When o'er the mighty prairie of the sea,ñaltaMartayMarí I watch the sea-gulls in their rapid flight, My soul is filled with envious thoughts," etc.
If the river could blush, it would not have failed to do so on hearing itself called so hyperbolically the _mighty prairie_; but it took it in bad part, believing that there was some joke intended, and was seriously angry. At all events, the wind undertook to wreak vengeance for it by suddenly snatching off the inspired singer's sombrero and cutting short the current, not to say the torrent, of his voice. The falúa in the wake picked up the hat and restored it in a very water-soaked condition to its owner, who showed no more desire for the time being to continue apostrophizing the sea-gulls.
The little squadron stood nearer and nearer to the handful of houses at El Moral, distant from Nieva about a league and a half. The town kept growing more distant from our voyagers, offering them a beautiful spectacle. It was situated under the brow of a not very lofty mountain, decorated with green gardens and groups of laurel and orange trees on all sides; its white-walled houses seemed to have been placed in such a situation by the hand of an artist who believed in combining the advantages of nature so as to produce the æsthetic emotion, as a stage manager would say; the dazzling whiteness of the town stood out against the dark green of the mountain like a great patch of snow stretching down from the top; the silvery sheet of the river extending at its feet waited motionless and humble till it should melt into its bosom. The gentle, pine-clad hills which bordered the shores, and which our voyagers left one after the other, seemed like the bristling backs of huge, fantastic monsters.
The remarks made by one falúa to another gradually ceased. Each of the boats recovered self-jurisdiction, living for itself alone. Let us listen to what is said in them.
"I am well in years, Don Maximo, but I expect that my daughters are going to see this river perfectly channelled. The amount of water entering the mouth of the port would be sufficient to float vessels of the greatest draught, if it were not so spread out. The question is to utilize it. And how can this be done? Why, it must be done by force, by means of two parallel jetties, which should begin at the very bar and come up as far as Nieva. The water, both at ebb and flow, will pass between them with greater rapidity, working over the bottom until it deepens it. Gradually the space included between the channel and the shores will be left dry, and can be easily improved. To accomplish the drainage, all that is needed is to construct a clay dike against each of the jetties, and open large gates through which the water can flow out but not come in.... Excuse my earnestness!... I know well that this is not a work of months, but of many years; still there is nothing impossible about it.... Once reclaimed, these wide spaces would doubtless be utilized by the population of Nieva, even to the very bank of the beautiful canal, which would be constantly crowded with every kind of craft. The new city built on such a wide level would most certainly have its streets laid out at right angles, like those of the American cities, and magnificent wharves. The true port, however, cannot be here, but near the roadstead of Los Arenales, ... very soon we shall be passing by it. It is a well-sheltered and extensive site, where a whole fleet could have stay-room.... At present it is not very deep; I am perfectly aware of that, but it has a sandy bottom, and you know that with the powerful dredging-machines which we have nowadays, in a very short time, it could be made two or three metres deeper.... Then Nieva will be the most important part of El Cantábrico; the larger part of our mineral products will be exported through it, for the dock at Sarrió is very small, and there is no chance to increase it; instead of going to French watering-places to spend the summer, the Spaniards will come to these beautiful Northern Provinces, neglected to-day for lack of means of communication.... How is Biarritz to be compared in spring with these fresh, delicious regions? What sea-coast of Arcachón can enter into rivalry with ours at Miramar and Las Huelgas?..."