to the Strait of Magellan* 



71 



prickles in such regular order, that, under each leaf, they form 

 a cross, on which the leaf rests; the taste is acid but disH|rreea- 

 ble, and it has a sensible smell : it bears a small round fruit, of 

 the same taste; but when we saw it, it was not ripe. 



These four plants are all that deserve any description. The 

 Abbe Perneti, in his V03^age to the Falkland Islands, makes 

 mention of some of these, besides several others, peculiar to 

 these islands. It is not improbable, that an experienced bota- 

 nist and naturalist might have discovered in this part of the 

 strait greater treasures, to increase the c^.talogue of plants 

 already known; but in that, this tract of country will always 

 remain one of the most barren and unfit for the production of 

 necessaries for men, at least in the article of vegetables. 



If this plain country were proper for the growth of trees, it 

 is but reasonable to suppose that we should nave seen some on 

 it ; since the violent winds, blowing almost incessantly from 

 the westward, must, in all probability, on numberless occasions, 

 have conveyed hither the seeds of those with which the moun- 

 tainous tracts to the west are almost entirely covered. 



This supposition is supported by the many and useless at- 

 tempts made by the French and English to raise trees on tlieir 

 respective settlements in the Falkland Islands, transporting 

 them, with all possible precaution, from the Strait of Magellan, 

 which is at no great distance : but neither the one nor the other 

 have hitherto been successful. 



When we (the Spaniards) got possession of these islands, in 

 1764, we also used the most strenuous exertions to the same 

 effect, carrying thither not only young plants, but even the 

 soil, from Buenos Ayres ; by which precaution we succeeded 

 in making, them take root and live, but not to come to any per- 

 fection ; and even to procure a few cabbages and garden-stuff, 

 although not in perfect ripeness, which never is obtained, it is 

 necessary to sow them under the shelter of some slope or 

 rising ground, and to surround them with hurdles, to defend 

 them from the winds. The same precautions were employed in 

 raising trees; but no advantage was ever reaped from sucli ex- 

 pensive labour: all which proves the similarity of soil in these 

 islands with the aountry we are now describing at the mouth of 

 the strait. 



We come now to treat of the quadrupeds of this country, on 

 "Which subject we must remark, that it appeared very strange, 

 that, in all this tract, we should not meet with the least trace, 

 nor acquire the smallest information, of horned cattle, which 

 have £0 prodigiously increased all over the territory of Buenos 

 Ayres. Perhaps these most useful animals have never arrived 

 at this southern extremity of South America, on account of the 



