670 MISS M. L. BUXTON ON A TRIP TO -SPAIN. 
and appeared to be going in a northerly direction, I suppose 
they were still migrating. After a little while we came to 
the sandhills, a truly wonderful sight, some of them fifty or 
sixty feet high. They are always being blown by the wind, 
and gradually the pine trees become enveloped in sand, till 
some only show their tops sticking out, and others have 
completely disappeared, while again, as though to show its 
work, the sand has drifted on, uncovering the dead stumps of 
the trees that a short while ago were green and healthy ; 
a most weird and desolate-looking spectacle it is. Yet there 
is plenty of life even here. There are tracks of animals. every- 
where — chiefly Lynx, Fox, Wild Cat and Red Deer. We 
saw a good many Eagles and Kites too, but it was quite 
impossible to identify them, and the keepers were not very 
certain about them. One Eagle’s nest we found at the top of 
a small group of silver poplars, but there were no eggs in it, 
and the old birds were soaring miles away almost out of view. 
Fortunately for us it was a cold season for that country, 
and although the sun was hot there was always a cool breeze. 
Beyond the sandhills there was more pine forest, and then 
we saw the open plain stretching before us as far as the eye 
could see, and still some way off was our other lodge, the 
“ Palacio ” as it is called. We rode into it about 12 o’clock, 
and found it even bigger than the first one and a most 
picturesque old building. The inhabitants, which consisted 
of the wives and families of some of the keepers, were not 
expecting us and were simply delighted at our arrival. As 
we were the first ladies who had ever been there, except 
a very few during the shooting season, they did not get over 
their excitement for some time. 
The “ Palacio ” stands on the edge of the Marismas, and in 
front of it, stretching away to the sea is a plain thickly covered 
with different kinds of cistus and tree heather, with many 
other sweet smelling things, such as rosemary and lavender — 
all of which scent the air in the most delicious manner. Across 
this we rode in the afternoon, to some lagoons not far off. 
We saw the usual Montagu and Marsh Harriers and Black 
Kites, and I saw an Azure Winged Magpie and a great Spotted 
