A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE SPANISH ROYAL PALACE, MONASTERY AND MAUSOLEUM. WITH PLANS AND 278 PLATES The Royal Palace, Monastery, and Mausoleum of El Escorial, which rears its gaunt, grey walls in one of the bleakest and most impossible districts in the whole of Spain, was erected to commemorate a victory over the French in 1557. It was occupied and pillaged by the French two-and-a-half centuries later, and twice it has been greatly diminished by fire; but it remains to-day, not only the incarnate expression of the fanatic religious character and political genius of Philip II., but the greatest mass of wrought granite which exists on earth, the leviathan of architecture, the eighth wonder of the world. * * * * * _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ GALICIA THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT. ILLUSTRATED The old kingdom of Galicia may not inaptly be termed the Wales of Spain. Its people approximate closely to the old Celtic type, with a large admixture of the Teutonic blood of that strange forgotten tribe, the Suevi, who held sway here for two centuries. Though every traveller in Spain has met the sturdy patient Gallegos in the capacity of porters, servants, and workers, few trouble to visit their country, a pleasant land of green hills, deep valleys smiling lakes, brawling streams and long fjords like gulfs. ROYAL PALACES OF SPAIN A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE SEVEN PRINCIPAL PALACES OF THE SPANISH KINGS. WITH 164 PLATES. Spain is beyond question the richest country in the world in the number of its Royal Residences, and while few are without artistic importance, all are rich in historical memories. Thus from the Alcazar at Seville which is principally associated with Pedro the Cruel, to the Retiro, built to divert the attention of Philip IV. from his country’s decay; from the Escorial, in which the gloomy mind of Philip II. is perpetuated in stone, to La Granja, which speaks of the anguish and humiliation of Christina before Sergeant Garcia and his rude soldiery; from Aranjuez to Rio Frio, and from El Prado, darkened by the agony of a good king, to Miramar, to which a widowed Queen retired to mourn: all the history of Spain, from the splendid days of Charles V. to the present time, is crystallised in the Palaces that constitute the patrimony of the crown. VIZCAYA AND SANTANDER SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CANTABRIAN LAND AND OF SPANISH NAVARRE. BY ALBERT F. CALVERT Whether or not the Basques be the aboriginal inhabitants of the Peninsula, they are at least the oldest of its peoples, and among the most interesting. Their language, their customs their _fueros_ of local code, above all their mysterious origin, have been the themes of discussion and speculation among the learned for centuries--and are likely to continue so. Meanwhile they flourish exceedingly, and their towns, or at least their sea-ports hum with life and energy.