NOTES OK A TRIP TO THE SIEKRA DE LA DEMANDA AND MONCAYO. 123 



as it is remarkably isolated. North, south and east, there is no high 

 ground nearer than the Pyrenees to the north, perhaps 80 miles, and 

 the Albarracin Sierra, 100 miles to the south, to the west there is very 

 little over 3000ft. till we reach about 40 miles oft" the Sierra Cebollera 

 and Pico de Urbion, and other summits around Canales. From north 

 to south the ridge is narrow, from east to west it is not much more 

 than six or seven miles, perhaps twice as much if one measures to the 

 actual plain. It is, therefore, an exceedingly isolated mass to have 

 such an elevation. 



The Santuaiio is an old monastery, a long solid range of buildings 

 sheltered under the east side of a remarkable mass of rock standing out 

 from the mountain-side, nearly square, and precipitous on all sides, 

 except a narrow neck connecting it with the face of the mountain above. 

 I believe it does not require more than half the fingers of one hand to 

 count the other places in Spain, where an old monastery or other build- 

 ing afibrds passable shelter at such an elevation. It is one of the 

 difficulties we met with everywhere in Spam, to find accommodation, 

 except at low elevations and a long way from the higher ground. 



The Santuario is divided into two establishments, one forms 

 summer-quarters for the students of an ecclesiastical college, some 20 

 being in residence during our stay, the other is to all intents and 

 purposes an inn, but maintained by the authorities of the church, and 

 run at a loss, for the benefit of people from the country below, who 

 crowd there during August. During our stay there, from July 12th to 

 July 24th, we had the place very much to ourselves, no one staying 

 there for the night till the last few days, we succeeded in making our- 

 selves fairly comfortable there, and the bill was very moderate. Our 

 grateful acknowledgments are due to Professor Sehor Don Jose Ma. 

 Sanz Artibucilla, who represented the authorities during our stay, for 

 his kindness, hospitality, and the genial interest he took in our welfare. 

 Mr. Champion would no doubt describe him as a pleasant companion, 

 which only my ignorance of Spanish prevented my fully realising. 



As well as the direct footpaths and steep mule-tracks, there is a 

 cartway (carretera) very little used, that goes up to the Santuario in 

 long windings, the chief use we found for this was as a very level 

 path on which collecting was often easier than on the very rough 

 ground which formed the greater part of the hillside. From the 

 Santuario there are various other paths, one of which goes to the 

 summit of the mountain, and another, a very broad one, goes directly 

 east along the mountain-side for about a mile, and was apparently con- 

 structed as a walk for exercising when the Santuario w'as a monastery. 

 The Santuario possesses a somewhat celebrated image of the Virgin, 

 and is, in fact, called the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Peha 

 Negra hoy de Moncayo, but this, with other interesting details, must 

 be passed by as being hardly natural history. 



The upper part of the mountain is very rough and stony, it is 

 clothed here and there with heath (Erica arborea) and (ienista pur(ians., 

 but has no other shrubby growth. On the summit grass is more 

 abundant than anything else. The snow, of which there were several 

 large patches when we arrived, had nearly disappeared when we left. 



There is a great hollow directly above the monastery, reaching to 

 the summit, and ending below, some 500ft. or more above the San- 

 tuario, in a chaos of ancient moraines. We left the Santuario by 



