whortle, the vaccinium of Linnaeus (a) ; and to the weft-
ward, there is a height where great numbers of Roman
coins have been dug out, which indicates its having been
formerly a Roman colony : near this place feveral large
lumps o f emery are feen above ground, fixed in the fand
Rone
The famous river Ebro, which once ferved as a boundary
between the Carthaginians and' Romans, has its
fource in a little valley at a fmall diftance to the eaftward
o f Reinofa, and proceeds from a copious fpring at the
•foot of an ancient tower, called Fontibre ; at .a few paces
from hence, ks waters turn a mill, and abound in excellent
trout, and plenty of cray fifh ; in paffimg by Reinofa,
it is encreafed by the waters of feveral other brooks,- and
fprings ; two leagues lower, it runs by the narrow pafs
of Montefclaros, receives different fupplies in the courfe
o f its paffage through the vallies, is confiderablewhen it
comes to the confines o f Alava, and after traverfing many
open and fertile diftrifts, pa lies -by the city of Tortofa,
•where there is a bridge of boats over it, and then falls
into the Mediterranean at the Alfaque iflands, but on account
of its many rocks, and ihoals is not navigable
higher than Tortofa, and even fo far, only for fmall craft.
(«) Viiis idea of ¿Gerard and Ray.
(i) A more parti.eul.ar account.of enjery will he given in the fecond part o f this work.
There
There is a fmall briny lake near the fource o f the
Ebro, where they might obtain fait, as is done near the
fource o f the Tagus, in the fame manner as in Guypuf-
coa already mentioned. In winter this lake is covered-
with wild ducks, and other aquatic fow l; the country is
well provided with game, they have partridges and
quails in abundance, as well as hares, and in the mountains
there are bears. The meadows are covered with,
ufual plants, fuch as round birthwort, fquinancy berries,
yellow-weed, pariley leaved vervain, privet, and
cockfcamb ; but o f the aromatic forts, none but pennyroyal.
Beech trees are common hereabouts, bearing the
maft, which is a kind of a triangular feed in form o f a.
nut, or rather an acorn, containing a whitiih oleaginous,
pith, of an agreeable tafte, but the inhabitants are ignorant
of the method of drawing oil from this fruit, as in.
France: they gather it in the fame manner as they do
acorns, in Eftremadura, getting up into the trees and
ffriking them with poles, and ufe it to fatten the fwine.
When, put under the prefs and formed into cakes, it
makes an excellent fodder for cows, on being mixed with
water, and is o f great fervice when they cannot go into
the fields on account of the fnow(a). The intended ca-
(a)-An attempt was made fbme years ago to introduce the extraöion of beech oil in England,
and a patent was granted for that purpofe, but it did not fucceed, the country- people
chQofing to keep their maft to fatten their fwine, rather than fell.it to.anfwer the purpofes