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 now live. Before their
introduction, however, the surface must have 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, 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. 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.
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