The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-10-02
RAMBLEIN SPAIN.
Attractions for the Naturalist and snor..n.,

AS John Hooker said of Spain. "God
a most of the land in His own hold.
ing, consequently one there enioys
sne spectacle of a wild and beautiful
eou1ery IN Its most perfect pristine
condition, exactly as turned out bv
nature, not yet disfigured or elm
proved by the hand of man. and
practically unchanged since the DAYS
OF the Moors, and, in fact, for ages
before them. Every day one sees
many OF those forms of bird and ami.
maj lie which in our crowded islands
nave long ceased to exist, and only re-
nam to the naturalists of to-day in the
.orm OF bad pictures in books or
worse specimens in museums. Among
me rolling corn lands the great bus.
.ard roams in plenty. Troops of fifty
or sixty OF this noble game bird, the
largest OF that class. NAV be seer to-
geether, their great fawn-colored bod
les n long necks resembling a herd
OF dee rather than birds. Then there
are M lesser bustards, and on every
SIDE resounds the triple note of the
quail: On the open plains before
mentioned the royal kite and the buz-
zard-both these, like the bustard,
ABOUT extinct at home-are ever in
sight gracefully circling over the
brushWood with a keen " for an out
iiylng rabbit, or one of the large and
beautifully colorcd lizards which
abound therein.
But for the particular behoof of the
reptile world nature has designed and
commissioned a special class Of armed
cruiser, the "Colebrero," or snake
cater, as the Spaniards call him, which
Is often deserted busily employed at
ms vocation. Then those dark-brown
ieilows with creamy heads hover
ing over q marshy hollow, their
motlonless wings set at a sharp
angle, are moo buzzards, while the
long-winged kind, which look like gi-
gantlc swallows are their cousins. the
a~sh-colored barrier, the most indus
trlous and hard working creature of
his kind. OF small birds, there is an
,nhnlte variety, many clad in the
brightest hues, which harmonic ad-
mlrably with the sunny scene. Some
OF these, such as the bee eaters, the
1 Jay. and the golden oriole almost
rival in brilliancy the gaudy d%enizens
OF the tropics. Not only are their
piumages most vivid in color, but they
possess glossy reflections, which in the
bright southern sun sparkle like few
els Every now and then a covey of
the large Spanish partridge rise with
startling ~suddenness; their numbers
are surprising when one considers the
~unceaslng persecution they undergo
from the native ''cazadorcs" and the
quantity of birds of prey. these latter
forming a characteristic feature in the
Spanish landscape.
Besides birds, these broad, undula-
ting plains and prairie lands are the
native home of the wild-bred Spanish
bull. Here he roams at large from mis-
birth till the day he receives his death
thrust at the hand of the matador. A
formidable beast he is, perhaps the
only one inclined to dispute the do
mlnlon OF man. The wild-bred Span
lsh bull is ready to assume the often
slve, and provoke a combat in the
open. He stands his ground ~resenting
intrusion on his domains with 4 low,
deep roar Of defiance, viciously paw
ing the ground and throwing up clouds
of dust with his four feet.
Beyond the fertile but externally
somewhat monotonous regions of the
vine and corn, the Spanish horizon is
usually bounded by the blush loom of
a distant mountain range. But before
this can be reached a very different re-
glon must be traversed. The sierras
are usually encircled by a broad zone,
of low, broken hills and undulatinc
plateal'x, beautifully clothed in strag-
Cling natural woods. LuNuriant groves
of oaks, chestnuts, and cork trees &C.
cupy the ridges, while the valleys are
tiled with dense masses of arbutus,
lenticus, wild olive, some kind of
laurel, cistus, and other shrubs. Here
and there whole acres glow with the
brilliant flowers of the rhododendron,
and the crimson peony adorns the
most arid places. In certain districts,
as one carefully picks ones way, rid
ing through brushwood as high as ones
shoulder, now and then a red deer
starts from the thicket almost at ones
feet. Hugo black snakes uncoil from
their basks on a sunny knoll, and
glide rapidly out of sight; then a coup
lie of badgers hustle away through the
scrub. or u broad-winged kite slips
noiselessly from her nest on a pine.
Overhead resounds the short, loud
bark of the imperisl eagle. or perhaps
one of these magnificent birds may be
perched in massive outlines on the top
most limb of n lofty oak, his white
epaulets plainly visible in sharp con
trast to the glossy black plumagc.
Probably for typical mountain seen
cry the P~yrenees and the hill region of
Gallicia and the Austrias are the finest
in the peninsula. But the great sier-
ras of the south have a character of
their W which is not wanting either
in beauty or grandeur. The vast piles
of limestone, of which they are largely
composed, are blanched by the ages of
exposure till they shine in the sun
shine like white marble, relieved and
yariegatcd by the dark green of the
brushwood, which grows thick wher-
cver among the rocks it can find soil
for its roots. Naturally these rugged
sierras are but i'll adapted for cultiva-
ton. Here and there the mountains
GERS have wrested from the stony de-
clivities a little patch of corn land. In
this the hillmen compare favorably
with the more ~listless dwellcrs of the
plains. A keener sense of the strug-
gle for existence no doubt develops
latent energies; but these sometimes
appear 10 increase in proportion to the
greater remotcness from the banetul
influence of the priesthood. The
staple industry ofthe s~ierras. however,
is the breeding of goats. Ubiquitously
audible is the not unmusical tinkle of
the little bell which each goat carries
on its neck. Il sound characteristic of
the widest and most remote glens of
the mountains. Last thing at dusk,
first thing at dawn, resounds that little
tinkle round ones camp. The per-