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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photo by IjOuise Coleman 

 THE PUBLIC FOUNTAIN IN A SPANISH TOWN 



dore ; the saint's relics were brought here 

 in 1063 by Ferdinand I of Castile and 

 Leon. 



At the end of the main street, with its 

 lively groups and here and there an ox 

 cart, is the famous cattle market. The 

 mouse-colored oxen are short-horned and 

 much like ours ; they are yoked by the 

 horns ; skins are used to keep the yoke 

 from galling. In another part of the 

 town a general market is held Saturday 

 mornings. The square is crowded with 

 booths and with peasants buying and 

 selling. The section devoted to local 

 pottery is especially interesting. The 

 peasants dress largely in homespun — 

 they still practise the household arts in 

 Spain. The men wear knee-trousers, 

 and one sees here, as in many parts of 

 Spain and our own Southwest, the alpar- 

 gatas — low canvas shoes with hempen 

 soles. 



The Guadarrama Mountains, running 

 across the Castilian tableland, overlook 



the Escurial, Philip the Second's impos- 

 ing palace. This was his hobby ; to it 

 he devoted millions of dollars, at a time 

 when he was often at his wit's end for 

 money. In its wild, rocky surroundings 

 the enormous pile is extraordinarily im- 

 pressive. Within, one is shown the 

 funeral niches where rest the kings and 

 queens of Spain, and the chamber where 

 Philip himself died of a loathsome and 

 lingering malady. 



More interesting, perhaps, is the won- 

 derful collection of manuscripts. In 

 spite of disastrous fires, the Escurial re- 

 mains one of the world's great libraries. 

 Many of the manuscripts are illustrated. 

 In one we see our first parents, as a 

 tenth - century Spanish monk pictured 

 them ; they eye one another with recrimi- 

 natory glances ; but the serpent, twined 

 about the tree, leaves no doubt who was 

 guilty. Another manuscript, written in 

 1047, has as its frontispiece the Cross of 

 Oviedo — the Christian symbol in the 



