-dressed

boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen gathered round us and watched
us as we wrote. On my laughingly remonstrating with the postmaster, he
replied, “You need not mind the boys; not one of them knows how to read.”
So much for education in Portugal in the twentieth century!
 CHAPTER XXII

ORENSE

Our last view of Tuy Cathedral—Scenery between Tuy and Orense—Ribadavia—

Boundaries of Orense—Crossing the Miño—The Puente Mayor—The hot springs—Their
usefulness—The Cathedral of Orense—Its Pórtico de Gloria—The wonderful crucifix—
The cloister—Santa Eufemia—Fight for her body—The oxen decide—Cardinal Quevado
—Sculpture brought from Italy—Wood-carving—Spanish enamels—A silver crucifix—
The reredos—The Orense Museum—Stone sarcophagi—Roman mosaics—A strange
musical instrument—The Gallegan bagpipe—Orense and the Sueves—The Monastery of
San Francisco—La Trinidad—Allariz—An interesting church—Convent of Santa Clara—
Allariz mentioned by Ptolemy—Strongly fortified—Aquasantas—The parish church—San
Pedro de la Mezquita—Junquera de Ambia—El Mosteiro

W E rose early on a glorious April morning to catch the first train to

Orense. The sun shone brilliantly, and the outline of the blue-grey
hills with which Tuy is surrounded stood out clear and distinct. On
some of these peaks there are still the ruins of fortifications raised by the
ancient Celts when they fled from the Romans in the valley. As the railway
omnibus was taking us through the pine woods to the station, we caught, at
a bend in the road, a view of the Cathedral of Tuy. “What ancient castle is
that?” I inquired of a fellow-passenger. “It is the Cathedral,” he replied,
smiling. This was the second time that I had mistaken that edifice for a
mediæval stronghold.
The line from Tuy to Orense runs through scenery more beautiful than
that of the Austrian Tyrol. For a long time the winding Miño is visible close
beneath the train windows, as it makes its way through the verdant valley,
banked by mossy boulders and clumps of pine or chestnut trees, and now
and again rushing through narrow ravines. The first station we passed was
that of Salvatierra, near which towered a mediæval fortress almost hidden
by ivy, while, dotted about, were some little houses painted red. Terraces of
vines now covered the sloping hills; every now and again we were in the
thick of a pine wood. The station in the pine wood was Nerves: between it
and Arbo the Miño’s bed grew very narrow and stony, and the waters
foamed as they forced their way between the boulders; then they whirled
round in an eddy, and the next minute we were looking at a sparkling
waterfall, below which a peasant sat fishing with a very long line. At Pousa,
the next station, we compared the architecture of the houses on the
Portuguese side of the water with that of the Spanish houses on the opposite
bank: the Portuguese houses were larger and more commodious in
appearance. Steep mountains walled us in as we neared the station of Freira,
and our train described a curve or loop worthy of the Canadian Rockies.
After the next station, Filgueira, the river burst from its granite ravine and
fled round the circular base of a conical mountain.
We had now reached Ribadavia, and the country on all sides was
covered with vine terraces. Ribadavia, hardly more than a large village in
the district of Ribadavia, in the province of Orense, was once an important
town. Garcia, king of Galicia, the son of Ferdinand the Great, had his Court
at Ribadavia, and his palace stood on the spot now occupied by a
Dominican convent. There are two churches at Ribadavia that are well
worth a visit—the conventual Church of Santo Domingo, and the Church of
Santiago. The former is a good specimen of Gallegan architecture, with its
wooden roof and its whitewashed granite walls and arches; the latter has an
interesting Romanesque window.
Orense, it will be remembered, is one of the four provinces into which
modern Galicia is divided. It is bounded on the north by the provinces of
Pontevedra and Lugo, on the south by Portugal, on the east by Zamora and
Leon, and on the west by Pontevedra and Portugal. Its most important rivers
are the Miño, the Sil, the Limia, and the Bibey. The chief town, Orense, is
situated in an extensive and luxuriant valley which lies in the midst of
mountains, many of them having summits of bare rock devoid of all
vegetation. Orense is a clean, bright little town, with more movement in its
streets than is usual in Gallegan towns; it is in closer connection with
Madrid than the others, and has not that mediæval look so characteristic of
the province.
The river Miño lies between the railway station and the town, and is
crossed by an exceedingly fine bridge, which is acknowledged to be one of
the sights of Orense. Molina wrote of it that its principal arch was so high
and of such a width that the Miño could flow beneath the central arch alone
—even after its waters had been swollen by the reception of its many
effluents—without touching the other arches. This bridge, the Puente
Mayor, had originally nine arches, but several of them disappeared at the