they are in danger o f lofing them all. The wool of An-
daluiia is coarfe, becaufe their lheep never change climate
like the Merino flocks, whofe wool would likewife
degenerate, if they were kept at home ; and that of Anda-
lufia would improve, were they accuftomed to emigrate.
Between fifty and fixty thoufand bags of waihed wool
are annually exported out of Spain. A bag generally
weighs eight arrobes or 194 pounds Engliih. About
twenty thoufand bags o f this wool are fent annually to
London and Briftol worth from /'30. to A t each • fo
t o we have one third o f the p r i c e , a id o f ,he beft
fort The wool of Paular, which is the largeft, though
not the beft is referved for the king of Spain’s manufactures.
The common and flxooting dreifes of the royal
family o f Spain and their attendants, are made of the
cloth of Segovia, from whence our Engliih nobility, in
Henry the V llth ’s time were fupplied with fine cloth (a).
The crown of Spain receives annually, by all duties
together on exported wool, near fixty millions o f reals
vellon per annum. (£675,000.)
W Breadth o f Spanilh doth made at Segoyia r 3-4ths W or „ 3-4ths ;nctes Englifl,
l e t t e r
L E T T E R V I.
Inconveniencies arifitig from the emigrations o f the MerinoJheep, and
the partial laws o f the Mejia,
V o U defire my opinion (a) concerning the Mefta, but
I have nothing to add to what I have frequently
mentioned to you, on a fubjetft not eafily reduced into
the compafs o f a letter ; however I ihall once more lay
before you thofe obfervations that have engaged me to
entertain the notions I have formed to myfelf concerning
the Mefta.
; This appellation has corruptly crept into our language,
and been applied to iheep, when in reality it had no other
fignification, than a mixture o f grain, and feed, fuch as
barley, beans, oats, lentils, 8cc, nor was any fuch name
as .the Mefta flocks known in Spain before the days of
king Alfonfo. El Ultimo, when Engliih iheep were firft
fa) This letter was written by the late ingenious Padre Sarmiento, to Don Antonio Ponz,'
and is dated Madrid, 12th Sept, i.765, and publiihed by Ponz, in his eighth volume of Viage
-de Efpana, Madrid,-1778. It Ihews how.far the fpirit o f imprctvement has extended, and
reached even within the gloomy walls o f convents, and as it gives a lively idfca of the fpirit o£
the times, I thought it would perhaps be more acceptable topreferve it in its original form. 5
H brought