From the above sketch of the climate the reader will expect to find the productions vary greatly in the different districts. The north and north-west are the lands of cattle and of pasture. In Galicia and in the Asturias the products are almost like those of the warmer parts of the south-west of England and of Ireland, save that in the more sheltered valleys the orange, citron, and pomegranate flourish; a palm is even now and then to be seen; and the wine, especially on the confines of Portugal, is excellent, and needs only more care in preparation to be a rival to the famous Port of the neighbouring country. In the eighteenth century, that of Ribadavia was considered to be the finest wine in all Spain. Maize, too, is freely grown; but on account of their extreme poverty, rye and spelt often replace both it and wheat as food for the peasantry. The upland plateaux afford excellent pasture, especially for cattle and horses; the hardy and sure-footed hacks of Galicia and the Asturias are celebrated. The mountains here are often clothed with wood; oaks of various kinds, and the edible chestnut, and the hazel-nut--of which over 1000 tons, value 23,000_l._, are annually exported from Gijon--grow on the lower spurs, giving food to herds of swine; beech, and pine, and fir appear as we approach the tops. In the lower woods the arbutus especially flourishes, and the young wild boars in autumn are said to become half stupefied with its narcotic berries. As we proceed eastward from Galicia to the Asturias the climate becomes sensibly colder--the valleys face the north instead of the west; the orange is less known, the mulberry will not flourish sufficiently well to pay for silk cultivation, the olive will not grow, and the cork does not pay for cultivation; the wines lose somewhat of their strength and lusciousness; and cider, made from the excellent apples of the country, rivals the juice of the grape in popularity. The mountains are covered with heath, and fern, and furze, but the aromatic plants are fewer than in Galicia. This description applies to the northern slope of the Cantabrian chain and to the rolling hills and plateaux of the Basque provinces; but the southern slopes of the chain, towards the Ebro, are again a land of vine and olive, and of maize, which is everywhere the staple. In the Basque provinces the plough is replaced by the ancient "laya," an instrument as old, at least, as Roman times. It is a heavy two-pronged steel or iron fork, with prongs one and a half to two feet long. A strong man will work two of them at once, one in each hand, driving them into the ground to their full depth, then with a backward strain turning up the deep soil. Usually, four or five men work together, and raise their arms, plunge the fork downwards, and heave, in perfect time. The cultivation thus effected is excellent, but the expenditure of labour is immense The productions do not vary greatly along the slopes of the