“ The soil of the plains is very productive, and that of the Vega of Granada is considered the richest in the whole peninsula; from the days of the Moors it has been systematically irrigated, and it continues to yield in great abundance and in good quality wheat, barley, maize, wine, oil, sugar, flax, cotton, silk and almost every variety of fruit. In the mountains immediately surrounding the city of Granada occur many kinds of alabaster, some very fine ”

“ The climate in the lower valleys and the narrow fringe along the coast is warm, but on the higher grounds of the interior is somewhat severe; and the vegetation varies accordingly from the subtropical to the alpine. ”

“ Apart from the great highways traversing the province, which are excellent, the roads are few and ill-kept. The railway from Madrid enters the province on the north and bifurcates north-west of Guadix; one branch going eastward to Almería, the other westward to Loja, Malaga and Algeciras. Baza is the terminus of a railway from Lorca. The chief towns include Granada, the capital (pop. 1900, 75,900) with Alhama de Granada (7697) , Baza (12,770) , Guadix (12,652) , Loja (19,143) , Montefrío (10,725) , and Motril (18,528) . These are described in separate articles. ”