67 



Velasquez the great, and of Murillo the entranced ; to my taste, however, 

 it is somewhat overburdened with fleshy, Dutch paintings. 



I took advantage of our stay in Madrid to visit El Escorial, the vast monas- 

 tery and mausoleum, erected by Philip II., in fulfilment, it is said, of a vow 

 made in time of battle, and ever since the burial place of Spanish monarchs 

 and their consorts. Externally, these massive granite buildings, that appear 

 to spring out from granite flanks of the Guadarramas, have a forbidding, 

 prison-like appearance ; internally, their general sombreness is sometimes 

 relieved by over-ornamentation. Of the various portions of this stupendous 

 edifice, the Pantheon ever since the time of Philip II. the last resting place 

 of Spanish monarchs must, in its simplicity of conception and design, always 

 leave the most abiding impression on the mind of the interested visitor. 



El Escorial is 31 miles by rail from Madrid. This, therefore, was my first 

 acquaintance with the country in the immediate neighborhood of the capital. 



Andalusian Mules . Carting "Cocky Chaff." 



I had often heard of the bleak, inhospitable character of this central plateau 

 of Spair. At this time of the year one realises that it has not been maligned ; 

 and yet there appears to be no lack of depth in its yellowish grey soil, which 

 may be possessed of latent fertility, capable of telling quite another tale at 

 a more favorable time of the year. The most striking feature of the land- 

 scape is the total absence of trees in any shape or form. It has been stated 

 with what amount of truth I do not know that thousands of peasants of 

 Castile and Leon live and die without ever having set eye on a single tree. 

 Complete extirpation of all trees appears to have been the inhabitants' drastic 

 remedy against grain-eating birds. One is tempted to the conclusion that the 

 remedy has out-Heroded Herod. For what would not wisely distributed 

 shelter-belts do towards tempering the climate of this bleak plateau, some 

 2,500ft. above sea-level ? This dreary waste of country accompanies one 



