496 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
resemble an immense candelabra. I also discovered here the 
Brassica moricandioides, a fine cruciferous plant, recognizable 
from afar by its large violet flowers ; and the vineyards afforded 
me several rare species, among them Arabis parvula. The 
valley, full of trees and traversed by innumerable streamlets, 
was delightfully cool and fresh. Nothing can be more curious 
than the bridge seen from below, and the gorge whence 
issues the river. 'The chinks of the rock, and the masses 
of Ivy which festoon its sides, give shelter to flocks of 
doves, which mingle their mournful notes with the sounds 
of the town and rushing of the waters. I was surprized to 
observe here many of the plants which inhabit the warm 
rocks of the coast, as Campanula velutina, Linaria villosa and 
Sedum glanduliferum. It is a remarkable feature in Spanish 
Botany tliat the vegetation of the warm region prevails also 
at considerable elevations ; whenever shelter from the wind 
and exposure to the sun are found. Many striking instances 
may be seen on the Sierra Nevada. 
-I had intended, during my sojourn at Ronda, to climb the 
Sierra de la Nieve, which is the loftiest mountain in the 
country, and only two leagues distant in the direction of 
Malaga; but a slight illness made me lose some days; and 
I was compelled to set off for Gibraltar. The morning was 
rainy, and the moisture, which hung like pearls on every 
spray, had refreshed the face of the ground. We re-ascen | 
the gentle hills which surround the town, and found ourselves, E 
after an hour and half of walking, at the top; from which. f 
_ we took a last look of Ronda, clinging to the edge of ad 2 
. ajo and all its buildings gilt with the early sun. I bad — 
turning to the coast; but I soon quitted them, being 
_ which divide Ronda from the southern valleys of the Serrat — 
. I gathered Pæcnia lobata, the sweet-scented. Thymus masti- E 
~ china, Genista biflora, which forms low and dense bushes, 
-Nepeta Apulei and the handsome Echium albicans, Fiom 
