Introductory zi 
than money. Where all are Cabaileros, neither titles nor wealth 
impress or subdue. The wanderer is free to join his new-made 
friends in the chase, taking equal chance with keen sportsmen 
and on terms of equality. He will find his nationality a passport 
to their liking, and soon discover that Arab hospitality has left 
an abiding impress in these wild regions; as, indeed, Moorish 
domination has done on every Spanish thing. 
That last sentence sums up an ever-present and essential 
factor. In any description of this country, however superficial, 
this Oriental heritage must always be borne in mind as an 
influence of first importance. Previous to the Arab inrush, 
Spain had enjoyed practically no organic national existence. 
The Peninsula was 
occupied by a cluster 
of separate kingdoms, 
not united nor even 
homogeneous, and 
usually one or another 
at war with its neigh- 
bour. Neither Roman 
nor Goth had fused 
the Spanish races into 
a concrete whole dur- 
ing their eight cen- 
turies of overlordship. 
In a.D. 711 occurred a decisive day. Then, on Guadalete’s plain, 
below the walls of Jerez, that impetuous Arab chieftain Tarik 
overthrew the Gothic King Roderick and with him the power 
of Spain. Like an overwhelming flood, the Arabs swept across 
the land. Within two years (by 713) the insignia of the 
Crescent floated above every castle and tower, and Moslem rule 
was absolute throughout the country—excepting only in the 
wild northern mountains of Asturias, whence the tenacity of the 
mountaineers, guided by the genius of Pelayo, flung back the 
tide of war. 
Spanish history for the next seven centuries (711-1492) 
records ‘“ Moorish domination.” Now history, as such, lies 
outside our scope; but we become concerned where Arab systems, 
and their methods of colonisation, have altered the face of the 
earth and left enduring marks on wilder Spain. And we may, 
Types oF Spanisu Brrp-Lire 
WOODCHAT SHRIKE (Lantus pomeranus) 
