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sweeping plains, destitute of trees, and invariably silent and lonesome, partaking of the savage and solitary character of AfriWhat adds to this silence and loneliness, is the absence of singing birds, a natural consequence of the want of groves and hedges. The vulture and the eagle are seen wheeling about the mountain cliffs and soaring over the plains, and groups of shy bustards stalk about the heaths; but the myriads of smaller birds which animate the whole face of other countries, are met with in but few Provinces of Spain, and in them chiefly among the orchards and gardens which surround the habitations of man. "In the exterior Provinces, the traveller occasionally traverses great tracts cultivated; the grain, as far as the eye can reach, waving, at times naked and sun burnt; but he looks round in vain for the hand that has tilled the soil. At length he perceives some village perched upon a steep hill or rugged crag, with mouldering battlements and ruined watch tower, a strong hold in old times against civil war or Moorish inroad; for the custom among the peasantry of congregating together for mutual protection is still kept up in most parts of Spain, in consequence of the marauding of roving freebooters. But though a great part of Spain is deficient in the garniture of groves and forests, and the softer charms of ornamental cultivation, yet its scenery has something of a high and lofty character to compensate the want. It partakes something of the attributes of its people, and I think that I better understand the proud, hardy, frugal and abstemious Spaniard, his manly defiance of hardships and contempt of effeminate indulgences, since I have seen the country he inhabits. There is something, too, in the sternly-simple features of the Spanish landscape, that impresses on the soul a feeling of sublimity; the immense plains of the Castiles and la Mancha, extending as far as the eye can reach, derive an interest from their very nakedness and immensity, and have something of the solemn grandeur of the ocean. ranging over these boundless wastes, the eye catches sight, here and there, of a straggling herd of cattle, attended by a lonely herdsman, motionless as a statue, with his long, slender pike, tapering up like a lance into the air, or beholds a long train of mules moving slowly along the waste, like a train of camels in the desert, or a single herdsman, armed with blunderbuss and stiletto, and prowling over the plain. Thus the country, the habits, the very looks of the people have something of the Arabian character. The general insecurity of the country is evinced in the universal use of weapons. The herdsman in the field, the shepherd in the plain, has his musket and his knife. The wealthy villager rarely ventures to the market town without his trabucho, and, perhaps, a servant on foot with a blunderbuss on his shoulder; and the most petty journey is undertaken with

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the preparation of a warlike enterprise. The dangers of the road produce also a mode of traveling resembling, on a diminutive scale, the caravans of the east. The arrieros, or carriers, congregate in troops, and set off in large and well armed trains on appointed days, while individual travellers swell their numbers and contribute to their strength. In this primitive way is the commerce of the country carried on. The muleteer is the general medium of traffic, and the legitimate wanderer of the land, traversing the peninsula from the Pyrenees and the Asturias to the Alpuxarnas, the Serrania de Rondo, and even to the gates of Gibraltar. He lives frugally and hardily; his alfongas (or saddlebags of coarse cloth) hold his scanty stock of provision; a leathern bottle hanging at his saddlebow, contains wine or water for a supply across barren mountains and thirsty plains; a mule cloth spread upon the ground is his bed at night, and his packsaddle is a pillow; his low but clear limbed and sinewy form betoken strength; his complexion is dark and sunburnt; his eye resolute, but quiet in its expression, except when kindled by sudden emotion; his demeanour is frank, manly and courteous, and he never passes you without a grave salutation, 'dios guarda à usted!' 'vay usted con dios caballero!' 'God guard you!' 'God be with you! cavalier.'

"The ancient kingdom of Granada, into which we are about to penetrate, is one of the most mountainous regions of Spain. Vast sierras, or chains of mountains, destitute of shrub or tree, and mottled with variegated marbles and granites, elevate their sun burnt summits against a deep blue sky, verdant with fertile valleys, where the desert and the garden strive for mastery, and the very rock, as it were, compelled to yield the fig, the orange, and the citron, and to blossom with the myrtle and the rose. In the wild passes of these mountains, the sight of walled towns and villages built like eagles' nests among the cliffs, and surrounded by Moorish battlements; or of ruined watch towers, perched on lofty peaks, carry the mind back to the chivalrous days of Christian and Moslem warfare, and to the romantic struggle for the conquest of Granada. In traversing their lofty sierras, the traveller is often obliged to alight and lead his horse up and down the steep and jagged ascent and descent, resembling the broken steps of a staircase. Sometimes the road winds

along dizzy precipices, without parapets to guard him from the gulfs below, and then will plunge down steep and dangerous declivities. Sometimes it struggles through rugged barrancos, or ravines, worn by water torrents, the obscure paths of the contrabandista, while ever and anon the ominous cross, the memento of robbery and murder, erected on a mound of stones at some lonely part of the road, admonish the traveller that he is among the haunts of banditti; perhaps at that very moment under the eye

of some lurking bandalero. Sometimes, in winding through the narrow valleys, he is startled by a hoarse bellowing, and beholds above him, on some green field of the mountain's side, a herd of fine Andalusian bulls, destined for the combat of the arena. There is something awful in the contemplation of these terrific animals, clothed with tremendous strength, and ranging their native pastures, in untamed wildness, strangers almost to the face of man. They know no one but the solitary herdsman who attends upon them, and even he at times dares not venture to approach them. The low bellowings of these bulls, and their aspect as they look down from their rocky height, give menacing and additional wildness to the savage scenery around."

A MOTHER'S CONFESSION.

"I CONFESS that I never followed undeviatingly any one principle during a single month-nay, not for more than a few hours at a time; that, very often, partly with a reason, and consequently, partly without one, I have forbidden my children to do something, without afterwards seeing that they obeyed.—I confess that at times of joyful excitement, I have not been able to refuse them that which in an unexcited state of mind, I could without effort have denied them, and that thus they have been in a few hours incalculably spoilt. I confess that I have made my dear beautiful Laura play the belle before company; that I have schooled them all for the reception of a distinguished visiter, in order that they might appear to advantage in his presencethereby showing that I valued the temporary good opinion of a single guest, more than the lasting well being of five children. I confess, that in the last week I have seen my two youngest only once a day, at breakfast, because I had a novel and a piece of embroidery to finish; I have, however, the satisfactory reflection, that I got for the dear little creatures a most excellent nurse, who declared to me, that she would treat them just as if they were her own. I confess, that although calm in my behaviour towards every one else, I can never be so with my children, notwithstanding I am well aware that the least vehemence, though it show itself in a spring to their assistance, is hurtful. I confess that I often let them see me out of temper, particularly with my maids, although I acknowledge the truth of what my husband says-that to let children, even the youngest, see an angry countenance, or hear an angry word, is to give them instruction in anger. I confess that I admit my three eldest daughters into my dressing room, when I am dressing myself for company, both because it gives them so much pleasure, and

because such exercise to their young eyes is the best lesson they can have in the art of the toilet. I must add, however, that to correct the injurious effects which this might have, I never try on a new dress without giving them a long lecture, in which I tell them that female worth does not depend upon dress-at the same time I confess that all my daughters are vain, and I suspect, that when I am ornamenting myself, they look much more than they listen."-Richter.

CAUSE OF GOITRE IN THE CORDILLERAS.

An Inquiry into the Cause of Goitre in the Cordilleras of New Granada. By J. B. Boussingault.

FROM the original paper in French, transmitted to the American Philosophical Society, we have prepared the following abstract:

Monsieur Boussingault premises, that he does not possess the necessary medical knowledge for a full investigation of the subject of goitre, and would feel a backwardness in giving his own observations respecting it, were he not convinced that an inquiry into the endemical nature of a disease does not presuppose a man's being a physician.

Mr. B. passes rapidly in review the commonly alleged causes of goitre, and shows that no one of them is adequate to produce and explain all the circumstances of the disease. He next points out a fact which may have a marked effect in bringing on goitre, and in support of his opinion adduces details and experiments; and, finally, he indicates the precautionary means to be adopted in the Cordilleras, for the purpose of warding off goitrous disorders.

Time not being allowed to translate entire the valuable paper of Mr. Boussingault, we must content ourselves with giving the leading points of his views and inferences.

After alluding to the opinion that drunkenness, filth, and the use of gross food give rise to goitre, he proceeds to examine more in detail the belief of the disease being produced by residence in a close, humid and warm air. He shows the fallacy of this latter supposition, by pointing to the fact of goitre being very common at Sante Fe de Bogota, a city 2640 metres above the level of the ocean, and in the enjoyment of a mean temperature of 50° F. or 14.5 cent.; and at Chita, in the department of Boyaca, where the air is dry and the temperature moderate, approaching to coolness, the disease is very prevalent.

The water from melted snow has also been regarded as a cause of goitre in those who are obliged to use it for drink. The same

of some lurking bandalero. Sometimes, in winding through the narrow valleys, he is startled by a hoarse bellowing, and beholds above him, on some green field of the mountain's side, a herd of fine Andalusian bulls, destined for the combat of the arena. There is something awful in the contemplation of these terrific animals, clothed with tremendous strength, and ranging their native pastures, in untamed wildness, strangers almost to the face of man. They know no one but the solitary herdsman who attends upon them, and even he at times dares not venture to approach them. The low bellowings of these bulls, and their aspect as they look down from their rocky height, give menacing and additional wildness to the savage scenery around."

A MOTHER'S CONFESSION.

"I CONFESS that I never followed undeviatingly any one principle during a single month-nay, not for more than a few hours at a time; that, very often, partly with a reason, and consequently, partly without one, I have forbidden my children to do something, without afterwards seeing that they obeyed.—I confess that at times of joyful excitement, I have not been able to refuse them that which in an unexcited state of mind, I could without effort have denied them, and that thus they have been in a few hours incalculably spoilt. I confess that I have made my dear beautiful Laura play the belle before company; that I have schooled them all for the reception of a distinguished visiter, in order that they might appear to advantage in his presencethereby showing that I valued the temporary good opinion of a single guest, more than the lasting well being of five children. I confess, that in the last week I have seen my two youngest only once a day, at breakfast, because I had a novel and a piece of embroidery to finish; I have, however, the satisfactory reflection, that I got for the dear little creatures a most excellent nurse, who declared to me, that she would treat them just as if they were her own. I confess, that although calm in my behaviour towards every one else, I can never be so with my children, notwithstanding I am well aware that the least vehemence, though it show itself in a spring to their assistance, is hurtful. I confess that I often let them see me out of temper, particularly with my maids, although I acknowledge the truth of what my husband says that to let children, even the youngest, see an angry countenance, or hear an angry word, is to give them instruction in anger. I confess that I admit my three eldest daughters into my dressing room, when I am dressing myself for company, both because it gives them so much pleasure, and

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