126 
BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES 
CHAP. 
probable that in proportion as that country becomes inhabited, 
the cardoon will extend its limits. The case is different with 
the giant thistle (with variegated leaves) of the Pampas, for I 
met with it in the valley of the Sauce. According to the prin¬ 
ciples so well laid down by Mr. Lyell, few countries have under¬ 
gone more remarkable changes, since the year 1535, when the 
first colonist of La Plata landed with seventy-two horses. The 
countless herds of horses, cattle, and sheep, not only have altered 
the whole aspect of the vegetation, but they have almost banished 
the guanaco, deer, and ostrich. Numberless other changes must 
likewise have taken place ; the wild pig in some parts probably 
replaces the peccari ; packs of wild dogs may be heard howling- 
on the wooded banks of the less frequented streams ; and the 
common cat, altered into a large and fierce animal, inhabits 
rocky hills. As M. d’Orbigny has remarked, the increase in 
numbers of the carrion-vulture, since the introduction of the 
domestic animals, must have been infinitely great ; and we 
have given reasons for believing that they have extended their 
southern range. No doubt many plants, besides the cardoon 
and fennel, are naturalised ; thus the islands near the mouth 
of the Parana are thickly clothed with peach and orange 
trees, springing from seeds carried there by the waters of the 
river. 
While changing horses at the Guardia several people ques¬ 
tioned us much about the army,—I never saw anything like 
the enthusiasm for Rosas, and for the success of the “ most just 
of all wars, because against barbarians.” This expression, it 
must be confessed, is very natural, for till lately, neither man, 
woman, nor horse was safe from the attacks of the Indians. 
We had a long day’s ride over the same rich green plain, abound¬ 
ing with various flocks, and with here and there a solitary 
estancia, and its one ombu tree. In the evening it rained heavily : 
on arriving at a post-house we were told by the owner that if we 
had not a regular passport we must pass on, for there were so 
many robbers he would trust no one. When he read, however, 
my passport, which began with “ El Naturalista Don Carlos,” 
his respect and civility were as unbounded as his suspicions had 
been before. What a naturalist might be, neither he nor his 
countrymen, I suspect, had any idea ; but probably my title lost 
nothing of its value from that cause. 
