PROVINCIAL ANIMOSITIES. 27 
Never could I better appreciate the intelligent measure 
by which the constituent assembly abolished the ancient 
division of France into provinces, and substituted its 
division into departments, than in traversing for my 
triangulation the Spanish border kingdoms of Catalonia, 
Valencia, and Aragon. The inhabitants of these three 
provinces detested each other cordially, and nothing less 
than the bond of a common hatred was necessary to 
make them act simultaneously against France. Such 
was their animosity in 1807 that I could scarcely make 
use at the same time of Catalonians, Aragons, and Valen- 
cians, when I moved with my instruments from one sta- 
tion to another. The Valencians, in particular, were 
treated by the Catalonians as a light, trifling, inconsistent 
people. They were in the habit of saying to me, “ Hn el — 
reino de Valencia la carne es verdura, la verdura agua, 
los hombres mugeres, las mugeres nada; which may be 
translated thus: “In the kingdom of Valencia meat is 
a vegetable, vegetables are water, men are women, and 
women nothing.” 
On the other hand, the Valencians, speaking of the 
Aragons, used to call them “ schuros.” 
Having asked of a herdsman of this province who had 
brought some goats near to one of my stations, what was 
the origin of this denomination, at which his compatriots 
showed themselves so offended : 
“T do not know,” said he, smiling cunningly at me, 
“whether I dare answer you.” “Go on, go on,” I said 
to him, “I can hear anything without being angry.” 
“ Well, the word schuros means that, to our great shame, 
,we have sometimes been governed by French kings. 
The sovereign, before assuming power, was bound to 
promise under oath to respect our freedom and to artic- 
