CLiArayE Rai: 
IN THE UPPER SIERRA. 
Extreme wildness—Changes in vegetation—Little-known tracks—Smugglers and 
their foes, the Carabinevos—Cheery companions—The limestone mountains 
—Cultivation under difficulties—Tobacco growing—A fight for a crop— 
Natural fortresses—The hidden Moorish villages—Mountain gorges—A 
deep ravine—Subterranean streams—Old limestone formations—Dangerous 
climbing—An unpleasant experience—Denuded crags—El/ Cuchillo—Ibex— 
A lost opportunity—Wolves—A desert of rocks — Absolute solitude—Choughs, 
Alpine Accentors, Rock Buntings and Peregrine Falcons—Sierra de Libar— 
Brigands—Secuestvadoves—The brothers Bonel—The Guardia Civil—A for- 
bidden district—The fate of ‘‘ Monte Cristo ’’—The fascination of the Sierra 
—Marvellous panoramic views. 
LTHOUGH! the «height: “of the 
lower sierra in south-west Anda- 
lucia only averages between 1,500 
and 2,500 ft. above the sea, the 
greater part of the country it in- 
cludes is of extraordinary wild- 
ness. Less than 1,000 ft. up the 
whole of the flora and vegetation 
undergoes a marked change and as 
one ascends higher, the oleander, 
which fringes every stream in the 
lower-lying districts, is replaced by 
rhododendron, arbutus, laurestinus 
and other ever-green shrubs, giant 
white heath, often 10 to 15 ft. high 
taking the place of the red heather of the lowlands. Roads, in 
