392 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
south side, I gathered the beautiful Linaria tristis, with 
flowers of a blackish-purple hue, Calendula  suffruticosa, 
Saxifraga globulifera and an  umbelliferous plant, which 
grows upon Mount Atlas, Bunium glaberrimum ; it was not 
in flower, but I recognized it by the peculiar form of its 
leaves. 
The approach of evening could alone induce me to tear 
myself away from this rich harvest ; I descended to the Cross 
of Mendoza and thence to Alhaurin by a rapid slope which 
leads straight to the Nascimiento, and along which, in spite 
of its aridity, I gathered several rare species, as Matthiola 
varia, Brassica humilis, a new kind of Herniaria, a curious 
velvetty-leaved variety of Ranunculus gramineus and a lovely 
Tris, near Xiphium, its purple blossoms spotted with yellow. 
The Cross of Mendoza is a shoulder of the mountain where 
stand several ancient and rudely carved wooden crosses; 
it is a much venerated place of pilgrimage in the country and - 
my posadera (landlady) assured me that she had often 
walked thither (Jos pies descalzos) barefoot, to obtain the 
exemption of her son from the conscription. Her devotion 
had succeeded, “ Blessed be the Holy Virgin,” said she, “my 
son is now married and an honest man like his father.” This 
was equivocal praise, for rarely have I met with a greater rogue 
than the landlord of that inn. Every body knows that the 
hostelries in Spain contain no provision for the traveller’s 
use, and if a new comer ventures to ask what he can have to 
eat, the constant reply is Caballero, lo que Vmd. trae, “ Sir, 
whatever you may please to have brought with you.” It is, 
therefore, necessary to purchase for one’s self in the village 
here and there, what is wanted. In some of the more civilized 
Places, the host undertakes this office, laying a profit upon every 
article ; and at the moment of departure a long bill is handed 
in, where every item is specified, down to the oil and salt 
which have been used in preparing the food, and the traveller — — 
is amazed to find that he has quite as much to pay for — 
these wretched provisions as in the best Fondas of the city: 
On my return from the Sierra, I spent a day in study- 
