Spain. Wentworth Webster

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СКАЧАТЬ Albacete, near Montiel, in La Mancha. A picturesque stream, the Ruidosa, with many cascades and broken water, connects these lakes; but after running a few miles in a north-westerly direction, it disappears underground near Tomesillo, and is believed to rise to the surface after about twenty miles, in the Ojos (eyes) of the Guadiana, near Damiel. Very soon it receives from the right the united waters of the Zancara and the Giguela, streams whose contributions are much more scanty, especially in summer, than the length of their course on the map would lead one to suppose; thence the river flows in a westerly direction, passing near Ciudad Real, below which the Javalon enters from the left, coming from the Campo de Montiel; near Don Benito the Zuja, from the Sierra Morena, joins it, and some miles lower down the Matachet. Flowing past Medellin, five miles below Badajoz the river crosses the frontier of Portugal, changes its course from westerly to south-west, and afterwards south and south-east, till it again joins the frontier near San Lucar, and dividing the two countries till its mouth, falls into the Gulf of Cadiz at Ayamonte. In the lower part of its course the river, which before has been wide and shallow, and often almost dry in summer, narrows its course, and rushes with impetuosity through the rapids called the Salto del Lobo (the wolf's leap), near Serpa, in Portugal. The whole length of the Guadiana is estimated at 550 miles, and the area of its bed at 24,000 square miles. The rainfall is about fourteen inches.

      To the south of the rivers of the plateau the only considerable stream is the Guadalquiver, with its tributaries. The character of this river is entirely different to that of the former streams. Like the Ebro, it forms a true valley, instead of merely cutting its way through rocks, cañons, and defiles. Its bed is on an average about 1200 feet below that of the Guadiana in the greater part of its course. It is also the only river in Spain of any utility for navigation; the tide is felt beyond Seville, and vessels of 200 to 300 tons ascend to that city. There are also several lines of steamboats trading thence directly with London, Marseilles, Bilbao, Cadiz, and Gibraltar. The Guadalquiver takes its rise from two sources—one, in the streams Guadalimar and Guadarmeno, rises in the Sierra Alcaraz, and not very far from the sources of the Guadiana; the other, which bears the name of the Guadalquiver, in the south-west of the Sierra Sagra; this latter branch is soon joined by the Guadiana Menor, coming down from the Sierra Nevada. The basin of the Guadalquiver presents this peculiarity, that its boundary is not formed by the line of the highest summits; on the contrary, many of its tributaries take their rise on the farther side of the Sierra Morena on the north, and of the Sierras de Granada and Nevada on the south, and have cut their way through these higher grounds to join the Guadalquiver in the plains of Andalusia. The upper part of its course is very rapid, and the junction of the two rivers Guadalimar and Guadalquiver, in the plains of Baeza, is about 5000 feet below the Punta de Almenara; but from thence to the sea the fall is very slight. After the junction the river passes by Andujar, Montoro, and Cordova, receiving on both banks the waters of many streams of but little importance; but between Cordova and Seville it is joined by its largest tributary, the Xenil, which rises in the Sierra Nevada, and flowing through the celebrated Vega of Granada, bursts through the Antequera mountains to enter the great plain of Andalusia, and loses itself in the Guadalquiver. From Seville downward the character of the stream is greatly changed; it wanders in large meanderings through low and marshy grounds for two or three leagues on each bank, mostly uninhabited, and used only for pasturing cattle. These low lands, which are called Marismas, in dry weather are covered with clouds of black dust, and in wet are an almost impassable slough of mud; mid these the river divides, and its winding beds form two islands—Isle Mayor and Menor, the former of which is wholly given to cattle, while the latter is inhabited and well cultivated; The river finally enters the Gulf of Cadiz, at San Lucar de Barameda, forcing its way with difficulty through low hills of sand, like those of the Landes in France. The marshes near the mouth are utilized as Salinas, for making excellent salt; and on the hills which overlook the Marismas some of the most renowned wines and fruits of Spain are produced. The whole course of the Guadalquiver is about 340 miles and the area of its basin 21,000: the rainfall is estimated at nineteen inches.

      The other streams which fall into the Gulf of Cadiz—the Rio Tinto, which runs into the Huelva basin, and the Guadalete at Cadiz—are of no utility for navigation. The little port of Palos, whence Columbus sailed to discover a new world, is almost entirely blocked up by sands brought down by the former torrent.

      The remaining rivers of Spain—those which, descending from the great plateau, flow eastward to the Mediterranean—though all useless for navigation, are among the most productive of all its streams. Flowing through a country whose temperature exceeds that of the opposite coast of Africa; where the rainfall is either scanty, or disastrous in quantity from rare but terrible storms; and through districts in which no rain falls for years together—the waters of these rivers, skilfully applied to irrigation, have rendered what would otherwise be a barren land one of fertility unparalleled in Europe. Unlike the peasants of Castile, the cultivators of Murcia and Valencia have learnt to value the use of water in agriculture; although even there, works which were first constructed by the Moors have been allowed to fall into ruin, and are yearly becoming of less utility. Of this we shall speak more at length below. The three great rivers we have yet to notice are the Murcian Segura, and the Jucar and Guadalaviar, in Valencia.

      The river Segura takes its rise in the Sierra de Segura, between the Sierras of Alcaraz and Sagra. The upper part of its course is that of a mountain torrent, leaping from terrace to terrace of the mountains as it descends, until after the junction of the Mundo, which rises from a cirque in the Sierra Alcaras, like the cirque of Gavarnie in the Pyrenees, and flows through a deep ravine from the north-east. Its waters are dammed up, cut into numberless channels, and almost wholly utilized for irrigation, so that only about ten per cent of them reaches the sea; the rest are dissipated in the huertas of Murcia, Orihuela, and part of Elche. Its tributary the Sangonera loses almost all its waters in the plains of Lorca. With the little Vinalapo, almost 15,000 acres are rendered productive by the waters of these streams in one of the driest districts of Spain. The wheat of Orihuela is some of the finest in Spain; and so certain is the crop as to give rise to the proverb, "Rain or no rain, there is always wheat in Orihuela." The Segura has a course of about 217 miles, and an area of about 850 square miles; the average rainfall is estimated at about twelve inches, but the difference is very great in different years, as the district is liable to rare but most heavy and destructive floods.

      The Jucar takes its rise not far from the sources of the Tagus, on the south side of the Muela de San Juan, which we have before mentioned as the culminating watershed of the peninsula. It flows first in a south-westerly direction as far as Cuenca, whence it gradually turns south and south-east, and at Jorquera, to the north-east of Albacete, strikes eastwards for the Mediterranean, which it finally enters at Cullera. Like the Segura and Guadalaviar, its waters are drained off for irrigation; but its basin is narrower, and it can boast of no fertility equal to the huertas of Murcia or Valencia. Its course is about 317 miles, the area of its bed 580, and the rainfall some twelve and a half inches; the irrigated land is over 30,000 acres.

      The Guadalaviar, or Turia, rises on the north side of the Muela de San Juan, and descending rapidly, flows eastward past Albarracin and Teruel; at which latter town it turns abruptly southwards till it enters the province of Valencia, where it again takes a more easterly course, flowing with ever-diminished stream through the rich garden of Valencia, at which city it falls into the Mediterranean, with water which, except in time of flood, scarcely rises above the ankle. The length of its course is about 187 miles, the area of its basin 320 square miles; it irrigates over 25,000 acres near Valencia.

      Besides these larger rivers, there are on the Mediterranean slope innumerable smaller streams, whose waters, though of little geographical importance, are of the greatest utility to agriculture. In summer scarcely a drop of their waters reaches the sea; all is either employed for irrigation, or dissipated by evaporation; often they are dammed up to form reservoirs or pantanos, sometimes employed for rice culture. But small as these streams are, it is to them that this burning coast owes its beauty and fertility, its almost tropical vegetation and its rich products. The fair gardens of Castellon, of Gandia, of Murviedro would be barren and valueless without these waters. Still farther to the north the waters of the Llobregat, and the canal of Urgel in Catalonia, are СКАЧАТЬ