Foreign Notices : — Spain. 203 



1829-30, or the beautiful oleander, might serve as general boundary marks. 

 The Salsolae, which produce the barilla, and the liquorice root, are the exclu- 

 sive produce of its soil. This division now contains no extensive forests, and 

 timber is but scantily spread over its surface. It produces wine and oil in the 

 greatest abundance, and of the best qualities. This region may be appro- 

 priately named after one similarly situated in another hemisphere, the Tierra 

 Caliente. 



" These divisions, which are founded on the arrangements of nature, will be 

 occasionally referred to in these sketches, in which the botanical department 

 is omitted, excepting the important and neglected branch of the forests. 



" The southern and middle districts contain the most interesting botany of 

 Spain : they realise what an eloquent modern writer said of Italy, which is 

 naturally far inferior to it, that " her waste is more than the fertility of other* 

 countries." This is literally true of Spain, where, in the most wild and un- 

 cultivated parts, the air is perfumed with delicious scents; the ovens are 

 lighted, and the ores are smelted, with the most aromatic shrubs; and in cases 

 of epidemic, in many districts, they would send out to the Sierras for brush- 

 wood to burn in the streets, confident that the aroma would ward off or 

 disperse the pestilence. The syngenesious plants alone would reward a 

 botanist for a toilsome journey. No country in Europe can compete with 

 them in this class of vegetable production. The /ridaceae and the Cistaceae 

 are equally varied and abundant. It is very much to be regretted that some 

 use should not be made of a station so conveniently situated as Gibraltar, to 

 forward the views of science in that most interesting locality, where, with com- 

 parative ease, and at a trifling expense, most valuable information might be 

 obtained." (vol. ii. p. 216—223.) 



Forests. — The forests of Spain have suffered much from the destruction of 

 the trees by the peasantry ; and though there is an excellent code of forest 

 laws, they are inoperative from the general habit which prevails of evading 

 their execution. Some of the most magnificent forests in the Castiles, in 

 Andalusia, and Estremadura have been passed by nearly unnoticed, both by 

 native and foreign botanists, though the herbaceous plants have, in most parts 

 of the country, been carefully examined by Cavanilles, Roxas de San-Clemente, 

 and others. In the maritime district there are few forests naturally ; and a 

 law, by which the king is proprietor of every tree in these districts fit for naval 

 purposes, completely prevents them from being planted. 



" Nothing can be done until the government resolutely puts an end to this 

 system, by sweeping away every impediment, and enforces the execution of the 

 laws, and the appropriation of common and waste lands to the purpose of 

 planting. In many districts they may be said to be entirely without wood for 

 any purpose, whilst the country around is in a state of wild and unproductive 

 waste. This is the case in various parts of the Castiles, of Aragon, and of 

 Andalusia and Estremadura. In the mining districts they are compelled, in 

 many places, to burn the aromatic shrubs of the country, which are rapidly 

 consumed, and even now are becoming scarce, and are only suited for certain 

 purposes ; whilst the more solid fuel must be brought coastwise from distant 

 parts. In the cities, the fuel is becoming more and more scarce, and must 

 generally be fetched from great distances. The increase of population is 

 retarded by a system which deprives the tender child, or the sickly adult, 

 of the means of resisting the severe winter cold which prevails over the 

 greater part of Spain, and is the more felt after their burning summer. The 

 destructive habit that has bared those plains, which, more than any other, 

 require shelter from the ardent sun, is confined to no part or race in the 

 country. Immediately after the conquest of the southern provinces from the 

 Moors, who were careful protectors and cultivators of trees, the work of 

 destruction commenced, and their extensive woods are now scarcely to be 

 traced. The feeble remains of former habits are to be seen in some villages of 

 the kingdom of Granada, where an ancient tree of large dimensions, which has 



Q 4 J., 



