£22 SPAIN. 



The soil of, Spain was formerly very fruitful in corn, but the natives 

 have lately found some scarcity of it, by their disuse of tillage, through 

 their indolence ; the causes of which will be afterwards explained. It 

 produce's in many places, almost spontaneously, the richest and most 

 delicious fruits that are to be found in France and Italy; oranges, lem- 

 ons, prunes, citrons, almonds, raisins, and figs. The wines of Spain-, 

 especially sack and sherry, are in high l'equest among foreigners. There 

 are in the district of Malaga (according to Mr. Townsend) fourteen 

 thousand wine-presses, chiefly employed in making the rich wine, 

 which, if white, from the nature of the country, is called Mountain; 

 if red, from the colour, vino ti?ito, known in England by the name of 

 Tent. Good mountain is sold from thirteen to sixteen pounds the 

 butt, of one hundred and thirty -five gallons, according to quality and 

 age. It is reckoned that from eight hundred to a thousand vessels 

 enter this port every year, of which about one-tenth are Spanish ; and 

 the exports in wine, fruit, oil, and fish, are computed at about 375,000/, 

 per annum; but they have been considerably more. 



Spain indeed offers to the traveller large tracts of unpromising, be- 

 cause uncultivated, ground; but no country perhaps maintains such a 

 number of inhabitants who neither toil nor work for their food; such 

 are the generous qualities of the soil. Even sugar-canes thrive in. 

 Spain ; and it yields saffron, honey, and sHk in great abundance. A 

 late writer, Ustariz, a Spaniard, computes the number of shepherds 

 in Spain to be 40,000; and has given us a most curious detail of their 

 ceconomy, their changes of pasture at certain times of the year, and 

 many other particulars unknown till lately to the public. Those sheep 

 Walks afford the finest of wool, and are a treasure in themselves. Some 

 of the mountains in Spain are clothed with rich trees, fruits, and her- 

 bage, to the tops ; and Seville oranges are noted all over the world. 

 No country produces a greater variety of aromatic herbs, which ren- 

 der the taste of their kids and sheep so exquisitely delicious. The 

 kingdom of Murcia abounds so much with mulberry-trees, that the 

 product of its silk amounts to 200,000/. a year. Upon the whole, few 

 countries in the world owe more than Spain does to nature and less 

 to industry. 



Vegetables. ...Besides the vegetable productions already mention- 

 ed, Spain produces excellent wheat, rice, tobacco, and saffron. Thyme, 

 lavender, rosemary, and other aromatic herbs, grow in prodigious 

 abundance both on the mountains and in the vallies. A kind of grass 

 or rush called esparto, which is very plentiful in the southern provin- 

 ces, is made into mats and ropes, and even into fine linen. 



Animals. ...The Spanish horses, especially those of Andalusia, are 

 thought to be the handsomest of any in Europe, and at the same time 

 are very swift and serviceable. The king endeavours to monopolise 

 the finest breeds for his own stable and service Spain furnishes 

 likewise mules and black cattle ; and the wild bulls have so much 

 ferocity, that the bull-feasts were the most magnificent spectacle the 

 court of Spain could exhibit; nor are they yet disused. Wolves are 

 the chief beasts of prey in Spain, which is well stored with all the 

 game and wild-fowl that are to be found in the neighbouring countries 

 already described. The Spanish seas afford excellent fish of all kinds, 

 especially anchovies, which are here cured in great perfection. This 

 country is much infested with locusts; and Mr. Dillon observes, that 

 in 1754 La Bdaacha was covered with them, and the horrors of fa- 

 mine assailed the fruitful provinces of Andalusia, Murcia, and Valen- 



