386 



Padre Mariana, in his Historia Generale de Espana" (4to, Paris, 

 1725, torn, i., p. 31), speaks of the great drought as having occurred cen- 

 turies after the period assigned to the reign of the fabulous King Habidi 

 (or Abidis). 



Mariana says: — " Por several ages nothing remarkable occurred in 

 Spain of which our historians make mention, except a long and extra- 

 ordinary drought, which lasted twenty- six years : it was such, according 

 to the account of our authors, that all the fountains and rivers were dried 

 Tip, with the exception of the Ebro and the Guadalquivir. The ground had 

 become so hard that it had opened in man}^ places; deep gulfs alone were 

 to be seen, so much so, that no one could go forth to look for necessary 

 provisions. . . . 



" Men and animals alike perished, for this drought was followed by 

 a general famine and mortality. Spain became one vast desert and a 

 frightful solitude; princes and the richest people died, as well as the 

 multitude. There were only a few of the i^oorest who got away from 

 this public calamity; for, as they had no means, and that they could not 

 pickup sufficient food to support themselves any length of time, they did 

 not wait for this last extremity, but they dispersed themselves betimes 

 amongst the neighbouring provinces, and along the borders of the sea, 

 where they found sufficient food to maintain themselves. This drought 

 was followed by such furious storms, that the trees which still remained 

 were torn up by the roots. At length a great abundance succeeded these 

 nnhappy times; there followed soft rains, abundance, and fertility, which 

 repaired the terrible evils that had been occasioned by the drought. 

 Other people, having joined themselves to the Spaniards who had retired 

 from the country, came with them to repeople Spain and to revive the 

 Spanish nation, whose name was nearly extinct. It is thus that our 

 writers speak of those years of sterility ; I leave my readers the liberty 

 of believing what they please. 



" I will not dissimulate that many other authors of profound erudition 

 treat all this as a fable ; 'for,' say they, 'there will not be found any author, 

 Greek or Latin, who makes the slightest mention of a similar drought.' 

 Some even of our ancient historians do not speak on this point, although 

 they recount events not much less wonderful ; moreover, nowhere are 

 there to be seen traces of the Spaniards going away, or of their re- 

 turn. . . . 



'' Por my own part, I do not think we ought to reject altogether so 

 ancient and often repeated a tradition, confirmed by the unanimous testi- 

 mony of almost all history. I conceive, nevertheless, that this event, such 

 as it is related by our authors, has little probability in it ; but we mnst 

 not exact a rigorous accuracy about things that happened centuries so 

 far back; it is even much to find the historians record the principal 

 events, and they ought to be pardoned if they sometimes confound the 

 order of time, the places, and the persons — if they attribute to one party 

 what another may have done — if they augment, diminish, and embel- 

 lish what they have heard by tradition. The essential thing is, to pre- 

 serve the main point. History very much resembles those great rivers 



