- fituated bn the‘banks o f the Pifuerga, This large city,
exclufive of'colleges and fome churches that have good
remains of gothic ar.chitefture, now only exhibits the dif-
mal remains o f its former grandeur -; and the palace where
Pnilip the fecond -was born; has nothing but bare walls,
where bats and fpiders quietly inhabit the manfions of the
great Emperor Charles, and the Philips his progeny.
Every thing is barren with dreary afpecis, o f flat
topped, barren fand hills as far as. Caverpn, where they
have vineyards and make a tolerable,light red wine.
Leadwort is common on the fide o f the road, whofe
leaves pounded, are faid to be .good againft the gangrene.
The vineyards are numerous, near the town of
Duenas («), which belongs to the Duke of Medina Celi.
The plain extends to Rodrigo, whofe environs produce
a little lavender, two forts of ihrubby Jerufalem fage,
with a fage leaf, and meadow ragwort, which are the
only plants the country affords. All the territory o f
Campos is fo bare and deftitute o f frees,-that the inhabitants
are obliged for fuel, to burn vineftocks, ftravy,
(a) A Spanifli proverb lays, “ Ruynconrvyn qye :en Iluena s- ..M e znm fb mean,
for thus they marry,in Dnenas.’ ’ Jn :i5a 6, .F erduno4 p£ Aragon, after the .death ¡of i j
wife Queen Ifahelia, o f Gaftiie, was married here a fecund time to the , ta d y Germans de
Font, daughter o f John de Foix, vifcount Narbonne, b y M am , lifter fo Lewis r a thm f
France. This match having been made by the. political Ferdinand, to cement his union with
France, might perhaps difpleafe the Cafliiians, arid have .given rife to the proverb. A t pte-
fent Dnenas teems ill prepared/or foch fplendid gnejts,. and iindiffercntiy,provided,.eyen ¿0
celebrate the nuptials o f a reputable farmer.v
' dung,
dung, and the few aromatic ihrubs they can find ; their
kitchens are like fioves, and thefy fit round them on
benches, giving to thefe wretched hovels the emphatic
name of Glorias. A folitary elm or a walnut tree now
and then appears near a church, a fur® fign that water is
not far from the furface, and that its roots have partaken
of it. When this happens; independent of every vi-
ciffitude o f weather and climate; other trees would
thrive in like manner,, and the country might be rendered
ihady and pleafant, inftead of being the moft defolate
in Europe ; but it is no eafy matter to conquer prejudices,
or diffuade the Cafliiians from that erroneous notion,
that an increafe o f trees would only augment the
number o f birds to eat up their corn,, and devour theif
grapes.
On approaching the hills, the pebbles which had aU
moft difappeared, ihew themfelves again, encreafed both
in number and bulk, and although from Labajos they,
were fcarce larger than oranges, they are now double
that fize, and rounded, which the others are not, covering
the tops o f the hills : it is fomewha-t lingular,■ that
thefe ftones, which are o f a fine' fandy grain, and are
found every where in this province, ihould be o f the
very identical fort and colour, as thofe of La Mancha,
Molina de Aragon, and other parts of Spain.