ASPECTS OF THE VALLEY 47 



in small globes and lumps that look and taste like 

 white sugar. There is a small disk-shaped cactus, 

 growing close to the surface, and well defended 

 with sharp spines, which bears a pinkish-yellow 

 fruit with a pleasant taste. There is also a large 

 cactus, four or five feet high, so dark-green as to 

 appear almost black among the pale-gray bushes. 

 It bears a splendid crimson flower, and a crimson 

 fruit that is insipid and not considered worth eat- 

 ing; but being of so beautiful a color to see it is 

 sufficient pleasure. The plant is not very com- 

 mon, and one does not see too many of the fruits 

 even in a long day 's ramble : 



Like stones of worth, they thinly placed are. 



The chanar bears a fruit like a cherry in size, and, 

 like a cherry, with a stone inside; it has a white 

 pulp and a golden skin ; the flavor is peculiar and 

 delicious, and seemed to be greatly appreciated by 

 the birds, so that the children get little. Another 

 wild fruit is that of the Piquellin (Condalia spi- 

 nosa), the dark-leafed bush which was mentioned 

 in the first chapter. Its oval-shaped berries are 

 less than currants in size, but are in such pro- 

 fusion that the broad tops of the bushes become 

 masses of deep color in autumn. There are two 

 varieties, one crimson, the other purple-black, like 

 sloes and blackberries. They have a strong but 

 not unpleasant flavor, and the children are so fond 

 of them that, like the babes in the wood, their little 



