1832-3. 



ABSENCE OF TREES. 



53 



The general^ and almost entire absence of trees in 

 Banda Oriental is remarkable. Some of the rocky hills are 

 partly covered by thickets^ and on the banks of the larger 

 streams^ especially to the northward of the Las Minas, 

 willow- trees are not uncommon. Near the Arroyo Tapes I 

 heard of a wood of palms ; and one of these trees^ of con- 

 siderable size, I saw near the Pan de Azucar, in lat. 35°. 

 These, and the trees planted by the Spaniards, offer the 

 only exceptions to the general scarcity of wood. Among 

 the introduced kinds may be enumerated poplars, olives, 

 peach, and other fruit-trees : the peaches succeed so well, 

 that they afford the main supply of firewood to the city 

 of Buenos Ayres. Extremely level countries, such as 

 the Pampas, seldom appear favourable to the growth of 

 trees. This may possibly be attributed either to the force 

 of the winds, or the kind of drainage. In the nature of 

 the land, however, around Maldonado, no such reason is 

 apparent ; the rocky mountains afford protected situations, 

 enjoying various kinds of soil; streamlets of water are com- 

 mon at the bottoms of nearly every valley ; and the clayey 

 nature of the earth seems adapted to retain moisture. It 

 has been inferred with much probability, that the presence 

 of woodland is determined by the annual amount of moisture ; 

 yet in this province abundant and heavy rain falls during the 

 winter ; and the summer, though dry, is not so in any exces- 

 sive degree.* We see nearly the whole of Australia covered 

 by lofty trees, yet that country possesses a far more arid 

 climate. Hence we must look to some other cause. The 

 trees of Brazil cannot travel so far southward, on account of 

 the colder climate ; nor does there exist any other wooded 

 country whence a migration could take place : we are there- 

 fore driven to the conclusion that herbaceous plants, in- 

 stead of trees, were created to occupy that wide area, which 

 within a period not very remote, has been raised above the 

 waters of the sea. 



* Azara says, " Je crois que la quantite annuelle des pluies est, dans 

 toutes ces contrccs, phis considerable qu'en Espagne." — Vol. i., p. 36. 



