Cartagena 1881, Arrival of the Refugees from Oran - Coloured Wood Engraving

The steamer "Correo de Cartagena" moored at the quay, crowded with refugees from Oran, with onlookers sitting on the harbour wall. Hand-coloured newspaper wood engraving, captioned "De fotografía remitida por nuestro corresponsal D. L. Montells" (from a photograph sent by our correspondent), with the engraver's monogram in the lower right corner.

The scene records the flight of the Spanish esparto-grass workers after the attack by Bou Amama's bands at Khalfallah, near Saïda, on 11 June 1881. The news reached Spain on the 18th, and over the following weeks some ten thousand emigrants were repatriated, almost all of them from Almería, Murcia and Alicante.

Medium: Hand-coloured wood engraving (end-grain).
Date: 1881.
Source: Spanish illustrated press.
Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.4 in (27 x 18.8 cm).
Condition: Good. Clean paper without stains. Mounted in a mat with hand-drawn rules; pencil annotations on the back of the mount.