270 To the River Plate and Back 



change had taken place in the landscape. The country 

 was no longer as flat as it had seemed throughout the 

 whole of the preceding day, but was gently undulating. 

 The vegetation was different. There were on all sides 

 thorny thickets, and low forest growths. I recognized 

 various species of acacia and mimosa. Prosopis alba, 

 with its feathery leaves, and the "chanar"-tree (Gour- 

 liea decorticans) were common. Here and there a few 

 specimens of the quebracho-tree had escaped the 

 clutches of the 'wood-butchers,' in spite of the fact 

 that they were growing near the line of the railway. 

 The quebracho Colorado (Schinopsis Lorentzii) is one 

 of the notable trees of the country. Out of its almost 

 imperishable wood, which is nearly as hard as ebony, 

 are made the railroad-ties for the various lines, which 

 are gridironing the southern continent. Latterly it is 

 being used for the manufacture of tannin. About 

 twenty-five per cent, of the substance of the tree is 

 tannin, and this is being extracted in huge quantities, 

 and the noble trees are disappearing as fast as they can 

 be cut down and their wood chewed up by powerful 

 machinery and the tannin separated. The bulk of the 

 extract is exported to the United States, though Ger- 

 many and Great Britain are also large consumers 

 of the product. The name quebracho- 'break-ax" 

 was given to the tree because of the hardness of its 

 wood. There are other trees to which the same name 

 has been given by the natives, and one of these the 

 quebracho bianco (Aspidosperma quebracho), the bark 

 of which contains certain alkaloids reputed to possess 

 medicinal properties, is also one of the common trees of 

 the semi-forested belt through which our train was 

 passing. But more striking than any of the growths I 

 have mentioned were the giant cacti. Many of these 



