Excursion to Moncayo, N. Spain. 83 



town being situate at its mouth. Anguiano would probably 

 be a good centre for collecting, but we were satisfied with 

 one night there (the " parador " being a vast malodorous 

 stable, with the living-rooms over it, as usual in Spain), 

 leaving at 4 a.m. next day, by the diligence for Logrono. 

 At Logroiio, a large city on the Ebro, and the centre of the 

 rich wine-producing district of the Rioja, in the vicinity of 

 which a terrible railway accident had occurred a few days 

 previously, we took the train to Tudela, for Tarazona, 

 arriving there the same evening. After spending a day in 

 this old cathedral city on the Queiles (another affluent of 

 the Ebro, and nearly dry at this season), the extremely 

 narrow streets in the upper part of it reminding us of 

 Cuenca and Albarracin, we made our way up to the old 

 Santuario or Monastery, dedicated to Neustra Sehora de 

 Moncayo, five hours distant, involving an ascent of about 

 4000 feet. Here we were fortunate enough to obtain good 

 accommodation, thanks to the kindness of Jose M. Sanz 

 Artubuciila, the priest-in-charge, staying from July 12th 

 to 24th. The first half of the journey from Tarazona — 

 usually commenced at 4 a.m. — was through ground 

 cultivated with olives, vines, maize, etc., alternating higher 

 up with brick-fields, an extensive scrub of deciduous oaks 

 growing among loose stones being then entered, followed as 

 we ascended by a broad belt of beech forest. Immediately 

 above this was the Santuario, well sheltered from the wind 

 by a great square mass of perpendicular blackish rock, 

 known as the Peha Negra. Hence to the wind-swept 

 summit the slopes, except where covered with loose shale, 

 are clothed with heath, mostly of a very sweet-smelling, 

 white-fiowered species, which when in blossom harboured 

 an immense number of minute insects, appearing to be 

 even more attractive to them than the scattered Genista. 

 The summit itself, often enveloped in cloud during our 

 stay, has a scattered growth of tussocky grass, etc., afford- 

 ing sufficient pasturage for the numerous goats and sheep 

 that are often taken up there. From the Santuario, which 

 is uninhabited in winter, owing to the large accumulation 

 of snow, a magnificent view is obtained of the broad valley 

 of the Ebro, the river appearing as a mere silver thread 

 from this elevation (5800 feet*), backed by the entire range 

 of the Pyrenees, the Pic de Nethou, the Maladetta group, 



* The elevation of the " hermitage " is given in Murray s Guide as 

 275 feet below the summit, this being probably a misprint for 2750. 



