tly understood that throughout my journey I have
given away none of the books, having invariably received money for them,
viz., from 10 to 12 _reals_. The enemies of the Bible Society have
stated in several publications that it has no vent for the Bibles and
Testaments which it publishes in many foreign languages but by sending
them to the various countries, and there distributing them gratis or
selling them by auction, when they are bought for waste paper (see in
particular Wiseman's _Letters_). My conduct in this point has been
principally influenced by a desire to give, in the case of Spain at
least, the direct lie to this assertion, and this conduct I shall pursue
until I receive direct orders to abandon it. I will now conclude by
repeating that in a few days you will receive my journal, which will
prove more interesting than the above hasty scrawl.

I remain, etc.,

G. BORROW.

To the Rev. Andrew Brandram

(_Endorsed_: recd. Aug. 23, 1837)
_Journey from Astorga to Lugo_

Before proceeding to narrate what befell me in this journey, it will
perhaps not be amiss to say a few words concerning Astorga and its
vicinity. It is a walled town containing about five or six thousand
inhabitants, with a cathedral and college, which last is, however, at
present deserted. It is situated on the confines, and may be called the
capital, of a tract of land called the country of the Maragatos, which
occupies about three square leagues, and has for its north-western
boundary a mountain called Telleno, the loftiest of a chain of hills
which have their origin near the mouth of the river Minho, and are
connected with the immense range which constitutes the frontier of the
Asturias and Guipuscoa. The land is ungrateful and barren, and niggardly
repays the toil of the cultivator, being for the most part rocky, with a
slight sprinkling of a red bricky earth. The Maragatos are perhaps the
most singular caste to be found amongst the chequered population of
Spain. They have their own peculiar customs and dress, and never
intermarry with the Spaniards. Their name is a clue to their origin, as
it signifies 'Moorish Goths,' and at this present day their garb differs
but little from that of the Moors of Barbary, as it consists of a long
tight jacket, secured at the waist by a broad