46 
beautiful was the day and so pleasant the ride by the sparkling 
blue waters of the Pacific, that even if there had been no botani- 
cal interest in the trip, I should have been more than satisfied. I 
returned, however, with my portfolio full of specimens of unique 
interest to the botanist. Before reaching the seashore or upon 
its borders, we passed through clumps of various species of WVo- 
lana, Dolia, Phaca, Malesherbsia, Suaeda and other plants which 
I will not attempt to describe. One species, however, deserves 
mention on account of its eminent fitness for a desert life, and 
that is an Euphorbia, named £. Copiapina by Philippi. It has a 
multitude of short stems which rise directly from a huge under- 
ground tuber, and lie in a circle upon the ground. The stems, 
leaves and flowers are lurid in hue as if burnt by a tropical sun, 
and the tuber, in aspect much like a big turnip, is full of milk. 
Other things might perish in that rainless climate, but such a 
tuber would be preserved for many years in the dry sand. 
It was a very rugged and precipitous ascent that we had to 
climb when we struck the Morro. In places there was no path, 
the rocks were sharp, and the feet of our horses were continually 
sliding out from under them. In spite of such obstacles we 
finally reached the summit, and then hobbling our steeds we sat 
down to rest and to look around us. The view seaward was sim- 
ply magnificent. The broad Pacific stretched out in its illimit- 
able vastness towards the west, and the coast line of sandy plains, 
hillocks and rocky capes, indented by beautiful bays and estua- 
ries, could be seen for miles until it faded into haze. Around us 
were jagged cliffs and deep precipices descending to the sea, but 
to my amazement a garden of beauty clothed the few patches of 
soil which lodged upon the summit and in the crevices of the 
rocks. Here were in this savage looking place at least a score 
of the finest species of flowers that I had yet discovered in the 
Atacama. WNolana elegans, Ph., fairly hid the backbone of the 
highest ridge with its bells of blue. Achyrophorus, a Composite 
with large golden heads, adorned the lower slopes. Fine speci- 
mens of the Calandrinia and Alstroemeria already collected at 
the Quebada de los leones added their bright hues to this moun- 
tain park. Loasa Urmenete, Ph., ran over other plants or trailed 
upon the ground, A handsome Verbena and a little Gilda en- 
