GENERAL. 15 



I have seen a ' pajanal' fired, and aided in firing it in 

 fifty different parts, of a winter's morning the flames 

 rising to a considerable height, and travelling with the 

 course of the wind until some break is reached or some 

 green patch restrained them ; these fires will sometimes 

 continue through the night, producing a singular effect. 



In the summer time, on the great thistle beds, when 

 the light dry stems are like so much touchwood, there 

 is great danger of fire ; from time to time much damage 

 is done by the accidental igniting of the dry annual 

 thistles. 



The best lands for sheep in the Argentine Eepublic are 

 those of the province of Buenos Ayres, within a radius of 

 fifty or sixty leagues of the city. They are likewise 

 superior to those of the Banda Oriental : the grasses are 

 less coarse, more tender and shorter. They have been 

 more fed over, and to this may be attributed the finer 

 character of the herbage. An improvident practice of 

 over-stocking has, however, very much deteriorated some 

 of these otherwise ' superior camps,' which will require 

 some years, or a year or two, of comparative rest to resus- 

 citate them : many of the best grasses have almost 

 disappeared, a natural consequence of over-stocking, 

 especially as most of the grasses are annual, and having 

 had no opportunity of seeding, they have become extinct, 

 or only grow to a limited extent. The consequence of 

 this is that their place has been almost entirely usurped 

 by the clover (spotted medick) which, from its luxuriant 

 trailing growth, and the great abundance of its seed, pro- 

 tected by prickly spiral pods, propagates itself readily, 

 aided by the thistle and strong weeds. The result is, that 

 when ihe annual clover dies down and dries in the sun, 

 all is brown and parched, and strong winds sweeping over 

 the higher grounds roll up the withered stems and carry 



