CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX. 27 1 



The latter passages include under the general name of steppes, sterile de- 

 serts of altogether a diiferent character. In like manner, some great tracts 

 of naked sand in South America are called pampas— and some of what are 

 called prairies, west of the Arkansas territory, are of somewhat similar 

 general character to those described above. These are mentioned here to 

 avoid the appearance of omitting what might be considered as oppposing 

 my positions. But these regions are altogether different from the lands pro- 

 perly called prairies or steppes; and have no more connexion with our 

 subject than if they had been more properly called sandy, stony, or salt 

 deserts. 



» Pampas, a province in South America, in the vice-royalty of Buenos 

 Ayres, consists of vast plains, which extend from the sea coast on the east, 

 to that great chain which forms the beginning of the Cordilleras of Chili, 

 about 140 leagues west from the city of Buenos Ayres. Towards the south, 

 they stretch about 100 leagues, to a chain proceeding W. N. W. from the 

 Atlantic. The northern boundaries are not distinctly known, but the name 

 of Pampas is chiefly applied to the territory on the south of Buenos Ayres, 

 Cordova, and Mendoza. These vast plains, like the steppes of lUissia, hav- 

 ing scarcely any elevation, the view, as at sea, is terminated by the horizon. 

 They are only diversified with paths and ditches, which collect the rain 

 waters, and which commonly end in lakes, as there is no declivity ; yet there 

 are wide tracts in which ?!o ivaier is found, nor is thai element pure; and the 

 trees are extremely rare, except a few shrubs round the lakes. Hence this 

 region is only inhabited by a {e.w wandering savages. The soil is generally 

 ablack earlk of lilLle depth, and is followed by a kind, of coarse chalk, so that 

 it is difficult to form tvells, as the UHiter can scarcely puss so tenacious a sub- 

 stance. The chief pasturage is clover, and in the best parts, sometimes so 

 strong as to resist the step of a horse : it is much liked by the cattle, which, 

 when there is water, multiply prodigiously in the pampas."— Rees^ Cycl. 



" On leaving Buenos Ayres, the first region is covered lor 180 miles with 

 clover and thistles ; the second region (480 miles) produces long grass, with- 

 out a weed ; and the third, reaching to the base of the Cordilleras, is a grove 

 of low trees and shrubs, in which such beautiful order is observed, that one 

 may gallop bet\Veen them in every direction." " The climate of the pam- 

 pas is subject to great differences of temperature, though the gradual 

 changes are very regular. The winter is as cold as an English November. 

 The summer is oppressively hot. But ike ivhole pampas enjoy an atmo- 

 sphere as beautiful and salubrious as the most healthy parts of Greece and 

 Italy, without their malaria." — Malte Brun's Geog. 



" The v/hole plain [nearest] to the foot of the Cordillera, is a loose .sandy 

 soil, greatly impregnated with saline matter, which is iTiimical to vegetation 

 in the natural way. This immense tract is called the Traversia, or the 

 Desert, resembling similar tracts in Africa. When assisted by irrigation, it 

 is the most fertile soil imaginable.'''' — Malte BrurHs GeogiVol. d, p. 362, (note.) 

 Am. Ed. 



A late traveller from Buenos Ayres to the Andes, Temple, speaks thus of 

 the first and second regions of pampas: 



" The country for leagues round is covered with thistles, which at this 

 season are to be seen growing to the prodigious height of eight, and, in some 

 places, ten feet : cattle which go in amongst them to seek a shade from the 

 sun, and to feed upon the grass beneath, are completely concealed. These 

 thistles* form almost the only fuel for the few inhabitants who are scattered 



• At certain periods of the year, when the clover withers enormous thistles, ten or 

 twelve feet high, suddenly shoot up, hem in the roads and paths, and form a dense and 



