leaved ciftus, and great quantities o f rofemary, which
contributes fo much to the excellence o f the honey, that
it gif fent even to Rome.
Between. Ibi and Biar the mountains are of a calcareous
.nature, though half way up, they contain flint, which
is in requeft for muikets. Striking off to the fouthward
towards Villena, feveral ftrata o f alabafter are feen on the
road clofed in beds o f limeftone, There is a mine of
ocre in thefe rocks, and they frequently find iron. Near
Villena a lake of two leagues circumference furnilhes the
neighbouring villages with fait,, and two leagues further,
an infulated hill confifts entirely of fal gem, covered with
a gypfeous coat o f different colours. After paifing Villena,
a pleafant and well cultivated vale extends to Cau-
dete and Fuente La Higuera, at the foot o f a high mountain
covered with mithridate. Two fine fprings iffue
from the hill o f La Higuera, and form the brook of
Rambla, whofe fides have ftrata of red and white earth,
which ihew themfelves and difappear alternately in proportion
as the waters force their way deeper. Following
.the maftic is -gathered, which is well-explained ixy Mr. Miller in his di&ionary, -who complains
o f thefe trees having been confounded t>y moil botanic writer?, and that even Mr.
Tournefort, who was on the fpot where the maftic is collected, had not diftinguilhed the fpe-
cies. The Spaniards ftill follow the old .cuftom of making toolhpicjcs -with die I>entijcusy
the iame as the Romans did, o f whom Martial Jays,
Lentifcum melius, fed ft tihi frondea cufpis
D&fuerit, dentem penna levare poteft.
this
this brook for four hours you come to Mogente, and in
three more to Montefa, oppoiite to which a towering
mountain terminates in a pointed rock, on which flood
the convent belonging to the military knights of the order
of Montefa. On the 23d of March, 1748, a dreadful
earthquake overturned this rock, demoliihed the convent,
and buried its inhabitants under its ruins. An
unfortunate man in endeavouring to make his efcape
through a crevice of the rock, it fuddenly clofed and
cruihed him in fo terrible a manner that when the
body was afterwards found, there were hardly any remains
feen of the ikuil or bones. It is remarkable that
in a chain of hills oppoiite to Montefa, there is a fteep hill
with an old mooriih caftle on its fummit, which never
has fuffered from earthquakes, though frequent in Valencia,
owing perhaps to its very perpendicular pofition,
being one folid and compact mafs, having its root, as it
were, deeply fixed under ground, whereas the mountain
of Montela confifted of various ftrata of ftone in a horizontal
direction, not fufficiently combined to refill fuch
a violent impulfe.
Near San Felipe the country gradually opens in a moil
rural and fanciful manner ; while the eye is ftruck with
new objects ; an old ruined caftle and ihattered fortifications,
on the fummit of the hill recall to one’s mind all
the horrors of war and devaftation, which are foon ef-
A a a faced