28o NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



the winters are slightly colder and the summer 

 months somewhat hotter. 



The town is surrounded by country houses belong- 

 ing to the merchants and other residents, each with a 

 quinta (garden or pleasure-ground), in which a variety 

 of subtropical plants seem to thrive. Comparatively 

 few of the indigenous plants showed flower or fruit, 

 certainly less than one is used to see in winter nearer 

 home on the shores of the Mediterranean. But a small 

 proportion of the ground is under tillage, and beyond 

 the zone of houses and gardens one soon reaches the 

 open country, which extends through nearly all the 

 territory of the republic. The English residents have 

 adopted the Spanish term (campd), which is universally 

 applied in this region of America to the open country 

 whereon cattle are pastured, and the stranger does 

 not at first well understand the question when asked 

 whether he is " going to the camp." 



The only fences used in a region where wood of 

 every kind is scarce are posts about six feet high, 

 connected by three or four strands of stout iron wire. 

 These are set at distances of some miles apart, and 

 serve to keep the cattle of each estancia from straying. 

 It is said that when these fences were first introduced, 

 many animals were killed or maimed by running at 

 full speed against the iron wires, but that such cases 

 have now become rare. The more intelligent or more 

 cautious individuals avoided the danger, and have 

 transmitted their qualities to a majority of their off- 

 spring. 



At the hospitable table of the British minister, Mr. 

 Monson, I met among other guests Mr. E — — , one 



