Botanical Notices from Spain. 115 
chelium ceruleum, L., which is also found in the low warm valleys of 
the Sierra Nevada: from the rocks hang down the thorny branches 
of Capparis spinosa, L.., mingled with Sedum amplexicaule, Boiss.; and 
in the moist grassy valleys, in the shade of willows and elms, is 
frequently found Dorycnium rectum, Ser., Mentha rotundifolia, L., 
Lythrum Salicaria, L., Epilobium hirsutum, L., Retama spherocarpa, 
Boiss., and Chamepeuce hispanica, DeC., which occurs in the Sierra 
Nevada up to a height of 4500 feet. 
As soon as I had made all arrangements requisite to prolong my 
stay in the Sierra Nevada, whose lofty mountains attracted me irre- 
sistibly, I quitted Granada; and accompanied by a merry Andalusian, 
who acted at once as servant, guide and assistant, as well as a ca- 
pital beast of burden, I set out for the Cortijo de S. Geronimo, which 
consists of a few scattered dwellings lying about 4500 feet above the 
sea, the highest inhabited spot on the northern side of the mountain, 
whose inhabitants still retain a clear recollection of Boissier. The 
Sierra Nevada is, with the exception of the mountain-ridges which 
enclose the valleys, almost wholly bare, and is even deficient for the 
greater part in the ‘Monte bajo,’ which everywhere covers the Spanish 
mountains, All the lower portion of the northern slope consists of 
limestone, in part interrupted by a beautiful marble, which for in- 
stance at S. Geronimo and Guejar forms immense rocks. In some 
places are found traces of coal (for example at the north foot of the 
Cerro Trevenque) and mines of mica (as on the southern slope of the 
Dornajo) ; and on the Cerro Calal, at the village of Guejar, are still 
found some lead-mines, which are now abandoned. ~ I have however 
not succeeded in finding any trace of fossils in the whole of this 
limestone range. ‘These limestone mountains rise to a height of 
7000 to 7500 feet, and the highest and most interesting summits 
are those of the mountains Dornajo, Cerro Tesoro and Cerro Treven- 
que, in the neighbourhood of 8. Geronimo. At S. Geronimo the 
gneiss formation commences, which in the snow-region passes into 
the micaceous slate and constitutes the highest chain of the Sierra, 
whose highest peak is the Cerro Mulehacen (said to be 11,600 feet), 
Picacho de Veleta (11,200 feet), Cerro Alcasava and Cerro Caballo, 
The region which is scarcely to be termed that of eternal snow, 
since every summer it melts, with the exception of some scattered 
snow-fields (hitherto I have nowhere observed the glaciers of which 
Boissier speaks), begins at about the height of 8500 to 9000 feet, 
and is clearly distinguished by its geognostical nature as well as by 
its highly peculiar vegetation from the lower regions. ‘Traces of 
iron are here found frequently. The alpine region commences at a 
height of about 6000 feet, and the mountain region at 3500 feet. 
The environs of the Cortijo de 5. Geronimo, on the southern slope 
of the magnificent alpine valley through which the rapid Monachil 
takes its course, form those districts of the entire northern declivity 
which abound most in water, and consequently in plants. The 
northern ridge, enclosing the valley known by the name of the De- 
hesa de §. Geronimo, whose highest slaty ridge rises to 8000 feet, 
is especially remarkable for its arboraceous luxuriance, being almost 
