No name is more fraught with picturesque and romantic interest than that of the "Spanish Peninsula." After finishing this rare bit of handiwork nature seems to have thrown up a great ragged wall, stretching from sea to sea, to protect it; and the Pyrenees have stood for ages a frowning barrier, descending toward France on the northern side from gradually decreasing heights--but on the Spanish side in wild disorder, plunging down through steep chasms, ravines, and precipices--with sharp cliffs towering thousands of feet skyward, which better than standing armies protect the sunny plains below.