100 



BUENOS AIRES* 



blooming, with a bright blue flower. The joints 

 of their stems, if cut at this time, produce a 

 quantity of juice like milk, which is reckoned a 

 wholesome beverage. After the thistles we 

 traversed an extended plain, covered with long 

 green grass, and bounded only by the horizon, — 

 nothing intercepting the view but an occasional 

 hut, with one or two stunted peach-trees ; and 

 sometimes the back of a horse or cow is the 

 only object rising above this ocean of grass. 



The thistle is a native of the south of Europe 

 and north of Africa, whence the seed is supposed 

 to have been brought to Buenos Ayres, and to 

 have escaped to these plains nearest the city. 

 Botanists call it Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). 



We met with no trees on the plains we tra- 

 velled over, except a few solitary ombus, which 

 surround the houses and ranchos on the road. 

 This wood is known among botanists as the 



