County of Bute-Islands of Bute and Arran-Dumbarton, Loch Lomond-Inverary-View of the County of Perth, Inverness Island of Skye-Dunvegan-Banff-Elgin, Lairn-Cromarty-Tain-The Hebrides or Western Is- lands-County of Sutherland--Dornoch--Thurso--Wick Europe continued.-Physical Geography of the Spanish Peninsula.-History of the ancient People that inhabited Spain and Portugal.-Mussulman Conquest. BOOK No part of Europe is more favoured by nature than the Spanish Peninsula; in ancient times, its mountains defend- cXXXVII. ed it against the attacks of hostile tribes; and so great is the variety of its climate that the productions of the tropics are blended with those of the temperate zone. Lofty plains, fruitful in useful plants, hills covered with vineyards, rich valleys watered by streams and rivers, so situated as to afford easy communications by means of canals, are the elements of an agricultural wealth, which might be rendered by industry more valuable than the possession of the largest colonies. A vast extent of coast, spacious and safe barbours, open to the navigation of two seas, are not less favourable to commerce. By what causes have the sources of so great prosperity been destroyed? The population of France exceeds that of Spain by fourteen millions, but the superficial extent of Spain is greater by two thousand and sixty-five square leagues. The same vast region has been called a peninsula, per- Extent and haps incorrectly, for the space between the gulfs of Lions surface. and Gascony can hardly be considered an isthmus. The Pyrenees separate it from France; one half of the country BOOK CXXXVII. Mountains Pyrenees. Rocks. is watered by the ocean, and the other by the Mediterranean. The greatest length from east to west may be equal to 220 leagues, and the greatest breadth from north to south, to 190. The surface of the Peninsula is equal to 28,804 square leagues, of these, 4,922 belong to Portugal, 23,867 to Spain, and 15 to the republic of Andorra.* It is only of late years that the physical geography of the country has been accurately described. The mountains by which it is divided, it was supposed, extended from a common centre, and their ramifications were compared to the veins of a vine leaf. A writer of very varied acquirements has detected the errors of former geographers. If the Spaniards are now less ignorant of the mountains, rivers and basins in their Peninsula, they are indebted to the labours of a foreigner.t The mountains in the Peninsula, according to M. Bory de St. Vincent, form seven different divisions. The whole chain of the Pyrences may be divided into five principal masses. First, the Mediterranean or eastern, in which the highest summit is the peak of Canigou, from its declivities rise the Segro, a feeder of the Ebro, the Ter and the Llobrega that throw themselves into the Mediterranean; secondly, the Aquitanian, their glaciers are the sources of the Garonne and the Adour, but no large river flows from it into Spain; thirdly, the Cantabrian or central, separated from the Asturian by the sources of the Ebro; fourthly, the Asturian, almost as high as the Aquitanian, and rising abruptly on the south; fifthly, the Portuguese or western, of which the ramifications extend to the embouchure of the Duero. A geologist has observed that although the Pyrenees belong to the granite formation, the same substance is not so ancient as in several parts of Europe. Granite rocks These leagues are each equal to two English miles and a half, if then they be multiplied by 6 1-4, the result will be equal to the superficial extent of the Peninsula in English square miles. + See Le Guide du Voyageur en Espagne, by M. Bory de St. Vincent. See also Dictionario de Espano y Portugal, by Doctor Sebastiano de Minano, ten volumes in quarto. The article Spain, in the Dictionary, is almost a translation of M. St. Vincent's work. M. de Charpentier, Essai sur la Constitution Geognostique des Pyrenees. CXXXVII. are seen throughout the whole range, and they still bear the BOOK marks of a former revolution. Micaceous and other sorts of schistus rest on the sides of the mountains, and support organic remains of an ancient date; these are overtopped by red sandstone; lastly, calcareous rocks, similar to others on the Alps and Jura, extend to the lowest declivities. White marble appears in different directions above the granite, and the Alpine limestone is in many places covered with amphibole. The Iberian range consists of different chains, which are Iberian united on the north-west with the Pyrenees, and terminated range. on the south-east, near the banks of the Guadalaviar. These different chains, united to each other, are called the Sierra de Oca, the Sierra de Moncayo, the Sierra de Gudar, and the Sierra de Espadano. The Sierra di Molina joins the Albaracino and the mountains of Cuenca. bones. The same chains form the subdivision that has been call- Fossil ed the Esperian mountains. Ancient calcareous rocks abound, and the low plains are covered with alluvial lands, mixed with so many fossil bones, that the country is known to the inhabitants by the name of Las Calaveras.* Many of the remains belong to animals now extinct. The plains from the sources of the Guadalaviar to its mouth, are watered by rapid streams, and surrounded by steep heights. The Sierra of Espadano has been compared to a long wall; lofty peaks are seen from sombre valleys, and tortuous ravines intersected by many rivulets form an inextricable and gigantic labyrinth. Ancient calcareous rocks, abounding in different metals, rise towards the east, but on the west, the country assumes a different aspect, the mountains are less precipitous, their black and porous rocks indicate a volcanic origin. Vettonic The Carpetano-Vettonic range, so called because in an- Carpetanocient times, its sides were inhabited by the Carpetani and range. the Vettones, joins the Iberian mountains, and terminates on the west at Mount Junto, which commands the Tagus at no great distance from its embouchure. The principal chain is steep and narrow, it bounds Old and New Cas Calavera signifies a skeleton. |