1 91 8.] Cape San Antonio, Buenos Ayres. 371 



in a good season I have frequently seen it stirrup-high, 

 wetting my feet with the early dew. Thistles, of various 

 species, it is needless to say, abound ; no writer on the 

 Pampas has failed to expatiate on the giant thistle-beds 

 (sometimes higher than a rider's head) which make their 

 appearance in the spring and summer ; nor, indeed, is the 

 unfortunate traveller who has been " thistled " [i. e., lost his 

 way at night, possibly with an unruly tropilla of horses) 

 likely to forget the unpleasant and painful experience. Very 

 awkward, too, is the " Junquillo negro^' {Junciis acutus Lam.), 

 found more especially on the sandy soils of the coast, where 

 it practically covers the terrain. Trefoils and clovers are 

 abundant — the "Trebol de Olor" {Melihtns parvifloraDesL) , 

 the common " Carretilla," and others. The pretty heath-like 

 " Hierba de Perdiz'^ {Margyricai-pus setosus R. & P.) cannot 

 be overlooked. Nor the abominable Xanthium spinosum, so 

 well-named by Linnseus and by the Gauchos " Sepa caballo." 

 The "Altemisa" {Tagetes glandulifera Schenk) communi- 

 cates its pungent flavour to the very mutton itself. I take 

 it that the "Caniambu" {Physalis alkikengi Linn.) is a 

 near relative of the Cape gooseberry. And I would particu- 

 larly note the "Rossetta" (Cenchrus tribuloides Linn.), a 

 useless hard grass with a cruel mace-like head, admirably 

 suited to lame sheep and dogs, which made its first appear- 

 ance after the flood of 1877, and is now found everywhere. 

 Nor is colour wanting ; flowers are more or less abundant. 

 The pretty white blossom of the "Hierba de mosquito" 

 (Lippia nodiflora Rich) is dominant in the summer. Acres 

 of a sorrel (of which there are two varieties) give a lovely 

 pink or pale lemon-coloured carpeting, extremely rare and 

 delicate. The two verbenas^ scarlet and mauve (the white 

 one I have only met in the Banda Oriental), are common. 

 Convolvulus and vetches of various kinds abound. And 

 there are many others. 



In pal^eoutological remains the district is very poor, as 

 might be inferred from its low elevation. Fragments of 

 the carapace of the Glyptodon are occasionally found on the 

 Atlantic sea- board, amongst the debris scattered along 



