BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 427 



should traverse it. In foggy weather, and to a person not 

 acquainted with every step of the way, the danger must be 

 extreme, and I was told that a certain number of broken 

 necks occur here every year. 



It was seven o'clock in the evening when we reached the 

 baths of Penticosa, and as we did not arrive in company of 

 the most respectable description, the aduaneros paid us the 

 compliment of carefully examining our baggage and the 

 pockets of our guide. The smugglers had taken the precau- 

 tion of hiding their wares in a ravine a mile above the baths, 

 whence we understood they would be fetched when the 

 night closed in ; but our friend " Sancho" had prevailed with 

 Carro to allow him to attach two umbrellas, along with mine, 

 to my portfolio, and two reticules to Dr. Southby's carpet 

 bag, of which he then took possession, and entered Penticosa 

 m the capacity of our porter. The revenue officers saw 

 plainly that two of the umbrellas were quite new, and there- 

 fore seized all three ; but after a deliberation of some hours, 

 they came to the conclusion, that as there were three of us, 

 and only an umbrella for each one, they could not detain 

 them with any show of right. 



An inscription, in French, over the pump-room at Penti- 

 cosa, states that the baths are 8,300 " pieds Catalans'* above 

 the level of the sea ; the climate is, therefore, not very dif- 

 ferent from that of Greenland, yet here we found " poitri- 

 naires" from nearly all parts of Spain, and the solitary hotel 

 was quite full of visitors. I can imagine nothing more triste 

 than a residence at Penticosa ; the Spaniards, however, what 

 with drinking the waters, smoking, playing at cards, and pro- 

 longing their siesta an hour or two beyond its ordinary dura- 

 tion, seemed to get through the time very comfortably. Our 

 three days' stay was very profitably spent in exploring the 

 gorge between the baths and village (a distance of two hours), 

 and a rocky tract extending beyond the latter in the direction 

 °f the mountains, called Tindaniere. The following list con- 

 tains the most interesting plants collected at Penticosa, and 



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