46 



beautiful was the day and so pleasant the ride by the sparkling 

 blue waters of the Pacific, that even if there had been no botani- 

 cal interest in the trip, I should have been more than satisfied. I 

 returned, however, with my portfolio full of specimens of unique 

 interest to the botanist. Before reaching the seashore or upon 

 its borders, we passed through clumps of various species of No- 

 lana, Dolia, Phaca, Malesherbsia, Suaeda and other plants which 

 I will not attempt to describe. One species, however, deserves 

 mention on account of its eminent fitness for a desert life, and 

 that is an Etiphorbia^ named^. Copiapina by Philippi. It has a 

 multitude of short stems which rise directly from a huge under- 

 ground tuber, and lie in a circle upon the ground. The stems, 

 leaves and flowers are lurid in hue as if burnt by a tropical sun, 

 and the tuber, in aspect much like a big turnip, is full of milk. 

 Other things might perish in that rainless climate, but such a 

 tuber would be preserved for many years in the dry sand. 



It was a very rugged and precipitous ascent that we had to 

 climb when we struck the Morro. In places there was no path, 

 the rocks were sharp, and the feet of our horses were continually 

 sliding out from under them. In spite of such obstacles we 

 finally reached the summit, and then hobbling our steeds we sat 

 down to rest and to look around us. The view seaward was- sim- 

 ply magnificent. The broad Pacific stretched out in its illimit- 

 able vastness towards the west, and the coast line of sandy plains, 

 hillocks and rocky capes, indented by beautiful bays and estua- 

 ries, could be seen for miles until it faded into haze. Around us 

 were jagged clififs and deep precipices descending to the sea, but 

 to my amazement a garden of beauty clothed the few patches of 

 soil which lodged upon the summit and in the crevices of the 

 rocks. Here were in this savage looking place at least a score 

 of the finest species of flowers that I had yet discovered in the 

 Atacama. Nolana elegans, Ph., fairly hid the backbone of the 

 highest ridge with its bells of blue. AchyropJioriis, a Composite 

 with large golden heads, adorned the lower slopes. Fine speci- 

 mens of the Calandrinia and Alstroemeria already collected at 

 the Quebada de los leones added their bright hues to this moun- 

 tain park. Loasa Urinenetcs, Ph., ran over other plants or trailed 

 upon the ground. A handsome Verbena and a little Gilia en- 



