BOTANICAL EXCURSION. 263 



Of these I may reckon Plantago maritima, and a 

 slight variety of our common sea-pink {Armeria 

 maritima, van andina). To these I am disposed to 

 add Rumex acetosella, which I found creeping in 

 the sand far from the settlement, and a form of 

 the common dandelion {Taraxacum Icevigatum of 

 botanists). Along with these were several represen- 

 tatives of the antarctic flora — a Colobanthus, three 

 species oi Accena, a Gunner a, an Ourisia, and several 

 others. Of bushes the most conspicuous are the ber- 

 berries, of which I found three species. One of these, 

 which I had already seen in the Channels, has leaves 

 like those of a holly, and is appropriately named 

 Berberis ilicifolia. Another, which is very common 

 here {Berberis buxifolia\ has sweet berries, pleasant 

 to the taste ; and the third {B. empetrifolid) is a dwarf 

 bush, scarcely a foot high, which seems to be confined 

 to the sandy shore. A taller shrub, which I had seen 

 in the Channels as well as in this neighbourhood 

 {Maytenus Magellanica of botanists), is called Lena 

 dura, and is valued for the hardness of the wood, 

 useful for many small articles. The genus extends 

 throughout South America, but most of the species 

 inhabit tropical Brazil, and we may look on this as 

 the solitary representative of the tropical flora which 

 has reached the southern extremity of the continent. 



Having collected whatever was to be found close to 

 the shore, I proposed to strike inland towards the 

 base of the low hills. The country near was a dead 

 flat, and seemed to offer no obstacle. After riding 

 for about a mile over dry ground, we gradually found 

 ourselves in the midst of shallow pools of water, now 



