o f dominion under Philip the fourth, put a final period
to thefe improvements. The antient poets have been
lavifh in their praifes o f the Tagus ; Silius Italicus, fays,,
“ Ore excelleniem et'lpe&atum fortibus aufis
Antiqua de ltirpe Tagum, fuperuinque hominumque-
Immemor,.”
Faria; de Soufa, in his liiftory o f Portugal, relates, that
king Dennis made a rich crown and fcepter with the gold,
found in the bed of this river.. Many people are ftills
employed near, Toledo, in thefe refearches, after flbods,,
and have collected a great number of gold’ coins and!
trinkets (a); though Don Antonio Ponz infinuates, that;
he looked in vain therefor gpldfand, and feems to think,,
that enough o f it, had never been* found, to* purchafe a*
pair o f pigeons in the market.
(a) Many of thefe cnriofities had been colle&ed„by Don Francifeo Santiago P&Iomares, of;.:
Toledo, who dying in 1775, his- library, and cabinet was purchafed by his excellency Don ,
Francifco Lorenzana, and prefented to the public library^ lately ere&ed in that city.. Another
fimilar colle&ion was left by Don.Juan Antonio de las Infantas, dean o f Toledo, to the
college of St. Ildefonfo,- at Alcala,-—Viage de Efpana, por Don Antonia Ponz,-fegtmda edi—
cion. Madrid, 177 6.
L E T T E R
L E T T E R X X III.
Mine o f Cobalt, in the valley o f Gijlau, in the Pyrenees o f Aragon (s).
THE valley o f GiftaU is almoft on the fummit o f the
Pyrenees, for very near it, at E l Hofpitalet, the
Waters o f France and Spain divide. The river Cinca
has its fource here, and, palling by Plan, falls into a gully,
two hundred feet broad, between two rocks, perpendicularly
open, above a thoufand feet high, and then
palfes on to the Ebro, which it enters at the loweft part
of Aragon. Thefe two rocks are like walls, where one
plainly perceives the waters have forced a palfage through,
as the different coloured ftrata o f ftone, are fimilar, and
exa&ly oppofite to each other, on both fides.
(a) The kingdom o f Aragon was formerly united tO that o f NaVarre, and continued fo
till 1203, when Sancho the Great* who had married the heirefs o f the county o f Caflile*
divided his dominions amOngft his children. Garcias* the eld eft- had Navarre, Ferdinand had
Caftile ere&ed into a kiilgdom, and united, to that of' Leon, b y marriage with- Sancha, onlyf
daughter and heirefs o f Bermuda, laft king Of Leon. Gonfalve had Sabrarve ahd other territories,
and to Ramito, his natural- foti, he gave the kingdom o f Aragoti, with the con*
fent o f the queen* in recompense for his bravery, in offering; to.: Support her innocence b y
fingle combat, againff the king’ s fons, who had charged her with incqntinency; the-falfity o f
which accufatidn, was difcoveredby a monk, who revealed their confeflibri to the king^ on
which the queen’s innocence waS proclaimed, and the combat laid afide,. as is fu lly related b y
Roderic Archbiihop o f Toledo.— 11 Roderici Tolctani de Reb. Hifp. Lib» v. chap» xxv.
D d 2 The