The fortress of Monjoich, which lies to the south of the city, is remarkably strong, particularly on the side towards Valentia; but it is believed that the principal object of the government in building it, was to keep the free spirit of the Catalans in subjection, by commanding the chief town of the principality: it would require three thousand men to defend it against an enemy. The view of the city from the walls of the fortress is very complete. I cannot by any means allow that it contains a hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants; two-thirds of that number accords better with its general appearance, and even then perhaps the amount would be over-rated. There is nothing of magnificence in this prospect; any one who can imagine a pretty white town with a few ugly steeples rising out of it, backed by a range of hills which are sprinkled over with little pleasure-houses, will have an accurate idea of the general view of Barcelona. The prospect from Monjoich towards the south, is a fine plain, rich beyond description, through which the Llobregat flows into the sea, which it discolours to a great distance.
This plain is terminated by hills; and through an opening of these Montserrat is plainly discovered. The west side of the fortress is bounded by the sea, which washes the foot of the precipice on which it stands. In descending Monjoich, while we were meditating on its name, we observed a stone by the road-side, which had the remains of an Hebrew inscription; but I could neither learn its history, nor that of the mountain. At the inn we found the master of the mules; with whom we agreed for two good beasts and an attendant, to carry us to Montserrat on the following day. We are to pay four dollars for going, and the same for returning, for two mules; and three dollars a day for the time we choose to remain there.
The cannon-foundry at Barcelona is a magnificent establishment; and as the workmen are kept constantly in employ, the store of artillery must be immense. An officer of the engineers shewed us the furnace with the brass prepared which is to be melted tomorrow: and afterwards carried us into the workshop, where the operations of boring, scraping, polishing, and ornamenting the cannon, were going on with great alacrity. Another officer conducted us to the magazine of fire arms, sufficient for a 150,000 men; all are well kept, and shutters are making to preserve them still more carefully. We were next shewn the department where gun-carriages, artillery-carts, &c. are manufactured: a considerable number of persons were preparing wood and iron for these purposes. This superb cannon-foundry is inferior only to that of Seville. When the king was here, several cannon were cast in his presence. We observed in the principal workshop an image of the Virgin, placed in a conspicuous station, with candles before her; and the common prints of St. Francis and St. Anthony pasted upon almost every part of the walls of the manufactory.
The palace of the Tribunal of Commerce has precisely the appearance of an English town-hall, or sessions-house of the last century: the architecture, consisting of a front of four half-columns, and a pediment with the royal arms, is regular and neat, but perfectly insipid; it is the chief building in Barcelona. In its court are placed statues of Neptune, and the four quarters of the world, which are greatly admired in this city: the first is awkward in the design, and indifferently executed; the others are a most ludicrous confirmation of what we heard yesterday, that no women are suffered to be studied as models in the academy of Barcelona.