192 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



all filled by tenants of every class. The mercantile 

 or professional people occupy the ground floors and 

 the first floors, whilst the boatmen, fishermen, and 

 artisans have their abode in the attics and garrets. 

 A great advantage results from this admixture of 

 society. The rich become acquainted with, and 

 can relieve the miseries of their poorer neigh- 

 bours with whom they are thus brought in contact, 

 whilst the poor in their turn, being constantly thrown 

 under the notice of the wealthier classes, are forced, 

 as it were, to avoid that kind of indifference which 

 amongst their order so often degenerates into reck- 

 lessness and slovenliness. 



Saint Sebastian is almost entirely a new town, 

 and with the exception of the churches and a few 

 houses placed near them, all the other buildings 

 are recent. In 1813, the English and Portuguese, 

 those allies which Spain designated by the title of 

 her liberators, when she rose against Napoleon, re- 

 duced to ashes the ancient Donestia.* Saint Se- 

 bastian has now, however, risen entirely from her 

 ruins. At the period of my sojourn, a few crumb- 

 ling walls and some heaps of rubbish lying between 

 my windows and the harbour were the only evi- 

 dences of the demolition that had resulted from the 

 horrors of war. The ancient capital of Guipuzcoa 

 has now recovered its former rank. Industry and 

 commerce have brought back prosperity within her 

 walls, and, as in past times, Saint Sebastian is one of 

 the principal centres of the Basque population. It 



* The Basque name of Saint Sebastian. 



