Introductory 15 



of three millions sterling yearly. Spain is the home of " chance " : 

 that element appeals to Spanish character. Thus in bull-fighting 

 (the one popular pastime) the name applied to each of its 

 formulated exploits is suerte — chance. 



Spain is frequently accused of being a land of manana. 

 Hardly can we call to mind a book on the country in which 

 some play on that word does not figure. But procrastination is 

 not confined to any one country, and in this case the accusers 

 are quite as likely to be guilty as the accused. A characteristic 

 that strikes us as more applicable is rather the reverse — that of 

 taking no thought for the morrow. Let us take an example or 

 two. It is not the custom to repair roads. When, from long- 

 use, a road has gradually passed from bad to worse, till at length 

 it has virtually ceased to exist, then it is " reconstruction " that 

 is the remedy. Annual repairs, one may presume, would cost, 

 say half the amount, would preserve continuous utility, and 

 avoid that slowly aggravated destruction that ends finally in 

 a hiatus. But that is not the Spanish way. " Reconstruction " 

 is preferred. The ruthless cutting down of her forests without 

 replanting a single tree has already been quoted. Next take 

 an example or two of the things that lie most directly under 

 the authors' special view, such as game. The ibex — a unique 

 asset, restricted to Spain, and of which any other country w^ould 

 be proud — has been callously shot down without thought for 

 to-morrow, extirpated for ever in a dozen of its former habitats. 

 The redleg — under the murderous system of shooting, year in 

 and year out, over decoy-birds — would ^ be exterminated within 

 three or four years in any other country save this. It is merely 

 the incredible fecundity of the bird and the vast area of waste 

 lands that preserves the breed. Partridge in Spain are like 

 rabbits in Australia — indestructible. The trout affords another 

 example. Everywhere else on earth the trout is prized as one 

 of nature's valued gifts — hard to over-appreciate. Fully one- 

 half of Spain is expressly adapted to its requirements. Trout 

 were intended by nature to abound over the northern half of 

 Spain — say down to the latitude of Madrid, and even in the 

 extreme south where conditions are favourable, as in the Sierra 

 Nevada. Trout might abound in Spain to the full as they 

 abound in Scotland or Norway, adding value to every river and 



