bourhood of villages and in plains, and that it is' not
a good rule to judge o f the height of a mountain by the
appearance o f plants, if no diftin&ion is made between
the fpontaneous ones and the others, elfe we might conclude
that the little hill of Meudon near Paris is as high
as the Pyrenees.
From the Venta de Belate it is an eafy defcent into
another vale well cultivated with vines and corn, which
extends as far as the city of Pamplona, capital of the
kingdom of Navarre.' In this vale there is a wood of
ftately oaks, with plenty o f box, thorntree, wild rofes
and other common plants of cultivated countries. You
keep conftantly on the borders of a rivulet running
amongft round fand-ftone of a purple colour, iimilar to
thofe on the other fide towards France. I faw the following
plants in the plains of Pamplona, on the fide of
the roads, in the fields and the vineyards; two forts of
eringo, one called the hundred headed fort, and the other
with large leaves, poppy, dockweed, white horehound,
vipergrafs, elder, white goofegrafs, devilibit, cinquefoil,'
croifwort, henbane, tutfan, agrimony, teafel, hawthorn,
reft harrow, crowfoot and bullace.
In- this plain it is clearly feen how the limy rock decays,
for in an almoft perpendicular . fiffurei above an
hundred feet high, the earth which at firft fight and even
to
to the touch appears to be clay, is nothing more than limy
earth, mixed with a fmall portion o f clay, the refult of
rotten plants as I experienced with the acid I always
carry with me whenever I travel. The fame fort o f
earth of a blueifh colour is found near Pamplona, but
harder, and fo very hard in a hill oppofite to the city, as
to deferve the name o f ftone, cliipoiccl in ilrata with
the forme obliquity as the fiifure abovementioned, all
which proves the decompofition of the rocks.
Leaving Pamplona I traverfed a champaign country
for two leagues and a half to the mountain oppofite,
which having palled, . a variety o f cultivation takes
place. Some limy rocks are fo barren, that nothing is
to be feen but butchers broom, a few oaks, juniper, and
lavender, for two leagues and a half further, when I arrived
at the city of Tafalla; then palling an extenfive plain,
full of aromatic plants, had five leagues to Caparrofo.
This plain may be thrown into four divifions, the firft
from Tafalla being olive trees, the fecond vineyards, the:
third corn-fields, and the-fourth barren, except a few
©live trees and fome corn-fields near Caparrofo, where a:
hill divides the plain, and now and then, the rounded,
purple ftone Ihews itfelf again the fame as in France.
From Caparrofo I crofted a high'hill where any miner
might miftake the ftrata of gypfeous ftone which is only
©rre or two inches thick, for fpar, but you may dig as.
R deep;