over which the wind sweeps unchecked, than to mere elevation. The want of rain is greatly owing to the ranges of mountains parallel to the frontier and to the Atlantic in Portugal, which condense and wring all the moisture from the rain-clouds of the Atlantic, and distribute it almost wholly on the western slope. Thus at Lisbon the fall is 29, at Coimbra 35, at Oporto 63, in the mountains of Beira and Tras os Montes from 68 to 100 inches; while on the eastern slope, at Salamanca it is 9, Valladolid 12, at Badajoz 12-1/2, Ciudad Real 14. From the bare granite range of the Guadarrama steals down the treacherous icy wind so fatal in Madrid--not sufficiently strong to extinguish a candle, but quite enough to destroy human life. It is the dislike of the Castilian peasant to trees, which would overshadow so much of his small property, the destruction of the mountain forests, and the want of good agriculture, which has embittered the climate of these plateaux. Were the hill-sides clothed with wood, the country dotted with farms, the wide and bare plains covered throughout the year with varied agricultural produce, the climate would soon be modified and become sensibly warmer, and no longer, as it at present is, an obstacle to civilization and to improvement. In spite of all neglect these plains grow some of the finest wheat in Europe, and the lower mountain ranges supply pasture in the summer for the immense flocks which return to winter in the plains of Estremadura. The average temperature of Madrid is 59 deg., its maximum 104 deg. to 107 deg., and its minimum only 7 deg.. That of Salamanca is said to be 57 deg., with a maximum of 97 deg., and a minimum of 12 deg.. The average rainfall of Madrid is only from 9 to 14 inches, that of Salamanca 9, while Soria, nearer to the mountains, in some years reaches 25 inches.