440 TKANSACTI0N8 AND PllOCEEDIXGS OF THE [Sess. Lxviii. 



The exposed surfaces weather in a curious way into sharp 

 knife-edged ridges, and loose fragments lie in profusion 

 everywhere. Eeturning in the twilight from that first 

 excursion over a specially rough hillside, I asked one of our 

 guides if the whole island was of that nature. " Oh no," 

 he said, " not at all, in many parts it is quite different — 

 far more stony !" Quarrying is unnecessary, for building 

 material lies at hand in plenty, and the difficulty is to 

 clear land for cultivation. Thick walls bound the fields, 

 and walls are often built around fruit trees with the 

 double purpose of giving them protection and of getting 

 rid of the stones. Kubble masonry in the islands is 

 marvellously well built and durable without mortar, and 

 immense labour and patience are displayed in terracing 

 hillsides for agriculture. But the people have been always 

 skilful in the handling of stone, for does not ancient 

 history tell us that the Baleares were the champion 

 slingers of the world ? Possibly they were more success- 

 ful with their native pebbles than when, later, they took 

 to using leaden balls, for one historian goes so far as to say 

 that the lead melted in the air from the extreme violence 

 with which it was slung. 



And the prehistoric masons of Minorca in remote 

 antiquity possessed the art of building in high perfection. 

 Their monuments, the " talyots," " taulas," and " navetas," 

 built of hugh blocks and slabs, are well preserved at this 

 day. They are peculiar to the Balearic Isles, have no affinity 

 with the megalithic remains in other countries, and their 

 purpose can only be conjectured. 



The next morning we drove to Albufera. The dusty 

 wayside was bright with flowers, among which Boragin- 

 aceffi were prominent. The deep blue of borage, the vary- 

 ing violet and purple of many species of Echium, and the 

 quieter hue of Cynoglossum pictiim furnished much of the 

 colour. In striking contrast arose here and there tall 

 spikes of Celsia cretica, the most showy plant in Minorca, 

 with blossoms as large as a crown piece — yellow, blotched 

 with red. Other good things gathered thereabout included 

 Leiiiclium Carrerasii (peculiar to Minorca), Salvia clandcstina, 

 Ephedra fragilis, Ornithogalum arabicvm, Briza minor, and 

 some rare Le2;uminosa3. 



