8.  The  year   1709   commenced  with  one  of  the   most  rigorous

winters  ever  known.     Olives  and  vines,  and  many  fruit
VIH.  1709.  .  ,    ,      ,  .  ,  j        /

trees  perished  ;  the  sown  gram  was  destroyed,  and  every-
thing portended  a  general  famine.     The  French  populace  began  to

1.  Barcelona,  the  capital  of  Catalonia,  is  a  city  and  seaport  of  Spain,  on  the  Mediterranean,
three  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  north-east  from  Madrid.    It  is  supposed  to  have  been  founded
by  the  Carthaginians  about  two  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and  to  have  beea
named  from  its  founder  Hamilcar  Barcino.    (Map  No.  XIII.)

2.  Madrid,  the  modern  capital  of  Spain,  is  in  the  centre  of  the  kingdom,  and  occupies  the
site  of  the  ancient  Mantua.  Carpctanorum,  a  fortified  town  belonging  to  the  Carpetani.    It  was  af-
terwards called  Majoritum,  and  was  taken  and  sacked  by  the  Moors,  who  gave  it  its  present
name.    (Map  No.  XIII.)

3.  Almanza  is  a  town  of  Spain  in  the  northern  part  of  the  province  of  Murcia,  ninety-threo
miles  north-west  from  Carthagena.    In  the  battle  fought  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  town
April  25th,  1707,  the  French  were  commanded  by  the  duke  of  Berwick.    The  allies,  in  the  in-
terest of  the  arch-duke  Charles,  lost  five  thousand  men  killed  on  the  field,  and  nearly  ten  thou-
sand taken  prisoners.    (Map  No.  XIII.)

4.  Toulon,  the  first  naval  port  in  France,  is  on  the  Mediterranean  coast,  thirty-two  miles
south-east  from  Marseilles.    The  town  is  strongly  fortified,  and  has  an  excellent  harbor.    It  Is
wholly  indebted  for  its  importance  as  a  great  naval  port,  and  strong  military  position,  to  Louis
XIV.,  who  expended  vast  sums  on  its  fortifications,  and  on  the  arsenal  and  harbor.    (Map  No.
