water, indeed, of MADRID, is excellent, particularly that of the fountain of the Recoletos. The court of SPAIN have given it the strongest recommendation poffible, for they have sent water from MADRID even to Don CARLOS and Don PHILIP, as far as ITALY.

You may find fome Trees in SPAIN not very common in other countries. The olive tree, green oak, and mulberry tree, abound there; you will meet with vaft forrefts of fir and cork; of which latter they make ftools and benches, and apply it to many other domestic uses. There are fine woods of oak in ESTREMADURA and ASTURIAS; fome few palms and cedars are likewise found. Then as to Fruits, there are figs, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, citrons, dates, capers, walnuts, chefnuts, piftacho-nuts, raifins, grapes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums of all forts, pears, apples, mulberries, ftrawberries, currants, but, I believe, no gooseberries.

GARDENING, except in the neighbourhood of BARCELONA and VALENTIA, and fome other places on the MEDITERRANEAN coaft, is entirely neglected in this country. They have not even the idea of gentlemens country feats, with gardens about them, after the English manner, except at the King's palaces, or fome grandee's old castle. Yet, notwithstanding, their lettuce, fallads, afparagus, cellery, cabbage, fpinnage, endive, garden herbs, onions, garlick, carrots, turnips, melons, cucumbers, artichokes, &c. are good. The honey of SPAIN, where there is so much wild thyme, is equal to that of HYBLA.

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VINEYARDS abound every where; for they make neither beer, nor cyder; rum is prohibited, and their brandy is a wretched fpirit, diftilled from anifeed. Foreign wines are very difficult to be had there at any price, except in the fea-ports; even the fine wines of their own growth are by no means cheap, or easy to be cured. What wine is fold of foreign growth, is chiefly fome poor Claret, or wretched Frontiniac. The wines that are native are remarkably ftrong; they are preffed out in the ancient manner, fo often mentioned in Scripture, by the feet; when thus trodden

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troden out, they are immediately put into bog fkins, fewed up, and pitched on the infide: the pitch is apt to give them a deeper tint, and a very rank tafte; this the connoiffeurs call tafting of the Borracho. There are many fine wines in SPAIN, the very names of which I know not: those that have fallen in my way are the following. 1. Mountain. 2. Xeres, or what we call Sherry, a town near CADIZ. . Paxarete, both dry, and fweet. 4. Malaga, in that country, what the Spaniards call Don PEDRO XIMENES, from the name of a famous vintner in that city. 5. Malvafia, in CATALONIA, what we call Malmfy. 6. Tinta de Rota, or what we call Tent. 7. Peralta. 8. Montilla. 9. Guarnacha, in CATALONIA. 10. Fontcarral. II. Mofcatel. 12. Ribadavian. 13. Maravella. 14. Seges. 15. Mancha. This laft is the wine of Don QUIXOTE'S Country: it is of the red grape, and what is chiefly drank, mixed with water, by the court and gentry at MADRID.

THE Spanish horse were always famous; thofe of ANDALUSIA are the most beautiful, thofe of ASTURIAS the strongest: the best mules are the Caftilian, particularly thofe of LA MANCHA. but both horfes and mules are very dear in this country; fifty or fixty pounds for a mule is no extraordinary price. All travelling, carriage, &c. is generally performed by mules, not horfes. In many places, where the mules go with fafety, an horfe would scarce ftand.

THERE are great plenty of oxen and cows, though the Spaniards make no butter, oil fupplying its place. They make likewife very little ufe of cows milk, goats milk being only to be had, even at MADRID. They have black cattle in great abundance, and large flocks of fheep. All these are ufually poor and lean, for want of pafture, though the flesh is not without its relifh, and the meat is certainly more fubftantial, more nutritious, than what is killed in ENGLAND.

THEY have immenfe droves of fwine, particularly about TALAVERA DE LA REGNA. As thefe are fed with chefnuts, the pork is of a moft exquifite flavour. Foultry in general, except

the

the turkies, are in this country lean and dry. There are great quantities of game of all forts, hares, partridges, &c. but neither fat nor well flavoured. The venifon is good, but inferior to our own. Rabbits breed and multiply aftonishingly in SPAIN, and are very good food; they were fo great a nuisance, in the time of AUGUSTUS, that the Roman foldiers were obliged to deftroy them, as STRABO tells us. This made CATULLUS call SPAIN Cuniculofa Celtiberia. And BOCHART fays, that the name of SPAIN came from the Phenician SPANIJIAM, which fignifies the land of rabbits.

FISH is fcarce ever feen in the interior parts of the country; and what does come there is ufually brought in fnow. They have great multitudes of craw-fifh at MADRID.-But their chief fupply of fish is fent them by the English from NEWFOUNDLAND, the falt fish, or what they call the BACALAO. The Spaniards themselves indeed, near CALES, falt no inconfiderable quantity of the Thunnus, or Ton-fish; and very excellent it is; though this is no new practice, but as old as the Roman times; for the ELDER PLINY tells us, Optima autem omnium in

Europa funt Gaditana Salfamenta.”

LE T

LETTER XVI.

To the Reverend Dr. K E N NICOTT, &c. &c.

T°

O thofe, Sir, who, like you, are great proficients in the Hebrew and eaftern languages, there are perhaps few countries in the world that would afford them more pleasure than this of SPAIN, could they but have free access to all the oriental manuscripts it is known to contain.

You need not be informed, that when the empire of the MOORS flourished here, they had univerfities of note, at a time. when all the Chriftian world, and the reft of SPAIN in particular, was buried in the moft difgraceful ignorance. The Chriftians themselves made no difficulty of going to study in those seminaries, to learn aftronomy and philofophy.

THIS Country was the refidence of those learned Arabs, AvıCENA, AVERROES, ALMANZOR, and MESSAHALLAH.. It was here those able Jews wrote their comments, the Rabbins ABEN EZRA, MOSES BEN-MAYMON, A. ZACUTH, BENJAMIN, MoSES KIMCHI, and his fons DAVID and JOSEPH; with others, whofe names and works are fo humorously defcribed in that beautiful poem, your Oxford Auctio Davifiana.

BUT though there certainly are great collections of Hebrew, and other Oriental MSS. remaining in SPAIN, yet let me intreat you, Sir, not to raise your expectations too high, or fanguinely

to imagine, that you can derive any great acceffions to your new Edition of the Bible, from this part of the world. Not that I am without hope of obtaining fome valuable collations for your use hereafter but that must be the work of much time and application: patience and perfeverance are moft effentially neceffary in all your transactions with a Spaniard.

You no doubt are well aware, that thofe who glean after fuch men as XIMENES, MONTANUS, and PERE HOUBIGEANT, in this country, cannot expect to find much left, which they have not collated. But ftill I am perfuaded, from knowing the genius of these people, that a fkilful and diligent enquirer would difcover fome Hebrew MSS. which these great men never faw: fome have doubtless been brought hither fince their time, and fome probably escaped their fearch.

BUT, in order that you may fee the ftate of this matter more compleatly, I fend you inclofed two Letters, tranflated from the original, written by a very learned and intelligent Spaniard. The firft will give you a full view of the state of the Hebrew and Arabic learning in this country; and the fecond contains a most exact account of the Complutenfian Polyglott.

HAVING ufed my utmost endeavours to procure you fome collations of fuch ancient Hebrew MSS. of the Bible, as I could get intelligence of in SPAIN, it is but reasonable, that I should give you, Sir, as fatisfactory an account as I can of the steps I took for that purpose.

THERE are but two principal obftacles to your procuring the collation of the Hebrew MSS. in SPAIN: thefe are, the abfolute neceffity of his Catholic Majefty's permiffion; and the difficulty of finding perfons of ability, learning, leifure, and what is more, humility fufficient for fuch a work: for, fhould you find out an ecclefiaftic able enough to go through this dry tafk, he may poffibly have too much pride to receive your pay; and then what motive have you left to engage him with?

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