324. Unexplored Spain 
Regular fixed shoots take place every Saturday throughout 
the season, with, however, certain small exceptions, aimed partly 
at securing to the fowl a period of rest and quiet on their first 
arrival, and partly due to the festivals of St. Martin and St. 
Catherine being public days and free to all. 
_ The species of ducks obtained on Albufera do not differ from 
those at Daimiel. On these deeper waters pochards and the 
various diving-ducks are more conspicuous than on the shallower 
rice-swamps of the Caldereria. 
(2) Taz CaLpEreria 
In contrast with the Albufera (and with Daimiel) the Caldereria 
is not a natural lagoon, but simply the artificial inundation of 
rice-grounds (arrozales), such inundation being necessary for the 
cultivation of that grain. 
The rice-grounds of the Caldereria belong to the three adjacent 
communes of Sueca, Cullera, and Sollana—held in a joint peasant- 
proprietorship. The flooding of the arrozales was commenced 
in 1850, the original object being the cultivation of rice, combined 
with the taking of wildfowl in nets (paranses). It was, 
however, early seen that the enormous quantities of wild-ducks 
attracted to the spot were of almost equal value with the grain- 
crop, and the fame of the Caldererfa attracted troops of sportsmen 
from all parts of Spain. This influx, for some years, the local 
authorities endeavoured to check, with a view to securing the 
sport for local residents—who, by the way, wanted to enjoy this 
good thing at the price of a dollar a year! In 1880 it was 
decided to put up to auction the different shooting-posts, or 
replazas, without any restriction. 
The whole of the arrozales are accordingly divided into 
defined sections called replazas, each perhaps 500 or 600 yards 
square, forming roughly, as it were, a gigantic chessboard, though 
the various replazas are quite irregular in shape and size. These 
are sold by public auction at a fixed date. The best positions 
realise as much as, say, £80 to £100. A large rental is thus 
obtained yearly, some villages receiving as much as 6000 dollars. 
Since the whole shooting area is their common property, every 
peasant and villager is personally interested in the value and 
success of the shooting, and each thus becomes virtually a game- 
