Not a man who has watched and studied wild beasts and wild birds in their native haunts, glorified and ennobled by self-conscious aptitude to prevail in the ceaseless "struggle for existence," but instantly recognises with a pang the different demeanour of the same creatures in captivity, albeit carefully tended in the best zoological gardens of the world. * * * * * To Mr. Joseph Crawhall (cousin of one author) we and our readers are indebted for a series of drawings that speak for themselves. Further, we desire most heartily to thank H.R.H. the Duke of Orleans for notes and photographs illustrative both of Baetican scenery and of the wild camels of the marisma; also the many Spanish and Anglo-Spanish friends whose assistance is specifically acknowledged, _passim_, in the text. Should some slight slip or repetition have escaped the final revision, may we crave indulgence of critics? 'Tis not care that lacks, but sheer mnemonics. In a work of (we are told) 150,000 words the mass of manuscript appals, and to detect every single error may well prove beyond our power. We have lost, moreover, that guiding eye and pilot-like touch on the helm that helped to steer our earlier venture through the shoals and seething whirlpools that ever beset voyages into the unknown. A. C. W. J. B. BRITISH VICE-CONSULATE, JEREZ, _December 1910_. Contents CHAP. PAGE I. UNEXPLORED SPAIN: INTRODUCTORY 1 II. " " " (_Continued_) 17 III. THE COTO DOÑANA: OUR HISTORIC HUNTING-GROUND (A FOREWORD BY SIR MAURICE DE BUNSEN, P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., BRITISH AMBASSADOR AT MADRID) 30 IV. THE COTO DOÑANA: NOTES ON ITS PHYSICAL FORMATION, FAUNA, AND RED DEER 35 V. ANDALUCIA AND ITS BIG GAME: STILL-HUNTING 54 VI. " " " WILD-BOAR 70 VII. "OUR LADY OF THE DEW": THE PILGRIMAGE TO THE SHRINE OF NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL ROCÍO 82 VIII. THE MARISMAS OF GUADALQUIVIR 88 IX. WILDFOWL-SHOOTING IN THE MARISMAS 105 X. WILD-GEESE IN SPAIN: THEIR SPECIES, HAUNTS, AND HABITS 114 XI. WILD-GEESE ON THE SAND-HILLS 125 XII. SOME RECORDS IN SPANISH WILDFOWLING 133 XIII. THE SPANISH IBEX 139 XIV. SIERRA MORÉNA: IBEX 147 XV. " " RED DEER AND BOAR 158 XVI. PERNALES 174 XVII. LA MANCHA 183