l62 



C. SKOTTSBERG 



Fig. 78. Pta del Iman and Playa del Buque Varado, seen from the sea looking S. — Photo 



C. Skottsberg 18/3 1917. 



level; another 50 — 100 m and the undulating grass-, fern- and pangue-covered 

 Mona plain, crossed by many little gullies, dry during the summer, lies open in 

 every direction (fig. 79). At one of the tributaries to O. Pasto, 1130m above 

 the sea, a pool of water in the rocky stream-bed made the place a convenient 

 camp site ("Campo Correspondencia"). A short walk brings us to the edge of 

 the plain and to Las Torres (Towers), c. 1370 m, and Co Correspondencia, 

 c. 1420 m. Fig. 80 is a view of one of the Loberia gorges seen from Corres- 

 pondencia. The Alpine flora is well represented on these hills. Near the top of 

 the high western barranca some shallow depressions almost lack vegetation (fig. 81). 

 The soil is clayey and the surface, which shows distinct signs of water erosion, 

 strewn with stones and cracked in places. Some small boulders rested on short 

 pillars of clay. The ground is perhaps flooded during the winter. I was told that 

 patches of snow have been observed here, but this needs corroboration. Wind 

 erosion might be responsible for the formation of the small "tables". 



Avejtida de las Cabras, "Goat Avenue", is a well-beaten track running along 

 the very edge of the abyss from C. Atravesado to Co Verde. From about 

 1 100 — 1250 m alt. one looks down on Buque Varado (fig. 82) and 0. del Imdn 

 (Magnet gorge, fig. 83). One of the former inmates of the convict settlement told 

 me that he had been employed cutting a trail down the precipice to Buque 

 Varado, where also huts were built, but we saw no signs of either. There are 



