210 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



and they only granted such a contingent of men and 

 money as they judged suitable. 



The province of Guipuzcoa, which was situated 

 on the extreme frontier, contained a few strongholds, 

 which were garrisoned by the troops of the king of 

 Spain. They, moreover, received a general-com- 

 mandant, who usually resided at Saint Sebastian *, 

 but this officer could not act on his own authority, and 

 his duty was chiefly limited to the joint considera- 

 tion with the Alcades of all questions relating to the 

 defence of the country. With respect to the pro- 

 vince of Biscay, one of its most essential rights was 

 to have neither troops nor royal fortresses in any part 

 of its territory, the sovereign himself being obliged 

 when he entered certain cities to leave behind him 

 all his men at arms, and only to retain about his 

 own person a small escort, whose number was care- 

 fully specified. 



The internal government of Biscay and of Gui- 

 puzcoa differed in certain respects, but they had this in 

 comtnon, that independently of the general franchises, 

 each town and each village, so to speak, had an en- 

 tirely independent and special administration, and not 

 unfrequently particular laws and special privileges. 

 The province was in reality a federal state, com- 

 posed of a great number of small republics governed 

 by their Alcades and their Ayuntamientos\^ all of 



* This circumstance has led Saint Sebastian to be regarded as the 

 capital of Guipuzcoa; but the expression is far from being exact, for 

 in this province, the seat of the Bihar, or general Annual Assembly, 

 and of the Government Junta, changes every year. 



f The province of Biscay includes 110 infanzonados or small 





