erhaps find
more of them before we bid our author farewell in Vigo Bay. At present
we will follow him to the mines of Almaden, whither he betakes himself
after rambling through a considerable portion of Estremadura, one of the
most fertile, but neglected and thinly peopled, of Spanish provinces.
"Nothing," he says, "is wanted but a good government to assist the
bounteous hand with which the gifts of Providence have been showered on
this beautiful region." But, alas! instead of a thriving peasantry and
well-tilled soil, what does he meet with? _Despoblados_, or deserts,
with here and there some wretched villages, few and far between, and
from time to time a _cortijo_, or farm-house, with its cultivated patch;
but the general face of the country is _zaral_, ground covered with the
cistus, numerous varieties of that beautiful plant abounding in the
province. Captain Widdrington mentions four sorts he found in
flower--the gum cistus, a large white species without spots, a smaller
white, and the purple kind common in English gardens. Furze, then just
breaking into flower, and _retama_, or brooms, vary the collection;
interesting enough, no doubt, to the botanist, but a melancholy sight
when one reflects on the far better purpose to which this fertile
territory might be applied.

The roads through these districts are, as might be expected, execrable,
intersected by large open ditches to carry off the water; and
subsequently to each journey the diligence requires extensive repairs.
After Truxillo, however, public conveyances are no longer to be found,
and mules supply their place. On these the travellers reach Logrosan,
where is situate the vein of phosphorite that it was one of the objects
of their journey to visit. Four mule-loads of the mineral are taken as a
sample, and forwarded to Seville; and this done, an excursion is made to
the famous sanctuary of Guadelupe, in the sacristy at which place are
some of the finest paintings of Zurbaran. Not the least agreeable
portions of Captain Widdrington's book are his descriptions of the
churches and other edifices he visits, and of the pictures and carvings
they contain. Details of that kind are often apt to be dry and
wearisome; but these are done _con amore_, and varied by reflections and
criticisms, of which many are very interesting.

It had been a matter of deliberation with Captain Widdrington, upon
commencing his wanderings in the Peninsula, whether it were advisable to
b