BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 4-37 



Fontan. I collected Vicia disperma, Arenaria retusa and 

 Anagyris fcetida, growing plentifully by the roadside. Lower 

 down, we came to the village of Ojen, which is situated in the 

 middle of the gorge, one of the most picturesque positions 

 that can be imagined. Seen from below, its houses seem to 

 hang over a barely descried precipice, curtained with masses 

 of verdure. 



It was near sunset when we reached the end of the valley ; 

 and on rounding the last heights, discovered the expanse of 

 ocean before us and the town of Marbella, into which we 

 descended by long uncultivated slopes. This was a flourish- 

 ing place in the time of the Moors, and owed its prosperity 

 to the now entirely discontinued culture of the Sugar-cane. 

 Decay has fallen upon the town, but its romantic position 

 and noble trees contrast admirably with the ruined edifices 

 that mark its ancient grandeur. On the sea-shore, I observed 

 the remains of an old castle, which long defended itself against 

 the French during the war of independence, and of which the 

 garrison finally escaped on board an English ship. 



As there was nothing in Marbella to induce me to remain, 

 I set off next morning for Estepona, along a road where 

 Aristolochia Boetica and Smilax Mauritania festooned the 

 enormous overshadowing Lentisks. I also gathered Physalis 

 somnifera, and specimens from the Ricinus, which here attains 

 the stature of a tree. For half a league from the town, the 

 land was partially cultivated, and a few houses might be seen 

 scattered here and there ; but farther on, every trace of man 

 had disappeared, and the country was a vast savannah, dotted 

 with dwarf palms and bushes of Cistus, and stretching with 

 an easy descent from the foot of the Sierra Bermeja to the 

 se a. The agriculture which once overspread these plains, 

 mi ght still be pursued to the greatest advantage, for the 

 country is intersected in all directions with streams, flowing 

 accessibly in comparatively shallow channels. On the sandy 

 ground, and among the shrubs, Helianthemum halimifolium 

 grew in particular abundance. I collected Armeria plardaginea, 

 Pyocephalus Lusitanicus, Helminthia comosa, Ononis Picardi 



