8 
JOUltNEX IJiliOUGII SI M rv 
during the journey that mild temperature of the spring 
Ai lneh m so southern a latitude usually occurs during March 
and April. The snow still covered the lofty granitic tops 
of the Guadaraiiui ; but m the deep rallies of Galicia, which 
resemble the most picturesque spofs of Switzerland and the 
} rol, cistuses loaded with flowers ; and arborescent heaths 
c othed every rock. Wo quitted without regret the elevated 
plarn of the two Castiles, which is everywhere devoid of 
vegetation, and where the severity of the winter’s cold is 
followed by the overwhelming boat of summer. Prom the 
tew observations I personally made, the interior of Spain 
tonus a vast plain, elevated three hundred toiscs (five 
hundred and eighty-four metres) above the level of the 
ocean, is covered with secondary formations, grit-stone, gyp. 
Tti r 6 n am - t l6 Ca eare 1 T stonc of Jura- The climate 
ot the Castiles is much colder than that of Toulon and 
uenoa ; its mean temperature scarcely rises to 15° of tlic 
centigrade thermometer. 
We are astonished to find that, in the latitude of Calabria 
Thessaly, and Asia Minor, orange-trees do not flourish in 
the open air. The central elevated plain is encircled by a 
low and narrow zone, where the ehaimerops, the date-tree, 
the sugar-cane, the banana, and a number of plants common 
to Spam and the north of Africa, vegetate on several spots 
wit bout suffering from the rigours of winter. Trom tho 
-3(>tb to 40th degrees of latitude, the medium temperature 
f this zone is from 1/ to 20 degrees ; and bv a concurrence 
ot circumstances, which it would be too long to explain, this 
tavoured region has become the principal seat of industrv 
ana intellectual improvement. 
When, in the kingdom of Valencia, wo ascend from tho 
^ Mediterranean towards the lofty plains of La 
Mancha and the Castiles, we seem to discern, fin- inland from 
the lengt hened declivities, the ancient coast of the Peninsula. 
This curious phenomenon recalls the traditions of tho Samo- 
liracians, and other historical testimonies, according to which 
£ ls su PP ose d that the irruption of the waters through the 
-Dardanelles, augmenting the basin of the Mediterranean rent 
and Overflowed the southern part of Europe. If wo aS 
that these traditions owe their origin, not to mere geological 
reveries, but to the remem orance ot some ancient catastrophe, 
