Thence over the main pass of Navasomera--no road, not the vestige of a track, and a tremendous ravine stopped us for hours, and for a time threatened to prove impassable. By patience and recklessness we lowered mule and ourselves down scrub-choked screes, and after some of the roughest work of my life gained a goat-herd's track which led upwards to the pass. After clearing the reverse slope we traversed for twenty miles a dreary upland (6000 feet) till we struck the head-waters of the Albirche river, where my lads tickled half-a-dozen trout and a _frog_! Kites beat along the stony hills, where wheatears and stonechats fluttered incessant, with dippers and sandpipers on the burn below. We halted at a lonely _venta_ (wayside wine-shop), where assembled goat-herds courteously made room, and passed me their wine-skin. Presently one of them asked whither I went, remarking, "Your Excellency is clearly not of this province." Three or four skinny rabbits hung on the wall, and the landlord, after inquiring what his Excellency would eat, assured me he had plenty of everything, was yet so strong in his commendation of _rabbit_ that I knew those wretched beasties were the only food in the place. Presently with my two lads, and surrounded by mules, cats, dogs, poultry, wasps, and fleas, we sat down to dine on trout, rabbits-_á-pimiento_, and _chorizo_ (forty horse-power sausage). I believe my boys also ate the frog! Two hours after dark we were still dragging along the upland, while the outlines of the jagged cordillera behind had faded in gathering night. I could scarce have sat much longer on that bony saddleless mule when a light was descried far below, and, on learning that we were still twenty miles from our destination, I decided to put up for the night at that little _venta_ of Almenge, sleeping on bare earth alongside my boys, and close by the heels of our own and sundry other mules. [Illustration] At breakfast there sat down, besides ourselves and hostess, sundry muleteers, all sympathetic and commiserate since my mission had become known. I was hurrying homewards to distant Inglaterra--so Juanito had explained--because my brother was _poco bueno_--not very well. The hostess looked hard, and said, "Señor, it must be _muy grave_ (very serious), or they would not have telegraphed for the _caballero_ to return." Many more hours of tedious mule-riding followed ere at last from lowering spurs we could see the end of the hills and the white track winding away till lost to view across the plain below. Here in the highest growth of trees were grey shrikes (_Lanius meridionalis_), adults and young, besides missel-thrushes, turtle-doves, etc. On the level corn-lands below, which we now traversed for miles, we observed bustards (these, we were told, retired to lower levels in September)--nothing else beyond the usual larks and kestrels common to all Spain. [Illustration: SCENES IN SIERRA DE GRÉDOS. MOREZÓN. CUCHILLAR DE NAVÁJAS. ALMANZÓR.