Spain

d east, lies the Iberian Peninsula, eleven thirteenths of which belong to the country known as Spain. The other two thi

even whence came its very first peoples, yet we know that for ages it has exi

range, in the northwest; the Guadarrama, in the central region; and the Sierras Morena and Nevada, in the south. Between these mountain

c zones: First, the zone of the plateau, cold in winter and hot in summer, where the soil is arid; second, that of the northwestern provinces, with a moist climate; third, that

ost Alpine in the character of their flora; its North Atlantic region has ferns and grassy meadows, forests of oak, beech, an

llsides covered with vineyards, valleys filled with orange trees, almonds, pomegranates, sugar cane, and with a range of fruits extending from the apple of the northern region to the date palm of the south, which la

ores of fish, such as anchovies, tunnies, and salmon in their season. And again, while almost every species of the animal as well as the vegetable kingd

ady, that it was bountifully endowed by the Creator with all things necessary to

on the face of the earth. The Basques claim that they are descended from the original people, and say, moreover, that their language was the veritable speech of Paradise. It is difficult enough to acquire, at all events, and th

s of Spain, not so much through conquest in war as by intermingling with the natives; and there resulted, it is said, another and distinct people, or race, called the Celtiberian. Now, while the aborigines were probably swarthy and short of stature, the incoming Kelts were tall and f

gion they were Nature worshippers, blindly revering the god of day, the stars of night, and the "phenomena of dawn and sunrise." R