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Show 138 PAMPAS. Sept. 1833. partly explain the circumstance ? We thus have li~es. of richly-manured land serving as channels of commumcatwn across wide districts. Near the Guardia we :find the southern limit of two European plants, now become excessively common. The fennel in great profusion covers the ditch banks in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, and other towns. But the cardoon (Cynara caTduncuLus) * has a far wider range : it occurs in these latitudes on both sides of the Cordillera, across the continent. I saw it in unfrequented spots in Chile, Entre Rios, and Banda Oriental. In the latter country alone, very many (probably several hundred) square miles are covered by one mass of these prickly plants, and are impenetrable by man or beast. Over the undulating plains, where these great beds occur, nothing else can live. Before their introduction, however, I apprehend the surface supported as in other parts a rank herbage. I doubt whether any case is on record, of an invasion on so grand a scale of one plant over the aborigines. As I have already said, I nowhere saw the cardoon south of the Salado; but it is 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 principles so well laid down by Mr. Lyell, • D'Orbigny (vol. i., p. 474), says that the cardoon and artichoke are both found wild. Dr. Hooker (Botanical Magazine, vol.lv., p. 2862), has described a variety of the Cynara from this part of South America under the name of inermis. He states that botanists are now generally agreed that the cardoon and the artichoke are varieties of one plant. I may add, that an intelligent farmer assured me, he had observed in a deserted garden, some artichokes changing into the common cardoon. Dr. Hooker believes that Head's vivid description of the thistle of the Pampas applies to the cardoon ; but this is a mistake. Captain Head referred to the plant, which I have mentioned a few lines lower down, under the title of giant thistle. Whether it is a true thistle I do not know ; but it is quite different from the cardoon, and more like a thistle properly so called. Sept. 1833. BUENOS AYRES. 139 few countries have undergone 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. Number less 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. I have alluded to the invasion of the cardoon: in a like manner, the islands near the mouth of the Parana, are thickly clothed with peaches and orange-trees, springing from seeds carried there by the waters of the river. While changing horses at the Guardia, several people questioned us much about the army,-I never saw any thing 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 abounding 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 :rpust pass on, for there were so many robbers he would trust no one. When he read, however, my passport, which began with "El N aturalista Don Carlos, &c." his respect and civility were as unbounded, as his suspicions had been before. What a naturalist may be, neither he nor his countrymen, I suspect, had any idea; but probably my title lost nothing of its value from that cause. SEPTEMBER 20TH.-We arrived by the middle of the day at Buenos Ayres. The outskirts of the city looked quite pretty, with the agave hedges, and groves of olive, peach, and willow trees, all just throwing out their fresh green leaves. I rode to the house of Mr. Lumb, an English merchant, to |