The Marismas of Guadalquivir 89 



flat, and which vary in extent from a few yards to hundreds of 

 acres. The precise geological cause of these vetas we know not ; 

 but the calcareous matter of which they are composed — the debris 

 of myriad disintegrated sea-shells, mostly bivalves — proves that 

 the ocean at an earlier period held sway, till gradually driven 

 backwards by the torrents of alluvial matter carried down by the 

 river, and finally forced behind the vast sand-barrier now known 

 as the Goto Donana— the buffer called into being whilst age-long 

 struggles raged between these two opposing forces. The fact is 

 further evidenced by the salt crust which yearly forms on the 

 surface of the lower marisma when the summer sun has evaporated 

 its waters. 



In summer the marisma is practically a sun-scorched mud-flat ; 

 in winter a shallow inland sea, with the vetas standing out like 

 islands. 



There are, as already stated, slight local variations in elevation. 

 Naturally the lower-lying areas are the first to retain moisture 

 so soon as the long torrid summer has passed away and autumn 

 rains begin. Speedily these become shallow lagoons, termed 

 lucios — similar, we imagine, to the jheels of India — and a 

 welcome haven they afford to the advance-guard of immigrant 

 wildfowl from the north. 



Plant-life in the marismas is regulated by the relative saltness 

 of the soil. In the deeper lucios no vegetation can subsist ; but 

 where the level rises, though but a few inches, and the ground is 

 less saline, the hardy samphire (in Spanish, armajo) appears, 

 covering with its small isolated bushes vast stretches of the lower 



marisma 



The armajo, which is formed of a congeries of fleshy twigs, 

 leafless, and jointed more like the marine algae than a land-plant, 

 belongs to three species as follows : — 



(1) Salico7'nea herbacea, msLYsh-samiphiie; in Spanish, /Saj9^7ic». 



(2) Artkraenimumfruticosum^.^ Spanish, Armajo. 



(3) Suaeda fruticosa j 



All three belong to the natural order Chenopodiaceae (or 

 " Goose-foot" family). 



The armajo is the typical plant of the marisma, flourishing 

 even where there is a considerable percentage of salt in the soil. 

 This aquatic shrub increases most in dry seasons, a series of wet 

 winters having a disastrous effect on its growth. The Sapina, 



