264 



PAMPAS. 



green and luxuriant in the spring and autumn, 

 but is burnt up and quite brown in the sum- 

 mer. The last district, which extends from the 

 town of St. Luis through the province of Men- 

 doza to the Andes, is altogether overgrown with 

 low brushwood, of which the algaroba, and 

 espina, or American evergreen thorn, form the 

 principal part. There are other indigenous pro- 

 ductions, — such as the ombu, which is seen at 

 Buenos Ayres, the aloe, and the prickly pear ; 

 which last often surrounds the hut of the 

 gauchos, being cultivated for a defence against 

 the Indians. The fig and peach are common 

 now every where, though transplanted originally 

 from Europe. In the towns and villages they 

 are very numerous, but I have also observed 

 single trees, or perhaps one of each sort, near the 

 rancho or hut on the Pampas, and have often, 

 by this signal, been guided to a habitation. 



