, . ,

skinned people, very much superior to the present-day
African Moors, had conquered, made themselves masters
of, more than half of Spain.

The Spaniards had been oppressed, as were their fellow
Europeans, by their landlords and their priests. But now
the Mohammedans, who had become skeptical of the claims
of Mohammed, preceeded to create amongst them a won-
drous civilization. For these Mohammedans, as We shall
continue to call them, a were thorough-going believers in
education, in science in all its branches, and in absolute
intellectual freedom. They established a school in connec-
tion with every mosque. They invited wise men from all
the countries of the world to come to them and teach them
and learn from them.

These Mohammedans became wonderful agriculturists.
Theymade Spain so productive agriculturally that by the
middle of the Tenth Century that more than half of the
country which they controlledwas a. veritable garden, lux-
uriously productive; so productive, indeed, that it supported
a population of more than thirty millions of people? at a
time when England had less than four millions.

Spain at that time had nine large cities, three thousand
towns, and more than ten thousand villages. Cordova, the
capital of the country, had a population. of more than a
million people. Aqueducts, and canals carried water from
distant rivers to points where it watered the soil. Barren
hillsides were terraced and provided with rich soil, and
on these well-watered terraces wondrous crops were pro-
duced. In many parts of the country as many as four dif-

ferent crops were raised on the same fields in the year.
Food, being abundant, was cheap, with the consequence that

the population increased.

The highly developed and astonishingly productive 
cultural system was rivaled by an equally efficient indus-

trial and commercial. system. These Moors developed the
art of tempering steel to such a degree of perfection that
the Toledo blades were renowned and sought for through-
out the world. The leather products of Cordova were also
highly prized everywhere. Great fleets of commercial ships
plied all the seas in search of luxuries for the Spanish-

Mohammedanrich, which luxurieswere taken in exchange

for Moorish products.

The country was interlaced with fine roadswhich made

possible a highly developed postal system, employing swift

horses which carried mail with complete safety throughout

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