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 Yalencians, in particular, were 

 treated by the Catalonians as a light, trifling, inconsistent 

 people. They were in the habit of saying to me, " En el 

 reino de Valencia la, came 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 : 



" I 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. 



he sovereign, before assuming power, was bound to 



tornise under oath to respect our freedom and to artic- 



