298 Spain. 
America, the prosperity of the country was destroyed, 
the population reduced to 10 million in 1800, and the 
conditions of character and government created which 
are the cause of its present desolation. Since the be- 
ginning of the century, the population has increased to 
near 18 million, but financial bankruptcy keeps the 
government inefficient and unable to accomplish re- 
forms even if the people would let it have its way. 
1. Forest Conditions. 
It has been a matter of speculation whether Spain 
was, or was not, once heavily wooded (see page 11). In 
Roman times only the Province of La Manca is re- 
ported as being unforested, and in the 13th and 14th 
centuries extensive forest zones are still recorded. The 
character of the country at present, and the climate, 
both resembling so much our own arid plains, make it 
questionable to what extent the forest descended from 
the mountain ranges, which were undoubtedly well 
wooded. 
At present the forest is mainly confined to the higher 
mountains. The best is to be found in the Pyrenees 
and their continuation, the Cantabrian mountains. 
The area of actual forest (bosques) is not known 
with precision, since in the official figures mere poten- 
tial forest, i. e., brush and waste land, is included 
(montes), and the area varies, i. e., diminishes through 
new clearings, of which the statistics do not keep ac- 
count. Moreover, the statistics refer only to the “public 
forests,” leaving out the statement of private forest 
areas, if any. 
In 1859, this area was reported as over 25 million 
