For a long period this part of Castile was ravaged by the fellers of trees. The farmers aimed besides at the extinction of all kinds of birds, under the delusion that every bird is harmful to crops; and in the conduct of this warfare the axe was laid to the roots of millions of trees, so that no harbour for small birds might remain. This clearing of the forests destroyed the natural barriers against icy winds, deprived the land of all shade, made deserts in place of groves, and affected the climate and rainfall. A wiser policy was instituted in later years, and now a number of large plantations have grown up in the environs of the town, and the once denuded hillocks and bare gullies are here and there clothed with shady coppices. For the rest, the herbage of these grey uplands yields moderate pasturage for sheep in summer. Madrid lacks the dignity and beauty which a wide river lends to a city. The little Manzanares is not an imposing flood. It can scarcely rank as a river. The handsome Puente de Toledo spans the stream, and gives a touch of the picturesque to its muddy flow; and there is also the well-constructed Bridge of Segovia, with many arches. These gave rise to the now venerable joke that it would be better to sell the bridges and buy some water with the proceeds. Several writers have declared that the seat of the Spanish Court is not typical of the cities of Spain. This may be accepted as true in the sense that it has very little to show in the nature of antiquities. Segovia, Toledo, Avila, Burgos, Seville, Cordova, and Granada possess more interesting and romantic memorials of the past than the city of Madrid. Nevertheless, the Castilian capital has associations with days of immense moment in the history of Spain, and it is moreover one of the handsomest towns in the Europe of to-day; and whatever else is wanting in Madrid, it boasts of a priceless collection of some of the world’s masterpieces of painting. Only here can one realise the greatness of Velazquez, and appraise the genius of Goya. Its Royal Armoury, too, is the finest in the world. That Madrid has modelled itself upon Paris is not to its discredit. The city manifests the modern spirit in Spain rather than the mediæval atmospheres. It does not live upon its past like Cordova and Toledo. Madrid aspires to be a progressive modern municipality. The streets are broad, the system of lighting is modern, there are electric tramcars, motor-cars, and London and Parisian vehicles in the thoroughfares. The streets are deluged with the fire-hose three times a day, and the nuisance of the dust is thereby abated.