Descending the mountain towards Fuente de Higuera, I observed a scorpion on the path; and several young eagles flew over our heads: the soldiers fired at them,--of course without effect; and soon after these various encounters, we came in sight of the town, lying among elevated brown mountains, and surrounded with ilex woods; and about dusk we reached the Posada. At this place I discharged the soldiers, all fine young men, who I am convinced would have done their duty if their services had been called for. They told me that Spain was the finest country in the world; that they were well and regularly paid; and had nothing to complain of; that they were ready to fight against whosoever the king commanded; and that they hoped they should not spend all their days in inaction. I commended them for their loyalty, which is always a virtue in a soldier towards the actual king,--gave them a dollar more than their due, and sent them away contented. At Fuente de Higuera, I had the luxury of a hare for supper, and the still greater luxury of a flealess bed: and next morning betimes, I was on my way to San Felipe. This is a delightful road; we ascended a narrow, but very charming valley, presenting at every turn new and picturesque prospects. It is traversed all the way by a stream, which in the eastern provinces of Spain is always made to fertilize its banks: a beautiful stripe of green lay along its margin; vines and fruit trees clothed the lower acclivities of the mountains, which higher up, were scattered with the ilex and algarrobo. This is a very useful tree; the bean, which it bears plentifully, is found to be a wholesome and nutricious food for cattle; and the great abundance of the tree in the south and east of Spain, renders it as cheap as it is useful. The algarrobo, besides its utility, is one of the most beautiful of trees, full in its foliage, and rich in colour. The valley through which we travelled, lay on the right; barren hills rose on the left, close to the road; and the infinity of aromatic and flowering plants and shrubs with which these were covered, surpassed anything of the kind that I had yet seen in Spain: the heaths, in particular, delighted me; they were all in flower, their hues varying from the deep crimson, to the pale pink, and their bell shaped blossoms, larger and more beautiful than the heaths I had been accustomed to admire in the glass houses of England. Several villages lay under the mountains, and we passed two large ventas, situated on the road; but the most striking object is the castle of Montesa, upon a very high rock, and the town surrounding its base. The castle is a ruin, having been entirely destroyed by an earthquake nearly a hundred years ago. Soon after, San Felipe appeared at about a league distant, most romantically situated in a recess among the mountains, with a rich vale stretching before it: the direct road to Valencia does not pass through San Felipe: it is a detour of two