On Small-Game Shooting in Spain 335 



adds for a naturalist an incomparable charm to days spent in 

 Spanish wilds. Alas ! that even here those pristine conditions 

 should already appear to be doomed, that every savage spirit 

 must be quenched, till nothing save the utilitarian survive ! 

 The following notes on game-preservation in Spain indicate the 

 beginning of the change. 



On some great Sporting Estates of Spain 



Game-preservation, in the stricter sense in which it is practised 

 in England, was unknown in Spain till within our own earlier 

 days. But now many great estates yield bags of partridge that 

 may challenge comparison with results obtained elsewhere. 



Whether those results equal the best of the crack partridge- 

 manors in England or not we do not inquire. It is immaterial 

 and irrelevant. No comparison is either desirable or possible 

 where natural conditions and difficulties differ fundamentally. 

 But the result at least throws a ray of reflected light upon the 

 energy and capacity of the Spanish gamekeeper, who, under 

 extraordinary difficulties, has aided and enabled his employers 

 to produce conditions which only a few years ago would have 

 appeared impossible. It should be added that these estates 

 which now realise surprising results have, in most instances, 

 belonged to the same owners during generations, though not till 

 towards the end of last century was any special care bestowed 

 upon the game. 



The estate of Mud^la, in La Mancha, the property of the 

 Marquis de Mudela, Count of Valdelagrana, stands unrivalled 

 in a sporting sense. Its extent is approximately 80,000 acres, 

 and the whole abounds with red-legged partridge, rabbits, and 

 hares. A dozen consecutive driving-days can be enjoyed, each on 

 fresh ground, and 1000 partridges are often here secured by seven 

 guns, driving, in a day. 



There is here quite a small proportion of corn-land or tillage, 

 the greater portion consisting of the rough pasturage, interspersed 

 with patches of scattered brush and palmetto, which is character- 

 istic of southern Spain. 



The great results achieved (for 1000 partridges a day, all 

 wild-bred birds, can only so be described) are due to systematic 



