are there to be met with. We cannot do better than refer
those persons who would like additional evidence on the subject, to the
volumes named at foot[2], in which they will see how a man possessed of
prudence, good sense, and good temper, may visit some of the wildest and
least frequented parts of the Peninsula, not only without injury or
annoyance, but with considerable pleasure and profit.

Captain Widdrington's journey to Spain, in the Spring of 1843, had, as
he tells us, a twofold object. He was desirous of observing the effects
of the numerous changes that have taken place in that country since the
death of Ferdinand; and he, at the same time, thought that his
assistance and previous knowledge of the country and people, would be
useful to a scientific friend, Dr Daubeny, who had been commissioned by
the Agricultural Society to examine the formation of phosphorite in
Estremadura. This mineral, it was imagined, might be advantageously
substituted for bones as manure.

The travellers had sketched out their route beforehand, and seem to have
adhered very closely to the plan they had laid down. Proceeding from
Bayonne to Madrid, after a short stay in that capital they struck into
Estremadura; visited the vein of phosphorite, and explored several
interesting districts, into which few travellers penetrate; thence to
the quicksilver mines at Almaden, and to various iron mines and
founderies, through Seville, Ronda, Malaga, and Granada, and back to
Madrid. Here Captain Widdrington separates from his companion, and
continues his peregrinations alone, through the kingdom of Leon, the
Asturias, and Galicia. In his narrative of this somewhat extensive
ramble, the gallant captain displays a very respectable degree of
knowledge on a considerable variety of subjects. Agriculture, geology,
natural history, the resources of Spain, and the best mode of applying
them, political intrigues and changes, the strange and apparently
inexplicable ups and downs of public men, are all touched upon in turn:
and if the earlier portion of his work is worthy of a member of the
learned societies to which he belongs, the latter part is no less
creditable to his habits of observation, and to the soundness of his
judgment.

One of the first things that appear to have struck Captain Widdrington
on arriving at Madrid, was the great activity in the building
department--an activity arising chiefly from the sequestration of the
church property. Convent