CH. II. PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURE. 27 



in dry exposed situations. There is something sad in the 

 meagre and drooping aspect of the plant that brings to 

 mind those dismal mourning trinkets, wherein a lock of 

 hair is made to form the efHgy of a weeping willow. This 

 is the E'tam of the Moors, whence botanists have formed 

 the name Retama for a small group of brooms, containing 

 a few nearly allied species, that are widely spread through- 

 out the region extending from Spain to the Canary Islands. 

 In the early spring our Tangier plant {Retama mono- 

 sperma of Boissier) is covered with clusters of small white 

 odoriferous flowers. These had nearly all disappeared, and 

 were succeeded by little hard one-seeded pods, which in 

 some of the varieties ultimately become thick and fleshy, 

 and are much sought after by birds. Not uncommonly 

 the slender branches are laden with clusters of a small 

 species of Helix that at some distance might be taken for 

 fruit. 



Without halting, except at one spot to secure some 

 specimens of the great onion [Allium nigrum, of Linnseus), 

 we rode pretty fast through the belt of cultivated land 

 that lies between the shore and the hills. The agriculture 

 of this country has probably undergone little change since 

 the earliest historic period. The plough in daily use is 

 the same that is flgured on the monuments of ancient 

 Egypt, and with two exceptions the crops are the same — 

 barley, wheat, lentils, vetches, flax, and pumpkins. 

 America has supplied two valuable articles of food — maize 

 and potatoes — and two exotic plants that have become so 

 common as to modify the appearance of many localities — 

 the Agave, or American aloe of British greenhouses, and 

 the Indian fig {Opuntia vulgaris) — both extensively used 

 for hedges, and multiplying freely on waste ground. The 

 last-named plant contributes to the scanty dietary of the 

 natives ; but the fruit, when eaten in any quantity, is said 

 to be indigestible, and a potent ally to diarrhoea and 

 dysentery. On reaching the hills, of which we merely 

 crossed some low spurs, the aspect of the vegetation 



