CXXXVII. BOOK 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.* Mountains Pyrenees. Rocks. 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 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, are seen throughout the whole range, and they still bear the 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. BOOK CXXXVII. 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 range. The Carpetano-Vettonic range, so called because in an- Carpetanocient times, its sides were inhabited by the Carpetani and 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. BOOK tile, and separates the province of Salamanca from Est CXXXVII. madura. From the same chain, during the winter seas Lusitanian range. Marianic range. proceed the storms and tempests that are not uncomm at Madrid; in summer, the heat of the atmosphere is creased by the burning winds, which blow from Africa, a traverse the arid plains of La Mancha. Some summ are so lofty that the snow has been known to remain them throughout the year. The range may be divided. to three groups; the eastern, formed by the Somo-Sier and the Guadarama, the central or the Sierra de Gred the most elevated of them all, it has its glacier ne the Palacio del Moro Almanzor; many streams, that ri from different lakes in the same part of the country, e large the Tormes, a feeder of the Duero; lastly, the wes ern group comprehends the Pena de Francia, the Sierra Gata, the Estrella, and the heights that reach to the neig bourhood of Lisbon. In no part of the Peninsula, are t woods and forests so extensive as in the last group. Gr nite appears to be the most common rock; it is of a coars texture and a grayish colour; it may be concluded to of a late formation, both from its liability to decomposition and from the masses of a harder granite contained in i Calcareous rocks abound in the neighbourhood of Madrid while chalk and silex serve as a support for recent de posits. The Lusitanian range is lower than any that have bee already mentioned, and the snow never remains on an part of it during the summer. It occupies the country be tween the Tagus and Guadiana, and is formed by the moun tains of Toledo on the east, the Sierra de Guadaloupe or the centre, and the Sierra of Saint Mames on the west. The Marianic range, or the chain connected with the ancient Marianus, is higher than the last; the greatest elevation may be about 4600 feet, and the snow remains in some places during nine months in the year. A part of the chain separates the course of the Guadiana from the Guadalquivir. The eastern extremity consists of two branches, the Sierra Alcaras and the Sierra de Segura; the centre has been called the Sierra Morena, which signifies the black mountains, and recalls the ancient name of Mons Marianus. The Sierra Albaleyrra, which terminates BOOK near the Guadiana, forms the western extremity. The CXXXVII. heights that surround Alcaras, are composed of psammites Rocks. or argillaceous sandstone; and a chain consisting of volcanoes, now extinguished, but still easily discernible, stretches almost to the sources of the river.* The Cuneic range consists of the small chain, which the ancients called Mons Cuneus. It extends from the mouth of the Guadiana to Cape St. Vincent, and separates the kingdom of Algarva from the province of Alentejo, or the southern part of Portugal. It forms two chains, the eastern or the Sierra Calderona, and the western or the Sierra de Monchiqua. The heights are not lofty, and the range differs from the others in its constituent parts: sandstone is very common, but lava and other substances of the same sort appear on the eastern part; hence the name of Sierra Calderona or Caldron Mountains is not inapplicable to the volcanic products, for the craters still retain their forms and the characters that mark their origin. The Betic range, of which the northern sides formed the Roman province of Betica, extends from the Rio Almanzor to the heights that terminate near the mouth of the Guadalquivir. The central part is made up of the Sierras Nevada and Loja. Although not the largest, it is certainly the loftiest range in the Peninsula. Many summits, higher than the Pyrenees, are covered with eternal snow. The steep sides of Algodonales and the Gastor are commanded by the peak of San Oristoval. The snow always appears on the top of Sierrania de Conda, where a small hermitage has been erected and dedicated to Nuestra senora de las Nieves. In the eastern part of the same range are different groups that rival each other in height; the most remarkable are the Sierra Prieta, the Sierra Alhama and the Sierra Tejeda; but in point of picturesque scenery, they cannot be compared with the Sierra de Torqual, in which the rocks, forms, and dimensions, are so singularly arranged that they might be compared to the ruins of a town Introduction a la Historia Natural y Geografia fisica de Espana, 4to. 1782. Cuneick range. Betic range. BOOK built by the Titans. But these mountains are neither so CXXXVII. imposing nor so lofty as the summits of Sierra Nevada, Rocks. Parameras which, commanding the horizon on every side, bear the marks of perpetual winter. The snow line commences at the height of about 9500 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, which bathes the southern base. From these summits, says M. Bory de St. Vincent, may be seen at the same time the Sierra Morena, more than thirty leagues distant towards the north, and the coasts of Africa, which are at least forty-five leagues distant to the south. The Mulabacen is the most elevated point in that range of snow-covered peaks; it reaches nearly to the same height as the famous peak of Teneriffe, in other words to more than 12,700 feet. The deep valleys in the Betic range cross each other in every direction, and most of them are watered and rendered fruitful by limpid streams. The whole chain belongs to the primitive formation. The Sierra Nevada is schistous; limestone useful in building, and marble of different colours are supported on gneiss, and the onyx, a find kind of agate, is not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Cape Gata. The rock of Gibraltar, at the other extremity of the chain, rises to the height of 1470 feet above the Mediterranean. It has excited for a long time the attention of geologists. It consists of gray limestone, divided by perpendicular fissures, and these are filled with calcareous concretions, containing an immense quantity of bones and shells; many of the former belong to different sorts of deer, none of which are at present found in Europe. Such phenomena may be considered the proofs of a partial cataclysm, fatal to the animals on the sides of our continent.* As connected with the heights in the Peninsula, it may be worth while to mention the Parameras or platforms, all of which are very lofty, and many of a great size. They either extend between different parts of the ranges that have been already mentioned, or are situated near their summits, so that they appear less elevated than they really See Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles by M. G. Cuvier, 4to. 1821. |