
(afterwards Pope Pius 2d.) ftiles him, “ Delicise Hifpa-
niarum Burgenfis.” He made an attempt, at the council
of Bafil, to fupport the precedency o f the kings of
Caftile, before the kings of England, on which occaiionhe
publilhed his treatife, entitled Eltratado de lasfejjiones. He
alfo wrote many works on hiftorical fubje&s ; in a word,
he lived in fuch high eftimation, that when Pope Eu-
genius, heard that the biihop o f Burgos intended to come
to his court, he publickly declared in a full coniiftory
of cardinals, “ That i f Alfonfo of Burgos fhould ever
come to fee him, he ihould be in a manner aihamed, to
fit in the chair of St. Peter (a).”
(a) Efpana Sagrada por Fr. Hcnrique Flores. Torn 26. Madrid, 1771»
L E T T E R XII.
Remarkable objetis on the road from Burgos to the provinces o f Alaba
and, Guypufcoa, as fa r as lrum, the laß town on the frontiers o f
Spain, towards France.
Y O U no fooner quit Burgos, than new objefts ap-
pear worthy o f attention ; for, in croffing an ex-
tenfive plain, the gum-bearing ciftus is feen in great
plenty (0); it is an evergreen, with long, narrow, leaves,
gummy and gloify ; the flower is inodorous, and com-
pofed of five white petals, o f the fize o f a common
rofe ; each petal having a little purple fpot on the tip
of it. The old branches diftil a liquid matter, which
the heat of the fun condenfes into a white fugary fub-
ftance, like a piece of gum, of the fize o f one’s finger,
and yields a true manna; it is gathered and eat
greedily by ihepherds and boys. The Spaniards were
little apprifed o f the advantages to be drawn from this
plant, till o f late years, when, on the reprefentation
of the royal college o f phyficians at Madrid, in 1752,
orders were given to two o f its members, to make a
The ciilus ladaníferos o f Linn aros»
further