Introductory 



than money. Where all are Cahalleros, neither titles nor wealth 

 impress or subdue. The wanderer is free to join his new-made 

 friends in the chase, taking equal chance with keen sportsmen 

 and on terms of equality. He will find his nationality a passport 

 to their liking, and soon discover that Arab hospitality has left 

 an abiding impress in these wild regions ; as, indeed, Moorish 

 domination has done on every Spanish thing. 



That last sentence sums up an ever-present and essential 

 factor. In any description of this country, however superficial, 

 this Oriental heritage must always be borne in mind as an 

 influence of first importance. Previous to the Arab inrush, 

 Spain had enjoyed practically no organic national existence. 

 The Peninsula was 

 occupied by a cluster 

 of separate kingdoms, 

 not united nor even 

 homogeneous, and 

 usually one or another 

 at war with its neigh- 

 bour. Neither Roman 

 nor Goth had fused 

 the Spanish races into 

 a concrete whole dur- 

 ino- their eisfht cen- 

 turies of overlordship. 

 In A.D. 711 occurred a decisive day. Then, on Guadalete's plain, 

 below the walls of Jerez, that impetuous Arab chieftain Tarik 

 overthrew the Gothic King Roderick and with him the power 

 of Spain. Like an overwhelming flood, the Arabs swept across 

 the land. Within two years (by 713) the insignia of the 

 Crescent floated above every castle and tower, and Moslem rule 

 was absolute throughout the country — excepting only in the 

 wild northern mountains of Asturias, whence the tenacity of the 

 mountaineers, guided by the genius of Pelayo, flung back the 

 tide of war. 



Spanish history for the next seven centuries (711-1492) 

 records " Moorish domination." Now history, as such, lies 

 outside our scope ; but we become concerned where Arab systems, 

 and their methods of colonisation, have altered the face of the 

 earth and left enduring marks on wilder Spain. And we may, 



Types of Spanish Bird-Life 

 WOODCHAT SHRIKE (Lanivs 2MmeraMVs) 



