ASTURIAS, one of the provinces of the Spanish monarchy, distinguished by the title of a principality, and under that name conferred on the heir apparent to the throne of Spain. It is bounded on the east by Biscay, on the south by Leon, on the west by Galicia, and on the north by the ocean. It was known to the Romans during their empire in Spain by the name of the Ultramontane provinces, being surrounded on every side but the north, where the sea bounds it, by high mountains, which are passable with difficulty by horses, and nearly impassable by wheel carriages. Its surface extends to 308 square leagues, and its population, according to the census of 1803, amounted to 364,238 souls. Although it is the most populous of any of the larger divisions of Spain, it contains few cities or large towns. The inhabitants are mostly employed in the cultivation of the land, and in such manufactures as cultivators require. The face of the country is excessively irregular and mountainous; the higher elevations are not cultivated; and even in the valleys, which are irrigated by numberless streams, though there is abundant pasture for cattle, there is a great deficiency of corn. The flour of maize constitutes the principal food of all but the higher classes of inhabitants. Wheat is not much grown. The humidity weakens the plant; and though at first it appears to flourish, and looks well till it is in blossom, it scarcely ever forms grain. Rye grows better, and constitutes part of the food, especially when mixed with maize. Chesnuts, as in the other phrts of Spain, form an important portion of the sustenance of the inhabitants. They are very abundant on the hills, and the nuts as well as the wood are very valuable products. Other kinds of timber are found in the mountains, well calculated for ship-building; and several medicinal plants, such as hellebore, valerian, angelica, and others, which form trifling branches of commerce. Cows and horses are reared in this province, and considerable numbers of them sent to Galicia, Leon, and the two Castiles. Vines, for want of due attention, do not flourish. Very little wine is made, and that little of bad quality; but to compensate for this deficiency, they have abundance of apples, and cider forms the common drink of the people. In some parts of the province there are very valuable mines of coal, which provide fuel to the inhabitants and to such trades as require considerable fires; and some of the coal has been transported to Cadiz, Carthagena, and other ports in the Mediterranean Sea-In the lower parts of the country, especially on the sea coast, at a distance from coal mines and forests, the inhabitants use turf or peat for firing. In the vicinity of the river Avila there are some mines of copper worked; and as fuel is plentiful, manufactories of copper utensils have been established, from whence some parts of Leon and Castile are supplied with furnaces, kettles, pots, and other similar articles. Besides these, there is a royal manufactory near Oviedo, where, in blast-furnaces, they cast cannon-balls, granades, bombs, and cannon of all calibres. These latter are sent to Pola to be bored, and then to Oviedo, where they are mounted. Some coarse cloths are made, but not sufficient to supply the inhabitants.

The mountains, which cover the whole province, gradually decline in height as they approach the ocean, along the border of which is a narrow stripe of the best and most populous portion of the principality. From the narrowness of this tract, it must be seen that the courses of all the rivers are necessarily short and rapid, and that they are very apt to overflow the country when the rains descend on the mountains. The principal river is the Nalon, which encircles the city of Oviedo, before which it receives the river Caudal, formed by the junction of two other rivers, the Pola de Leon and the Aller. After passing Oviedo, the rivers Trubia and Narcea contribute their streams, when, under the designation of the Pravia, it falls into the ocean. Along the whole extent of the coast of Asturias, a length of 130 miles, there is not one good port. The best is Ribadesella, where a large frigate may anchor; but its entrance is bad. Gijon will admit a [7:4:112]vessel drawing 16 or 17 feet water, and when within, she is sufficiently safe; but the entrance is very narrow and very dangerous. It is a remark which has been made with sufficient accuracy to entitle it to credit, that on the whole coast of Asturias the sea has been constantly gaining on the shore; and if it continues to encroach for the next 50 years as it has done for the last fifty, the town of Gijon will be deprived of its port. The principal city is Oviedo, containing 6000 inhabitants. It is the see of a bishop, and the seat of a superior tribunal of law. It has a university, a well-endowed hospital, and a lazaretto. 1he cathedral is a large Gothic pile, with a tower of uncommon height. It is surrounded with a beautiful walk. The climate is very healthy, and its markets well furnished with every necessary of life. Among other convents, that of the Benedictines deserves notice, as the residence and burial-place of Father Feijoo, whose writings do honour to Spain. At a league from the city are the warm baths of Caldas. The spring issues from a calcareous rock of secondary formation: it is much resorted to, being found highly beneficial in many diseases. Gijon, though not the capital, is larger than Oviedo, and, on account of its harbour, of more importance. It is honoured by having been the native place of Jovellanos, one of the wisest and best men that Spain has recently produced. He founded here the Asturian Institution, destined for the instruction of youth in mathematics, mineralogy, and navigation, which still continues to flourish. He also projected a road, now in progress, for wheel-carriages to Leon from Gijon. The cabildo of Oviedo has done honour to his fame, by erecting at the gate of their city, through which this road passes, a stone with an inscription to perpetuate the obligations his country owed to him. At 10 leagues to the east-south-east of Oviedo stands the collegial church and sanctuary of Covadonga, whose fame has been extended by the history of the period when the remains of the Goths were collected in the mountains of Asturias, and who first commenced that opposition to and defiance of the Moors which continued during seven centuries, till the wholc of the peninsula was cleared of that enterprising, predatory, and oppressive race. The sea coasts, as well as the small rapid streams, abound with fish of various kinds, the latter especially with salmon and lampreys, which are sent to supply the markets of Madrid. The important events of the early history of this principality will be communicated in the general historical account of Spain.— Historia Natural de Asturias, por Don Mariano Lagasea; Viage de Ponz ; Geografia de Espana, por Antillon.