The coast of the Mediterranean from Punta de Europa to Cabo do Palos is in general elevated and rocky. The western portion, between the strait snd the mouth of the river Guadalfeo near Motril, does not rise to a great height. and occasionally oinks down nearly to the level of the sea. East of Motril the coast is generally very high, sometimes several hundred feet, and there is no flat along the sea. This elevated coast extends to Cabo de Oath, and north of it to the town of Mojacar. From Mojacar to Cabo de Palos the rocks along the coast are of mode rate elevation, and in a few places interrupted by flats. This extensive line of rocky coast has no indentations, and no harbour which vessels of moderate size can enter, with the exception of the excellent harbour of Cartagena and the harbour of Malaga, the latter being partly artificial. The open bay of Almeria, between Punta de Elena and Cabo de Oats, has good anchorage; but it is exposed to southern, south-eastern, and south-western winds, and to the violent gales which sometimes blow from the mountains that surround the bay.
At Cabo do Pales a low and sandy coast begins, which extends as far north as Cabo do Santa Pola, a short distance south of Alicante. It has no harbours oven for small vessels or large boats, though it is intersected by several creeks, which in some places form small lagoons. From Cabo do Santa Pole to Villajoyosa the coast-line Is generally low but rocky, and In some places the ridges which traverse the adjacent country terminate ou the sea with steep hilly of small extent and moderate elevation. From Villajeyosa to Denia the coast is almost without exception rocky and high, but does not rise to a great elevation. Between Cabo de Palos and Denia there is no harbonr except that of Alicante.
From Denia to the mouth of the Ebro the coast is low and sandy. North of Castellon de la Plana a few low ridges terminate on the sea, forming a moderately high shore. This coast-line has no harbours even for vessels of moderate size; and Grao, the port of Valoneia, is only a bad roadstead. Along this low coast there are many small lagoons, called Albufcras. [AMAMI:11A DE VALENCIA.] South of the mouth of the Ebro is the Puerto de lea Alfaques, which can only be entered by vessels drawing not more than fifteen feet.
From the mouth of the Ebro to the boundary of France the coast is alternately high and low, and both the low and the high shores generally continue for many miles. In this part there occur several harbours for small vessels ; and two, Barcelona and Roses, aro deep enough for large ships. The small harbour of Salon, which is the port of Reus, is only fit for small vessels.
presents greater and more marked differences in the form of its surface than any other country of Europe of equal extent.
The interior is an elevated table-land, which is from 2000 to 3000 feet above the sea-level. Though situated at the western extremity of Europe, and near the sea, which surrounds that part of tho world, its elevation is higher than that of any other table-land of Europe. The table-land comprehends nearly the whole country which lies between 38° and 43° N. lat., and extends from near 1° to near 8° W. long. It does not advance to the sea, but on the north and west it is divided from the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic by a comparatively narrow tract of mountainous country. Nor does it extend to the base of the Pyrenees, being separated from them by the basin of the river Ebro. Between the table-land and the Mediterranean there is also a lower country, which in some parts is hilly and even mountainous, and in others extends in wide plains. South of the table-land is the basin of the river Guadalquivir, by which the table-land is separated from another more elevated and more mountainous region, that of the Sierra Nevada, which extends over the southern part of Spain along the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar.
The table-land comprehends the eastern districts of Galicia, the whole of the province of Leon, that of Old Castile, with the exception of about one-fourth of its area which lies in the basin of the Ebro and along the Bay of Biscay, the whole of New Castile and Estremadura, the districts of Aragon, and the northern districts of Murcia. According to a rough estimate it extends over a surface of about 92,000 square miles, or over more than one-half of the area of Spain.
The table-land is nearly surrounded by mountains. Along its northern edge rise with a steep ascent the mountains of Asturias, which in elevation nearly rival the Pyrenees. From the Sierra de Silos, at the source of the Ebro, to the Sierra de Pefiamarela, which lies near 7° IV. long., the direction of the chain is from east to west, or nearly so, but in this part of the range the highest edge of the mountains runs south-west, but soon turns north, ineleaing a narrow glen, in which the river Navin descends to the Bay of Biscay. For about 40 miles the range runs northward, until it approaches the Bay of Biscay within about 12 miles, when it again turns westward, and after having run about twenty miles in that direction, turns south ward, dividing the basin of the upper 31inhe from the fewer country which lies to the west of it. Near the town of Orense the mountain chain terminates, or rather there is a depression through which tho Minh() flows; for on the east of the river rises another ridge, which runs east-south-east till it approaches the Duero, where it begins to form the boundary between Spain and Portugal.