400 NATUEAL HISTORY OF 



The 1st of August was a fine, though rather hazy day, and 

 in the morning Dr. Campbell, Mr. Gray, and I, landed, and 

 took a long walk, finding the country remarkably dry and 

 parched up, which was not surprising, as we were informed 

 that no rain had fallen for eight months back. There were, 

 however, some green patches of cultivated ground artificially 

 irrigated, and consisting principally of " Alfalfa" {Medicago 

 sativa), while in the distance various narrow tracts of verdure 

 were to be seen, marking the course of streams in the little 

 valleys between the hills. The hills, in most places, were 

 covered with plants of a tall Cereus, much like that seen at 

 Valparaiso and Santa Kosa, but brandling more, and with 

 weaker and more fiexible spines, together with a species of 

 humbler growth with bright purplish-red flowers. On the low 

 undulating sandy ground, which stretches inwards from the 

 sea for some miles, I found a considerable number of plants 

 that were new to me, a few of which I may here briefly 

 notice. A Mesemhryanthemum (M. Chilense), with long trail- 

 ing stems, fleshy trigonal leaves, and pink flowers, covered the 

 ground in several spots in the neighbourhood of a line of rail- 

 way, along which we pursued our way, and a Nolanaceous 

 plant, a species of Sorema, with large blue convolvulus-like 

 flowers, was also abundant on the sandy soil. Among the 

 patches of " alfalfa," a very pretty little crucifer, the Schizo- 

 petalon Walkeri, with deeply pinnatifid white petals, and the 

 beautiful Schizanthus pinnahcs, occurred. A Witheringia here 

 and there formed bright purplish-blue patches, and various 

 species of Compositse and Malvacese, and representatives of the 

 genera Eritrichium, Verbena, Heliotropium, Sphcerostigina, and 

 Fagonia, were met with, as also a white-flowered liliaceous 

 plant {Leucocoryne alliacea), smelling strong of garlic. Several 

 species of birds were observed, one about the size of a wheat- 



