The mountains of Biscay are beautiful and pictu resque ; many of them are covered with trees and shrubs of natural growth, such as the oak, straw berry, and currant, indigenous to the climate ; and the inhabitants of the province have contributed to render them still more woody, by the plantation of fruit trees, and those which afford useful timber. The immense waste of fuel in the iron works of the pro vince render this a necessary precaution ; and, were it not for the constant renewal of wood, the moun tains would in a few years be stripped bare.
Wild boars still exist in the woods of Biscay, and lynxes have been killed in their immediate vicinity. Wolves sometimes appear, and foxes are extremely noxious to the animals they can overpower.
Five species of birds of passage annually enter Spain from Africa, when the heat of the season forces them to change their abode. Those called chimbos, on the failure of fruit, by being burnt up, and of ants their principal sustenance retreating from the scorching rays of the sun, cross the Straits, and enter ing- Andalusia, distribute themselves in flocks over all Spain. The chimbos breed in Andalusia and the Sierra Morena, and remain there among the copses, which they particularly inhabit, feeding on fruit and ants ; but when these fail, they take a rapid flight over the plains of La Mancha, and arrive in Biscay during August, where great numbers are caught and brought to the public markets. Though lean, feeble, and ex hausted with the length of flight, in the space of four days they•become as fat as ortolaus or beccafi gos. The chimbos again shift their abode, when the autumnal rains occasion the failure of their necessary food, and then they disappear in a single night. An. instance is related of a great multitude of them ha ving; collected on the 27th of September, when a fresh breeze sprung up, and next day not one was to be seen : they disappeared as if anticipating heavy rains, which began to fall on the 29th. The chim bos are succeeded by wood-cocks, which breed a mong the rocks on the north parts of the mountain Gorveya.
The population of Biscay is limited in proportion to the extent of territory, for the whole lordship does not contain above 300,000 souls. According to the royal census in 1787, 1788, the population was 310,758, of which 116,042 belonged to Biscay Pro per ; but from a more recent enumeration in 1800, the population, even including a district which is ge nerally esteemed without its confines, had decreased 20,000. One portion of the population was divided into 20S I. priests, 2043 monks and nuns, 116,923 nobles, 471 persons in the law department, 4.55 stu dents, and 8731 servants.
The territory contains 720 parishes, in which are 158 religious houses, 4. cities, 176 towns, and 4.46 villages. The chief towns are, Bilbao in Biscay Pro per, Vittciria in Alava, and St Sebastian in Guipuz coa. The first is situated on the banks of the river
Ybaizabal, about two leagues from the sea ; and be ing a port, which in former days was proverbially the terror of British seamen, carries on a considerable trade. • This would be greatly increased, were it not for injudicious regulations, by which it is rather dis couraged than otherwise. Owing to the inhabitants resisting the introduction of customhouses among them, they are deprived of free commerce with Ame rica ; and whoever wishes to engage in an adventure thither, must prepare it in another port beyond the province. The settlement of strangers in the town is likewise subject to difficulties ; for, to obtain the free dom of it, one must prove that he is not descended from a Moor or a Jew ; that he is sprung of a noble family ; at least that he has not exercised any mean or mechanic art. Commissioners are actually charged with investigating these particulars ; a proceeding so repulsive to the encouragement of liberal traffic, that it can excite no surprise if it should never flourish. An uncommon degree of dampness prevails in Bilbao, by which iron is covered with rust ; furniture, even in the upper apartments, injured ; the salt extracted out of dried fish ; and, as some suppose, the multi plication of destructive insects promoted. Yet few diseases prevail, and the inhabitants enjoy health and strength, a cheerful disposition, and longevity. It has thence been asked, " Why should Bilbao, built on the side of a river, in such a damp situation, and chiefly on piles, like the cities in Holland, be so re markably healthy, when every thing should conspire to render it the reverse ?" The solution of the diffi culty has been traced to the constant breezes, which prevent any accumulation of vapour, and that stagna tion of it which is pestiferous to animated existence. During four months that Don Guillermo Bowles resi ded there, only nine persons were buried, four of whom were above eighty. Vittoria, which is situa ted on the declivity of a hill, contains 6000 or 7000 inhabitants ; its population is said to have been an .ciently 18,000. Here there is a royal asylum for 150 persons, and six monasteries and nunneries. St Se bastian lies on a peninsula, flanked with batteries, and protected by a castle on a naked circular hill ; but, notwithstanding the appearance Of strength, it could not make a protracted resistance. Owing to this town being a sea port, and carrying on some trade, the population rises to 13,000 souls. Most of the other towns in Biscay are inconsiderable. Fontara bia, on the extreme limits of Spain, was formerly esteemed one of the keys to the kingdom, and once stood a siege by the French.