202 Foreign Notices : — Spaifi. 



is the northern zone, which includes Galicia, Asturias, the Free or Basque 

 Provinces, Upper Navarre, and the maritime part of Old Castile. This is the 

 region of humidity and moisture, and possesses, especially the parts which 

 adjoin the coasts, a remarkable equality of temperature throughout the year. 

 It is the only dairy country in Spain ; which branch of industry, as well as 

 that of breeding horses and other domestic animals, is as yet in its infancy, 

 although capable of almost indefinite extension. The natural limits to this 

 region, inland, are the ranges which separate it from Castile, and bear up the 

 great table land which forms the centre of Spain ; and the termination of the 

 Western Pyrenees, in the uplands of Lower Navarre and Old Castile. 



" The vegetation of this division is characterised by the Quercus i^obur ; 

 Quercus /Mex, the true ilex ; the MenziesM Daboecz, Irish heath ; common 

 fern ; f Mex stricta and europae^a ; and other plants of a northern and moist 

 climate. The forests are now not extensive, but it contains more valuable 

 and available timber than any other part of Spain. It produces little or no 

 oil, and wine only in small quantity and of inferior quality. 



" The second is much the more extensive division, as it includes the Cas- 

 tiles, Estremadura, Aragon, and part of Catalonia, with the upper parts of 

 Valencia, Murcia, and Andalusia ; thus embi-acing a large portion of all Spain. 

 The peculiar characteristic of this region is, the dryness of the atmosphei'e 

 during the greater part of the year. Copious winter and vernal rains, acting 

 on a soil generally tenacious of moisture, impart a fertility peculiarly suited to 

 the cerealia, leguminosae, and the vine, which are the finest in the world, with 

 the least skill and attention bestowed on them. This wide range extends 

 over the varied climates, elevations, and soils, which maintain the mesta, or 

 flocks of merinos, in their wandering life. The olive is abundantly grown in 

 some parts, but less so than in the southern region. The silk-worm, which 

 now can hardly be said to exist, ought to enrich the greater part of what is 

 now one of the poorest countries in Europe. 



" Upper Aragon and Catalonia are referred to this division. The situation 

 of these countries, at the foot of the Pyrenees, would seem to insure them 

 humidity j but it is by no means the case. On their western side the high 

 Pyrenees break the flow of vapour from the Atlantic, and cause it to be pi'e- 

 cipitated on the northern division, leaving nearly the whole region included 

 in these provinces comparatively dry. 



" This region contains the vast pine forests of Aragon, of the Sierras de 

 Cuenca, Segura, and the Guadarrama, and of the central range of Castile. It 

 is characterised by the Spanish ilex ; the Quercus Toza; and Quercus jarasina, 

 or a species presumed to be this, which is widely spread over its middle 

 elevation ; by the white cistus, which grows in prodigious quantities in some 

 of the middle parts j and by the absence of those which are enumerated as 

 marking the divisions on each side of it. 



" The third region is that which lies along the coast of the Mediterranean, 

 at the foot of the ranges which extend in a parallel direction to it, and protect 

 it from the piercing cold of winter, to which the middle division is exposed. 

 The coast of Western Andalusia, and the valley of the Guadalquivir, as far as 

 Cordova, or Andujar, must be referred to this division. It is characterised 

 by a dry and burning atmosphere, during part of the year, and a temperate 

 winter which succeeds it; a portion of it having abundant rains, whilst others 

 depend on irrigation for the produce of their culture. The productions are, 

 sugar, cotton, rice ; the batata (sweet potato), and other fruits of southern 

 climes ; and it is the favoured country of the lemon, orange, and palm. In 

 it, at present, is almost exclusively found the scanty production of the mul- 

 berry. It is difficult to assign arbitrary lines to the vegetation, or to affix the 

 limits of it, as some species, properly belonging to it, spread into the upland 

 region above it, the aloe and cactus, for instance; and the palm will, in 

 sheltered situations, resist the cold of Madrid, although its fruit only matures 

 in this region : but the Ceratonia (Siliquastrum (algarroba), which is a delicate 

 tree, nearly all those in Catalonia being killed to the ground in the winter of 



