uninhabited upland are reserved as pasture for the flocks, which at
the beginning of the 20th century contained more than 500,000 head of
sheep. Coal, china-clay and salt are obtained in small quantities, but, out
of more than 150 mines registered, only 4 were worked in 1903. The other
industries of the province are likewise undeveloped, although there are
many small potteries, stone quarries, tanneries and factories for the
manufacture of linen and cotton of the coarsest description. The ancient
cloth and woollen industries, for which Burgos was famous in the past, have
almost disappeared. Trade is greatly hindered by the lack of adequate
railway communication, and even of good roads. The Northern railways from
Madrid to the French frontier cross the province in the central districts;
the Valladolid-Bilbao line traverses the Cantabrian mountains, in the
north; and the Valladolid-Saragossa line skirts the Douro valley, in the
south. The only [v.04 p.0819] important town in the province is Burgos, the
capital (pop. 30,167). Few parts of Spain are poorer; education makes
little progress, and least of all in the thinly peopled rural districts,
with their widely scattered hamlets. The peasantry have thus every
inducement to migrate to the Basque Provinces, Catalonia and other
relatively prosperous regions; and consequently the population does not
increase, despite the excess of births over deaths.

BURGOS, the capital formerly of Old Castile, and since 1833 of the Spanish
province of Burgos, on the river Arlanzon, and on the Northern railways
from Madrid to the French frontier. Pop. (1900) 30,167. Burgos, in the form
of an amphitheatre, occupies the lower slopes of a hill crowned by the
ruins of an ancient citadel. It faces the Arlanzon, a broad and swift
stream, with several islands in mid-channel. Three stone bridges lead to
the suburb of La Vega, on the opposite bank. On all sides, except up the
castle hill, fine avenues and public gardens are laid out, notably the
Paseo de la Isla, extending along the river to the west. Burgos itself was
originally surrounded by a wall, of which few fragments remain; but
although its streets and broad squares, such as the central Plaza Mayor, or
Plaza de la Constitucion, have often quite a modern appearance, the city
retains much of its picturesque character, owing to the number and beauty
of its churches, convents and palaces. Unaffected by the industrial
activity of the neighbouring Bas