On Small-Game Shooting in Spain 335 
adds for a naturalist an incomparable charm to days spent in 
Spanish wilds. Alas! that even here those pristine conditions 
should already appear to be doomed, that every savage spirit 
must be quenched, till nothing save the utilitarian survive! 
The following notes on game-preservation in Spain indicate the 
beginning of the change. 
ON SOME GREAT SPoRTING ESTATES OF SPAIN 
Game-preservation, in the stricter sense in which it is practised 
in England, was unknown in Spain till within our own earlier 
days. But now many great estates yield bags of partridge that 
may challenge comparison with results obtained elsewhere. 
‘Whether those results equal the best of the crack partridge- 
manors in England or not we do not inquire. It is immaterial 
and irrelevant. No comparison is either desirable or possible 
where natural conditions and difficulties differ fundamentally. 
But the result at least throws a ray of reflected light upon the 
energy and capacity of the Spanish gamekeeper, who, under 
extraordinary difficulties, has aided and enabled his employers 
to produce conditions which only a few years ago would have 
appeared impossible. It should be added that these estates 
which now realise surprising results have, in most instances, 
belonged to the same owners during generations, though not till 
towards the end of last century was any special care bestowed 
upon the game. 
The estate of Mudéla, in La Mancha, the property of the 
Marquis de Mudéla, Count of Valdelagrana, stands unrivalled 
in a sporting sense. Its extent is approximately 80,000 acres, 
and the whole abounds with red-legged partridge, rabbits, and 
hares. A dozen consecutive driving-days can be enjoyed, each on 
fresh ground, and 1000 partridges are often here secured by seven 
guns, driving, in a day. 
There is here quite a small proportion of corn-land or tillage, 
the greater portion consisting of the rough pasturage, interspersed 
with patches of scattered brush and palmetto, which is character- 
istic of southern Spain. 
The great results achieved (for 1000 partridges a day, all 
wild-bred birds, can only so be described) are due to systematic 
