390 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
Ephedra altissima (Desf.) and, Queen of all, Anthyllis podo- 
cephala, a lovely shrub. with silky leaves, and crowned with 
clusters of golden yellow flowers. The distance I had yet to 
go in the day forbade my doing more than take a superficial 
glance at these treasures, which the proximity of the village 
would allow me to revisit the following day, so I regretfully 
forsook theserocks and pursued my way among slopes, covered 
with species of Cistus, Rosemary and Kermes Oaks. We conti- 
nued ascending by a ravine, called La Cañada del Infierno ; 
it was now dry and the bottom was covered with a fine sand, 
among which grew abundance of Alyssum serpyllifolium, At- 
lanticum, and Mercurialis tomentosa ; this sand is found, here : 
and there, all over the mountain being formed by the decom- 
position of the white calcareous chrystal of which the moun- 
tain itself consists, I gathered in succession several species 
peculiar to the mountainous region, viz. Macrochloa arenarria, 
a gigantic kind of grass, which bears, on a stalk five or six feet 
long, a large golden spike, Armeria alloides, with white blos- 
soms, Senecio arachnoideus and minutus, Echium albicans, à 
magnificent plant, whose aspect recalls the individuals of the 
same genus which are peculiar to the Canary Islands, and 
Reseda undata, called by the shepherds, in allusion to its long 
straight round flower-spike, “ Hopo de Horra,” or Fow's tail. 
During this excursion I enjoyed, to the full, the delights of 
discovery ; à pleasure which was keenly renewed and varied 
during every successive excursion in Andalusia, and which 
cannot be felt in Central Europe, where every inch of ground 
has been trodden and re-trodden by experienced botanists. — 
Here and there, some flocks of goats and sheep were wearlly = 
seeking their scanty food amid this thorny vegetation, where 
hardly a trace of the gramineous tribes is to be seen. The 
owners drive these poor animals to the mountain from Alhau- 
rin, Mijas, and other surrounding villages, whither they — 
return in the evening, and it is incomprehensible how the 
slender portion of vegetation that can be thus collected 
should afford them sufficient strength to accomplish this - 
long daily journey. pres pu d er 
