212 APPENDIX. 



I observed on the road a number of interesting plants, 

 particularly in the places enclosed by the fortifications, 

 and thus protected from the teeth of the goats. Here 

 grow the Phlomis tuberosa, Rumex thrysoides, Malva 

 hispanica, and Kundmannia sicula. At the opening of 

 the embrasures I gathered also Stachys circinata, Ca- 

 lendula marginata, Helichrysum rupestre, and several 

 other plants partial to the shade, which I could only with 

 difficulty have procured on the inaccessible heights where 

 they are generally met with. Without following the 

 windings of the paths that traverse it, I climbed over the 

 stones and the bushes of the Chamaerops, the wild olive, 

 the Genista linifolia, and the Daphne gnidium. I there met 

 with plants of the hot regions already known, and several 

 others new to me, such as the Thymus hirtus, the beauti- 

 ful Scilla hemisphaerica, with umbels of blue flowers, its 

 bulb sometimes attaining an enormous size ; the Cerastium 

 Gibraltaricum, with its white corolla elegantly folded, and a 

 remarkable variety of the Saxifraga globulifera. Bota- 

 nizing, I arrived at the top, and at the highest point, 

 which is exactly at the northern extremity, there is a 

 platform, on which is placed a mortar, that one might 

 suppose had descended from the clouds on this seemingly 

 inaccessible summit. On leaving this spot, a very nar- 

 row path runs from north to south, almost insensibly 

 descending ; it is so steep and rugged, that it should not 

 be attempted unless you have the sure and light foot of 

 the goats that feed there. The calcareous beds of the 

 mountain are inclined towards the town in a rapid but 

 accessible declivity, whilst to the east they terminate 

 abruptly in precipices, at the base of which successive 

 upheavals have formed semiconical declivities reaching to 

 the sea-shore. On this eastern side it is absolutely im- 

 possible to climb the rock, and nature alone has the 

 charge of defending it. There were formerly some points 



