BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 655 
than the aspect of the country, above all during this spring 
season, when the sun has not destroyed all verdure. Among 
the Agave and Cactus hedges, which surround the plantations, 
I gathered Crambe filiformis, with its long, twiggy, and leaf- 
less stalks, the Phagnalon saxatile, and especially the magni- 
ficent Aristolochia Boetica, which was everywhere weaving 
around the other plants its climbing stems covered with 
reddish-brown, pipe-shaped flowers. On the barest hills 
grew Statice sinuata, whose deep blue blossoms recommend 
it as an ornamental flower for nosegays, under the name of 
“Sempreviva azul,” Blue Everlasting. The very sea-sand, 
generally so barren, here borrows a rosy hue from the 
numerous flowers of Matthiola tricuspidata. Crowds of 
peasants and workmen, and long strings of asses and mules, 
betokened the vicinity of a large city, and at every step we 
met with Ventorillos, or little booths, often merely consisting 
of a foliaged roof, where the muleteers can purchase 
wine, brandy, bread, fried sardinas, and where the Alcarraza, 
a kind of vase made of porous earth, and antique form, 
always stands replenished with cold refreshing water, pre- 
sented gratis to every traveller. Here, as in the environs of 
Malaga, the lack of springs and rivers necessitates the culti- 
vator to water the earth by means of wells, sunk below the 
level of the sea, and whence the water is drawn by means of 
two clumsy wheels, beset with earthen pots, and slowly 
turned by oxen. 
Rounding a rocky point, the great tower of the lighthouse, 
Which came suddenly to view, announced my vicinity to 
Malaga. This city is admirably placed, backed by heights, 
and surmounted by the old Moorish castle of Gibralfaro, that 
crowns one of the loftiest summits. Beyond, stretches a vast 
plain, or vega, skirted to the west by the snowy peaks, eight 
leagues distant, of the mountains of Ronda; while nearer, 
the less elevated Sierra de Mijas closes the bay to the south- 
ward, and conceals the line of coast that continues to Gib- 
raltar. I alighted at the Fonda de Esperanza, one of the 
best hotels in all Spain, where I was greeted, to my great 
VOL. I. 3c 
