46 MALDONADO. [CHAP. in. 



round and round it, when on its form : the middle of the day 

 is reckoned the best time, when the sun is high, and the shadow 

 of the hunter not very long. 



On our return to Maldonado, we followed rather a different 

 line of road. Near Pan de Azucar, a landmark well known to 

 all those who have sailed up the Plata, I stayed a day at the 

 house of a most hospitable old Spaniard. Early in the morning' 

 we ascended the Sierra de las Animas. By the aid of the rising 

 sun the scenery was almost picturesque. To the westward the 

 view extended over an immense level plain as far as the Mount, 

 at Monte Video, and to the eastward, over the mamrnillaled 

 country of Maldonado. On the summit of the mountain there 

 were several small heaps of stones, which evidently had lain there 

 for many years. My companion assured me that they were the 

 work of the Indians in the old time. The heaps were similar, 

 but on a much smaller scale, to those so commonly found on the 

 mountains of Wales. The desire to signalize any event, on the 

 highest point of the neighbouring land, seems an universal pas- 

 sion with mankind. At the present day, not a single Indian, 

 either civilized or wild, exists in this part of the province ; nor 

 am I aware that the former inhabitants have left behind them 

 any more permanent records than these insignificant piles on the 

 summit of the Sierra de las Animas. 



The general, and almost entire absence of trees in Banda 

 Oriental is remarkable. Some of the rocky hills are partly co- 

 vered by thickets, and on the banks of the larger streams, espe- 

 cially to the north of Las Minas, willow-trees are not uncommon. 

 Near the Arroyo Tapes I heard of a wood of palms ; and one of 

 these trees, of considerable size, I saw near the Pan de Azucar, 

 in lat. 35. These, and the trees planted by the Spaniards, 

 offer the only exceptions to the general scarcity of wood. Among 

 the introduced kinds may be enumerated poplars, olives, peach, 

 and other fruit trees: the peaches succeed so well, that they 

 afford the main supply of firewood to the city of Buenos Ayres. 

 Extremely level countries, such as the Pampas, seldom appear 

 favourable to the growth of trees. This may possibly be attri- 

 buted either to the force of the winds, or the kind of drainage. 

 In the nature of the land, however, around Maldonado, no such 



