120 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES. [CHAP. vi. 



probable that in proportion as that country becomes inhabited, 

 the cardoon will extend its limits. The case is different with 

 the giant thistle (with variegated leaves) of the Pampas, for I 

 met with it in the valley of the Sauce. According to the 

 principles so well laid down by Mr. Lyell, few countries have 

 undergone more remarkable changes, since the year 1 535, when 

 the first colonist of La Plata landed with seventy-two horses. 

 The countless herds of horses, cattle, and sheep, not only have 

 altered the whole aspect of the vegetation, but they have almost 

 banished the guanaco, deer, and ostrich. Numberless other 

 changes must likewise have taken place ; the wild pig in some 

 parts probably replaces the peccari ; packs of wild dogs may. be 

 heard howling on the wooded banks of the less frequented streams ; 

 and the common cat, altered into a large and fierce animal, in- 

 habits rocky hills. As M. d'Orbigny has remarked, the increase 

 in numbers of the carrion-vulture, since the introduction of the 

 domestic animals, must have been infinitely great ; and we have 

 given reasons for believing that they have extended their southern 

 range. No doubt many plants, besides the cardoon and fennel, 

 are naturalized ; thus the islands near the mouth of the Parana, 

 are thickly clothed with peach and orange trees, springing from 

 seeds carried there by the waters of the river. 



While changing horses at the Guardia several people ques- 

 tioned us much about the army, I never saw any thing like the 

 enthusiasm for Rosas, and for the success of the " most just oi 

 all wars, because against barbarians." This expression, it must 

 be confessed, is very natural, for till lately, neither man, woman, 

 nor horse, was safe from the attacks of the Indians. We had a 

 long day's ride over the same rich green plain, abounding with 

 various flocks, and with here and there a solitary estancia, and 

 its one ombu tree. In the evening it rained heavily : on arriv- 

 ing at a post-house we were told by the owner that if we had 

 not a regular passport we must pass on, for there were so many 

 robbers he would trust no one. When he read, however, my 

 passport, which began with " El Naturalista Don Carlos," his 

 respect and civility were as unbounded as his suspicions had been 

 before. What a naturalist might be, neither he nor his country- 

 men, I suspect, had any idea ; but probably my title lost nothing 

 of its value from that cause. 



