14 STATES OF THE RIVER PLATE. 



them, feeding on them and the grasses which grow up with 

 them. On the lower lands and edges of pools, the thistles 

 do not grow. About midsummer they seed, wither, and 

 fall, a heavy rain and a stiff' breeze quickly knocking them 

 down, the soft stem breaking up under the action of the 

 sun and rain. The cattle and sheep feed on the oleagi- 

 nous seed and withering leaves and grow fat. In the 

 autumn, other grasses, distinct in variety, which spring up 

 and cover the ground, obliterate almost all trace of the 

 fallen thistles. In the autumn and winter the thistle seed 

 germinates, and the tender leaves of the plants, with the 

 various grasses, are fed on by the cattle and sheep. 



The other variety of thistle has a life of several years ; 

 this variety is in fact the wild artichoke, and has the same 

 colour and foliage as the cultivated plant : the stem is 

 stout and hard, and makes excellent fuel. This also occu- 

 pies large tracts of country ; the cattle, horses and sheep 

 feed on the young leaves, and, by breaking down the plant 

 with their hoofs, reach the heart, which is palatable ; they 

 also bite off the thistle head and feed upon the seed. 



There are other tracts of country which, lying low, 

 produce a coarse reedy herbage and Pampa grass, which, 

 growing tall and spreading, affords shelter for whole herds 

 of deer, numberless partridges, large and small ; and in 

 the marshy ground and pools, myriads of wild ducks in 

 great variety, plovers, cranes, spoonbills, flamengos, geese, 

 swans, wild turkeys, and snipe in the season. 



The tracts of land covered by the tall sodgy Pampa- 

 grasses are called 'pajanales;' such portions of them as 

 do not lay too low are converted into excellent pasture 

 lands by burning ; on a clear dry winter's day they can 

 be fired with ease, and without danger. On the land, 

 sweetened by the burning and enriched by the ashes, a 

 fine palatable grass springs up, much relished by the sheep. 



