56 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



hills were given to the grazing of herds of sheep, goats, and eattle. 

 On many of the lower slopes were extensive forests of oak, beech, 

 and chestnut, while above were open meadows dotted with low mats 

 of gorse, and beyond, bare, rocky peaks rising to an elevation of 6,000 



Fig. 47. — Stork's nest on a church tower near Riano. 



feet or more. As in other sections in northern Spain the people lived 

 clustered in little towns and villages, where their houses of stone with 

 roofs of tile and slate huddled closely together. Daily men and women 

 went out to tend their flocks or work their fields so that there were 

 few country habitations. 



