Since writing the foregoing, a head much exceeding the above records has been obtained at Lugar Nuevo, near Andujar, in the eastern sierra, and which measures no less than 43 inches. Photographs, with measurements taken by Messrs. Rowland Ward (both of this and another good head secured at Fontanarejo), have been sent us by the fortune-favoured sportsman, Mr. J. M. Power of Linares, and will be found subjoined. For convenience of reference we put the whole record in tabular form.
[Illustration: RED DEER HEADS, SIERRA MORÉNA.
+----------------+-------+---------------+--------+-------+---------------+ | | | |Circum- | | | | |Length | Widest. |ference | | | | |outside+------+--------+ above |Points.| Locality. | | |Curve. | Tips.| Inside.| Bez. | | | +----------------+-------+------+--------+--------+-------+---------------+ | | in. | in. | in. | in. | | | |J. M. Power |43 |35 | 33-1/2 | 5-1/2 | 6 + 6 |Lugar Nuevo. | |I. L. de Ybarra |41 |36-1/2| ... | ... | ... |Ballasteros, | | | | | | | | Montes | | | | | | | |de Toledo. | |E. Parladé |40-5/8 |40-1/2| 31-1/2 | 5-5/8 | 8 + 8 |Valdelagrana. | |Marq. Mérito |40-1/4 |... | ... | 6 | 7 + 7 |Risquillos. | |Authors |40 |36-1/2| 32 | 5-1/4 | 9 + 8 |(_Wild Spain_.)| |Marq. Alvéntos |38-3/4 |33-1/2| 28-1/2 | 5-3/4 | 8 + 8 |Zamujar, Jäen. | |J. Calvo de León|38-3/4 |39-1/4| 33-1/4 | 6-1/4 | 7 + 7 |Mezquitillas. | | Do. |38-1/4 |38-3/4| ... | 6-1/2 | 8 + 7 | Do. | | Do. |38 |29-1/2| ... | 6-1/4 | 7 + 7 | Do. | | Do. |38 |33-1/2| ... | ... | 7 + 7 | Do. | |Authors ... |37-1/2 |34-1/2| 29-1/4 | 5 | 8 + 7 |(_Wild Spain_.)| |Marq. Mérito |36-3/4 |... | 35 | 5-1/2 | 8 + 7 |Risquillos. | |J. Calvo, hijo |36-1/4 |... | 25-3/4 | ... | 7 + 7 |Mezquitillas. | |Authors |35 |32-1/2| 28 | 5-3/4 | 6 + 6 | Do. | | Do. |34-1/8 | (cast antler) | 5-3/4 | 8 + 0 |Sa. Quintána. | |J. M. Power |32 1/2 |... | ... | 5-1/2 | 8 + 8 |Fontanarejo. | +----------------+-------+------+--------+--------+-------+---------------+
A country better adapted by nature for the success of the enterprising bandit cannot be conceived. The vast _despoblados_ = uninhabited wastes, with scant villages far isolated and lonely mountain-tracts where a single desperado commands the way and can hold-up a score of passers-by, all lend themselves admirably to this peculiar form of industry. And up to quite recent years these natural advantages were exploited to the full. Riding through the sierras, one notes rude crosses and epitaphs inscribed on rocks recording the death of this or that wayfarer. Now travellers, as a rule, do not die natural deaths by the wayside; and an inspection of these silent memorials indicates that each occupies a site eminently adapted for a quiet murder. Fortunately, during the last year or two, the extension of the telegraph and linking-up of remote hamlets has aided authority practically to extinguish brigandage on the grander scale. Spain to-day can no longer claim a single artist of the Jack Sheppard or Dick Turpin type; not one heroic murderer such as José Maria (whose safe-conduct was more effective than that of his king), Vizco el Borje, Agua-Dulce, and other _ladrones en grande_ whose life-histories will be found outlined in _Wild Spain_.