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VOYAGES
ADVENTURE AND BEAGLE.
VOLUME III.
NARRATIVE
OF THE
PURVEYING VOYAGES
OF HIS MAJESTY’S SHIPS
ADVENTURE AND BEAGLE,
BETWEEN
THE YEARS 1826 AND 1836,
DESCRIBING THEIR
EXAMINATION OF THE SOUTHERN SHORES
OF
SOUTH AMERICA,
AND
THE BEAGLE’S CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE.
oS
IN THREE V ys. \
VOL. iL JUN 29 1927 *
, LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1839,
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VOLUME Iil.
JOURNAL AND REMARKS.
1832-1836.
CHARLES DARWIN, ESQ. M.A.
SEC. GEOL. SOC,
1 & An oo
aie
it) 4
PRET A CE:
I nave stated in the preface to the Zoology of the
Voyage of the Beagle, that it was in consequence of a
wish expressed by Captain FitzRoy, of having some
scientific person on board, accompanied by an offer
from him, of giving up part of his own accommo-
dations, that I volunteered my services, which received, _
through the kindness of the hydrographer, Captain
Beaufort, the sanction of the Lords of the Admiralty.
As I feel that the opportunities, which I enjoyed of
studying the Natural History of the different countries
we visited, have been wholly due to Captain Fitz-
Roy, I hope I may here be permitted to express
my gratitude to him; and to add that, during the five
years we were together, I received from him the most
cordial friendship and steady assistance. Both to
Captain FitzRoy and to all the Officers of the Beagle, *
* I must likewise take this opportunity of returning my sincere
thanks to Mr. Bynoe, the surgeon of the Beagle, for his very kind
attention to me when [ was ill at Valparaiso.
vil PREFACE.
I shall ever feel most thankful for the undeviating
kindness with which I was treated, durmg our long
voyage.
The present volume contains in the form of a
journal, a sketch of those observations in Geology and
Natural History, which I thought would possess some
general interest. As it was originally intended to
have preceded any more detailed account, and as its
publication has been unavoidably delayed, the brief-
ness and imperfection of several parts, I hope, will
be excused. I have given a list of those errata
(partly caused by my absence from town when some
of the sheets were in the press) which affect the
sense ; and have added an Appendix, containing some
additional facts (especially on the theory of the trans-
portation of erratic blocks) which I have accidentally
met with during the past year. I hope shortly to
publish my geological observations; the first Part of
which will be on the Volcanic Islands of the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, and on Coral Formations; and
the second Part will treat of South America. Several
numbers of the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle,
due to the disinterested zeal of several of our first
naturalists, have already appeared. These works
could not have been undertaken, had it not been for
the liberality of the Lords Commissioners of Her
Majesty’s Treasury, who, through the representation
of the Right Honourable the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, have been pleased to grant a sum of one
PREFACE. 1x
thousand pounds towards defraying part of the ex-
penses of publication. I have repeated in this volume
my account of the habits of some of the birds and
quadrupeds of South America, as I thought such
observations might interest those readers who would
not, probably, consult the larger work. But I trust
that naturalists will remember, that mere sketches are
here given on several subjects, which will hereafter be
more fully entered on, or have already been so:—for
instance, the notices of the strange fossil quadrupeds
of the eastern plains of South America are exceedingly
imperfect, whilst an admirable account of them by
Mr. Owen now forms the first part of the Zoology of
the Voyage of the Beagle.
I shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the
great assistance I have received from several natu-
ralists, in the course of this and the succeeding works ;
but I must be here allowed to return my most sincere
thanks to the Reverend Professor Henslow, who,
when I was an under-graduate at Cambridge, was one
chief means of giving me a taste for Natural History,
—who, during my absence, took charge of the collec-
tions I sent home, and by his correspondence directed
my endeavours,—and who, since my return, has con-
stantly rendered me every assistance which the kindest
friend could offer.
Cy.
VOL. III. b
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Porto Praya—Ribeira Grande—Dry and clear atmosphere—Effect of lava
on a calcareous beach— Habits of Aplysia and Octopus—St. Paul’s rocks
non-volcanic—Incrustations and stalactites of phosphate of lime—In-
sects first colonists—Fernando Noronha—Bahia—Extent of granite—
Burnished rocks—Habits of Diodon—Pelagie conferve, infusoria—
Causes of discoloured sea ; d : : 1
CHAPTER II.
Rio de Janeiro—Excursion north of Cape Frio—Great evaporation—
Slavery—Botofogo Bay— Terrestrial Planaria—Clouds on Corcovado—
Heavy rain— Musical Hyla—Lampyris and its larvee—Elater, springing
powers of— Blue haze—~ Noise of butterfly—Entomology—Ants— Wasp-
killing spider — Parasitical spider — Artifices of Epeira— Gregarious
spider—Spider with imperfect web. : : ria)
CHAPTER III.
Monte Video—Maldonado—Excursion to R. Polanco—Lazo and Bolas—
Partridges—Geology—Absence of trees—Cervus campestris— River
hog—Tucutuco—Molothrus, cuckoo-like habits of—Tyrant-flycatcher
—Mocking-bird—Carrion hawks—Tubes formed by lightning—House
struck ° : : ‘ - 44
CHAPTER IV.
Rio Negro—Estancias attacked by Indians—Salt lakes, geological position
of-—Flamingoes—R. Negro to Colorado—Sacred tree— Patagonian hare
—Indian families—General Rosas—Proceed to Bahia Blanca—Sand
dunes— Negro lieutenant—Bahia Blanca—Ground incrusted with Glau-
ber salt—Punta Alta—Zorillo . a 04
CHAPTER V.
Bahia Blanca— Geology— Extinct quadrupeds, four Edentata, horse,
Ctenomys— Recent extinction of—Longevity of species— Large animals
do not require luxuriant vegetation—Southern Africa—Siberian fossils
—Catalogue of extinct quadrupeds of South America—Two species of
Ostrich, habits of— 'Tinochorus—Oven-bird— Armadilloes— Venomous
snake, toad, lizard—Hybernation of animals—Habits of sea-pen—In-
dian wars and massacres— Arrow-head, antiquarian relic. + 95
CONTENTS. Xi
CHAPTER VI.
Set out for Buenos Ayres—Rio Sauce—Sierra Ventana—Transportal of
pebbles—Third posta—Driving horses—Bolas—Partridges and foxes—
Features of country—Long-legged plover — Teru-tero — Hailstorm—
Natural enclosures in Sierra Tapalguen—Flesh of puma—Meat diet—
Guardia del Monte—Effects of cattle on the vegetation—Cardoon—
Buenos Ayres—Corral where animals are slaughtered . . 124
CHAPTER VII.
Excursion to St. Fe—Thistle beds— Habits and range of Bizcacha—Little
owl—Saline streams—Level plains—Mastodon—St, Fe—Change in
landscape—Geology—Tooth of extinct horse—Range of fossil quadru-
peds—Pampas full of remains—Effects of great droughts—Droughts
periodical — Parana— Habits of Jaguar — Scissor-beak— Kingfisher,
parrot, and scissor-tail—Revolution—Buenos Ayres—State of govern-
ment : : : ‘ . - I
CHAPTER VIII.
Monte Video—Excursion to Colonia del Sacramiento—Horses, swimming .
— Value of an Estancia—Cattle, how counted—Geology—Great thistle-
beds—Rio Negro—Perforated pebbles—Shepherd dogs— Horses broken
in, Gauchos riding, feats with lazo—Toxodon—Armadillo-like gigantic
covering—Great tail—Return to Monte Video—Character of inha-
bitants : : . . - 167
CHAPTER IX.
Rio Plata—Flocks of butterflies—Beetles alive in the sea—Aeronaut
spiders — Pelagic animals — Phosphorescence of sea—-Port Desire—
Spanish settlements—Zoology—Guanaco—Excursion to head of har-
bour—Indian grave—Port St. Julian—Geology of Patagonia, succes-
sive terraces, transport of pebbles—Fossil gigantic llama—Types of
organization constant—Change in zoology of America—Causes of ex-
_ tinction : ae . E85
CHAPTER X.
Santa Cruz—Expedition up river—Indians—Character of Patagonia—
Basaltic platform—Immense streams of lava—Non-transport of blocks
by river—Excavation of valley—Condor, range and habits—Cordil-
lera—Erratic boulders of great size-~-Indian relics—Return to the
ship : : : 213
CHAPTER XI.
Tierra del Fuego, first arrival—Good Success Bay—Interview with sa- |
vages—Scenery of the forests—Sir J. Banks’s hill—Cape Horn— Wig-
wam Cove—Miserable condition of savages—Beagle channel—Fuegians
—Ponsonby Sound—Equality of condition among the natives—Bifurca-
tion of the Beagle channel—Glaciers—Return to ship — . 227
x CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
Falkland Islands—Excursion round island—Aspect—Cattle, horses, rab-
bit, wolf-like fox—Fire made of bones—Art in making fire— Manner of
hunting wild cattle—Geology, fossil shells— Valleys filled with great
fragments, scenes of violence— Penguin — Geese — Eggs of doris—
Zoophytes, coralline phosphorescent—Compound animals . 245
CHAPTER XIII.
Strait of Magellan—Port Famine—Geology—Deep water in channels—
Erratic boulders—Climate—Limit of fruit trees—Mean temperature—
Luxuriant forests—Rigour of antarctic islands—Contrast with the
north—Snow-line, great flexure of—Glaciers—Icebergs transport frag-
ments of rock—Glaciers in low latitude—Absence of erratic blocks in
intertropical regions—Glaciers and tropical vegetation—Comparison
with northern hemisphere—Siberian animals in ice—Embedded in
cold mud—Edible fungus—Zoology—Fucus giganteus—Leave Tierra
del Fuego : : : ‘ . 263
CHAPTER XIV.
Valparaiso—Excursion to base of Andes—Structure of land—Ascend
Bell of Quillota—Shattered masses of greenstone—Immense valleys—
Mines—State of miners—Santiago—Hot baths of Cauquenes—Gold
mines—Grinding mills—Perforated stones— Habits of puma—E] turco
and tapacolo—Humming-birds . ‘ ‘ . 808
CHAPTER XV.
Chiloe—General aspect—Boat excursion— Native Indians — Castro—
Large leaves of Gunnera scabra—Tame fox—Ascend San Pedro—
~ Chonos Archipelago—Peninsula of Tres Montes—Granitic range—
Lowe’s Harbour— Wild potato—Forest—Formation of peat—Myopo-
tamus, otter and mice—Cheucau and barking-bird—Furnarius—Singu-
lar character of ornithology—Petrels : : « 883
CHAPTER XVI.
San Carlos, Chiloe—Osorno in eruption—Ride to Castro and Cucao—
Impenetrable forests—Valdivia—Apple-trees—Ride to Llanos—In-
dians—Earthquake—Concepcion—Great earthquake—FEffects of wave
—Rocks fissured—Appearance of the former towns— Water in the bay
black and boiling—Direction of vibration—Stones displaced—Cause of
great waves—Permanent elevation of land—Great lake of fluid rock
beneath crust of the globe—Connexion of volcanic phenomena—Slow
elevation of mountain chains, cause of earthquakes. . 3856
CONTENTS. Xl
CHAPTER XVII.
Valparaiso—Passage of Andes by Portillo pass—Sagacity of mules—
Mountain torrents—Mines, how discovered—Marine alluvium in val-
leys—Effect of snow on surface—Geology, fossil shells, double range,
two periods of elevation—Red snow— Winds on the crest—Snow thaw-
ing in pinnacles—Dry and clear atmosphere—Electricity—Pampas—
Zoology of opposite sides of Andes—Uniformity of Patagonia—Locusts
—Great bugs—Mendoza—Uspallata—Silicified trees in vertical posi-
tion—Indian ruins—Change of climate—Earthquake arching bed of
river-—Cumbre—Valparaiso. 2 : . . 382
CHAPTER XVIII.
Bell mountain—Miners—Great ‘loads carried by the Apires~-Coquimbo
—Earthquake—Geology—Terraces—Excursion up valley—Road to
Guasco—Desert country— Valley of Copiap6—Rain and earthquakes,
Meteorolites— Hydrophobia—Copiap6—Excursion to Cordillera—Dry
valley——Cold gales of wind—Noises from a hill—Iquique, complete
desert—Salt alluvium—Nitrate of soda—Lima—Unhealthy country—
Ruins of Callao, overthrown by earthquake—Elevated shells on island
of San Lorenzo-—Plain with embedded fragments of pottery . 416
CHAPTER XIX.
Galapagos Islands voleanic—Number of craters—Leafless bushes—Colony
at Charles Island—James Island—Salt-lake in crater — Character of
vegetation — Ornithology, curious finches—Great tortoises, habits of,
paths to the wells—Marine lizard feeds on sea-weed—Terrestrial species,
burrowing habits, herbivorous—Importance of reptiles in the Archi-
pelago—Few and minute insects—American type of organization—Spe-
cies confined to certain islands—Tameness of birds—Falkland Islands
—Fear of man an acquired instinct. : F 7 S459
CHAPTER XX.
Tahiti—Aspect of—Vegetation on the slope of the mountains—View of
Eimeo—Excursion in the interior—Profound ravines—Succession of
waterfalls— Number of wild useful plants—Temperance of inhabitants
—Their moral state—Parliament convened—New Zealand—Bay of
islands— Hippahs— Absence of all gover nment—Excursion to Waimate
—Missionary establishment—English weeds now run wild— Waiomio—
Funeral service—Sail from New Zealand ‘ . 479
CHAPTER XXI.
Sydney—Prosperity of—Excursion to Bathurst— Aspect of woods——Party
of Natives— Gradual extinction of aborigines— Blue Mountains—
Weatherboard— View of a grand gulf-like valley—Sheep farm—Lion-
ant—Bathurst, general civility of lower orders—State of society—Van
VOL. III. Cc
X1V . CONTENTS.
Diemen’s Land—Hobart Town-—Aborigines all banished—Mount
Wellington—King George’s Sound—Cheerless aspect of country—
Bald Head, calcareous casts like branches of trees—Party of natives—
Leave Australia 5 : : : . 515
CHAPTER XXII.
Keeling Island—Singular appearance of—Scanty Flora—Transport of seeds
—Birds and insects—Ebbing and flowing springs—Coral formations re-
sisting power of ocean—Fields of dead coral—Stones transported by
roots of trees—Great crab—Stinging corals—Structure of lagoon islands
—Encircling and Barrier reefs—General proofs of subsidence in the
Pacific—Theory of lagoon islands caused by subsidence of the land—
Pacific and Indian oceans divided into alternate areas of elevation and
subsidence—Points of eruption lie within the areas of elevation, 5389
CHAPTER XXIII.
Mauritius, beautiful appearance of —Hindoos—Cape of Good Hope—St.
Helena—Geology—History of changes in vegetation, probable cause
of extinction of land-shells—Ascension— Green Hill—Curious incrusta-
tions of calcareous matter on tidal rocks—Bahia—Brazil—Splendour
of tropical scenery—Pernambuco—Singular reef—Azores—Supposed
crater— Hints to collectors—Retrospect of the most impressive parts of
the voyage . : , ; . 570
ADDENDA 2 : ‘ ; : - 609
INDEX.
JOURNAL
OF
CHARLES DARWIN, M.A.,
NATURALIST TO THE BEAGLE,
CHAPTER I.
Porto Praya—Ribeira Grande—Dry and clear atmosphere—Effect of
lava on calcareous beach— Habits of Aplysia and Octopus—St. Paul’s
rock non-volcanic—Incrustations and stalactites of phosphate of lime—
Insects first colonists—Fernando Noronha—Bahia—Extent of granite
—Burnished rocks—Habits of Diodon—Pelagic conferve, infusoria—
Causes of discoloured sea.
ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS.
JAN. 16TH, 1832.—The neighbourhood of Porto Praya,
viewed from the sea, wears a desolate aspect. The volcanic
fire of past ages, and the scorching heat of a tropical sun,
have in most places rendered the soil sterile and unfit for
vegetation. The country rises in successive steps of table
land, interspersed with some truncate conical hills, and the
horizon is bounded by an irregular chain of more lofty
mountains. The scene, as beheld through the hazy at-
mosphere of this climate, is one of great interest; if,
indeed, a person, fresh from the sea, and who has just
walked, for the first time, in a grove of cocoa-nut trees, can
be a judge of any thing but his own happiness. The island
would generally be considered as very uninteresting ; but to
any one accustomed only to an English landscape, the novel
VOL. III. B
yy ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS. Jan. 1832.
prospect of an utterly sterile land possesses a grandeur
which more vegetation might spoil. A single green leaf
can scarcely be discovered over wide tracts of the lava
plains; yet flocks of goats, together with a few cows, con-
trive to exist. It rains very seldom, but during a short
portion of the year heavy torrents fall, and immediately
afterwards a light vegetation springs out of every crevice.
This soon withers ; and upon such naturally-formed hay the
animals live. At the present time it has not rained for an
entire year. ‘The broad, flat-bottomed, valleys, many of
which serve during a few days only in the season as a water-
course, are clothed with thickets of leafless bushes. Few
living creatures inhabit these valleys. The commonest bird
is a kingfisher (Dacelo jagoensis), which tamely sits on the
branches of the castor-oil plant, and thence darts on the
grasshoppers and lizards. It is brightly coloured, but not so
beautiful as the European species: in its flight, manners,
and place of habitation, which is generally in the driest
valleys, there is also a wide difference.
One day, two of the officers and myself rode to Ribeira
Grande, a village a few miles to the eastward of Porto Praya.
Until we reached the valley of St. Martin, the country pre-
sented its usual dull brown appearance; but there, a very
small rill of water produces a most refreshing margin of
luxuriant vegetation. In the course of an hour we arrived
at Ribeira Grande, and were surprised at the sight of a large
ruined fort and cathedral. The little town, before its harbour
was filled up, was the principal place in the island: it now
presents a melancholy, but very picturesque appearance.
Having procured a black Padre for a guide, and a Spaniard,
who had served in the Peninsular war, as an interpreter, we
visited a collection of buildings, of which an ancient church
formed the principal part. It is here the governors and
captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some of
the tombstones recorded dates of the sixteenth century.*
* The Cape de Verd Islands were discovered in 1449.
Jan. 1832. ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS. 3
The heraldic ornaments were the only things in this retired
place that reminded us of Europe. The -church or chapel
formed one side of a quadrangle, in the middle of which a
large clump of bananas were growing. On-another side was
a hospital, containing about a dozen miserable-looking in-
mates.
We returned to the “ Vénda” to eat our dinners. A con-
siderable number of men, women, and children, all as black
as jet, were collected to watch us. Our companions were
extremely merry; and every thing we said or did was fol-
lowed by their hearty laughter. Before leaving the town we
visited the cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the
smaller church, but boasts of a little organ, which sent forth
most singularly inharmonious cries. We presented the black
priest with a few shillings, and the Spaniard, patting him on
the head, said, with much candour, he thought his colour
made no great difference. We then returned, as fast as the
ponies would go, to Porto Praya.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo, situ-
ated near the centre of the island. Ona small plain which
we crossed, a few stunted acacias were growing; their tops,
by the action of the steady trade-wind, were bent in a
singular manner—some of them even at a right angle to the
trunk. The direction of the branches was exactly N.E.
by N., and S.W. by S. These natural vanes must indicate
the prevailing direction of the force of the trade wind. The
travelling had made so little impression on the barren soil,
that we here missed our track, and took that to Fuentes.
This we did not find out till we arrived there; and we
were afterwards very glad of our mistake. Fuentes is a
pretty village, with a small stream; and every thing ap-
peared to prosper well, excepting, indeed, that which ought
to do so most—its inhabitants. The black children, com-
pletely naked, and looking very wretched, were carrying
bundles of firewood half as big as their own bodies.
Near Fuentes we saw a large flock of guinea-fowl—pro-
bably fifty or sixty in number. They were extremely wary,
Bo
4 ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS. Jan. 1832.
and could not be approached. They avoided us, like par-
tridges on a rainy day in September, running with their
heads cocked up ; and if pursued, they readily took to the
wing.
The scenery of St. Domingo possesses a beauty totally
unexpected, from the prevalent gloomy character of the rest
of the island. The village is situated at the bottom of a
valley, bounded by lofty and jagged walls of stratified lava.
The black rocks afford a most striking contrast with the
bright green vegetation, which follows the banks of a little
stream of clear water. It happened to be a grand feast-day,
and the village was full of people. On our return we over-
took a party of about twenty young black girls, dressed in
most excellent taste; their black skins and snow-white linen
being set off by their coloured turbans and large shawls. As
soon as we approached near, they suddenly all turned round,
and covering the path with their shawls, sung with great
energy a wild song, beating time with their hands upon their
legs. We threw them some vintems, which were received
with screams of laughter, and we left them redoubling the
noise of their song.
It has already been remarked, that the atmosphere is
generally very hazy; this appears chiefly due to an impal-
pable dust, which is constantly falling, even on vessels far
out at sea. The dust is of a brown colour, and under the
blowpipe easily fuses into a black enamel. It is produced,
as I believe, from the wear and tear of volcanic rocks,
and must come from the coast of Africa. One morning
the view was singularly clear; the distant mountains being
projected with the sharpest outline, on a heavy bank of
dark blue clouds. Judging from the appearance, and from
similar cases in England, I supposed that the air was satu-
rated with moisture. The fact, however, turned out quite
the contrary. The hygrometer gave a difference of 29.6
degrees, between the temperature of the air, and the point
at which dew was precipitated. This difference was nearly
double that which I had observed on the previous mornings.
Jan. 1832. GEOLOGY. 5
This unusual degree of atmospheric dryness was accompanied
by continual flashes of lightning. Is it not an uncommon
ease, thus to find a remarkable degree of aerial transparency
with such a state of weather ?
The geology of this island is the most interesting part of
its natural history. On entering the harbour, a perfectly
horizontal white band, in the face of the sea cliff, may be seen
running for some miles along the coast, and at the height of
about forty-five feet above the water. Upon examination,
this white stratum is found to consist of calcareous matter,
with numerous shells embedded, such as now exist on the
neighbouring coast. It rests on ancient volcanic rocks, and has
been covered by a stream of basalt, which must have entered
the sea, when the white shelly bed was lying at the bottom.
It is interesting to trace the changes, produced by the heat of
the overlying lava, on the friable mass. For a thickness of
several inches it 1s converted, in some parts, into a firm
stone, as hard as the best freestone; and the earthy matter,
originally mingled with the calcareous, has been separated into
little spots, thus leaving the limestone white and pure. In
other parts a highly crystalline marble has been formed, and
so perfect are the crystals of carbonate of lime, that they can
easily be measured by the reflecting goniometer. The change
is even more extraordinary, where the lime has been caught
up by the scoriaceous fragments of the lower surface of the
stream; for 1t is there converted into groups of beautifully
radiated fibres resembling arragonite. The beds of lava rise
in successive gently-sloping plains, towards the interior,
whence the deluges of melted stone originally proceeded.
Within historical times, no signs of volcanic activity have, I
believe, been manifested in any part of St. Jago. This state
of quiescence is, probably, owing to the neighbouring island
of Fogo being frequently in eruption. Even the form of a
crater can but rarely be discovered on the summits of any of
the red cindery hills; yet the more recent streams can be dis-
tinguished on the coast, forming a line of cliffs of less height,
but stretching out in advance of those belonging to an older
6 sT. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS. Jan. 1832.
series: the height of the cliff thus affording a rude measure
of the age. |
During our stay, I observed the habits of some marine
animals. ”
They feed by day, and do not wander far lobe their
burrows ; and if frightened they rush to them with a most
Sead gait. Except when running down hill, they can-
not move very fast; which appears chiefly owing to the
lateral position of their legs.
They are not at all timorous: when attentively watching
any one, they curl their tails, and raising themselves on their
front legs, nod their heads vertically, with a quick movement,
and try to look very fierce: but in reality they are not at all
so; if one just stamps the ground, down go their tails, and
off they shuffle as quickly as they can. J have frequently ob-
served small muscivorous lizards, when watching any thing,
nod their heads in precisely the same manner; but I do not
at all know for what purpose. If this Amblyrhyncusis held,
and plagued with a stick, it will bite it very severely; but I
caught many by the tail, and they never tried to bite me. If
two are placed on the ground and held together, they will
fight and bite each other till blood is drawn.
The individuals (and they are the greater number) which
inhabit the lower country, can scarcely taste a drop of water
Oct. 1835. TERRESTRIAL AMBLYRHYNCUS. 471
throughout the year; but they consume much of the succu-
lent cactus, the branches of which are occasionally broken
off by the wind. I have sometimes thrown a piece to two
or three when together; and it was amusing enough to see
each trying to sieze and carry it away in its mouth, like so
many hungry dogs with a bone. They eat very deliberately,
but do not chew their food. The little birds are aware how
harmless these creatures are: I have seen one of the thick-
billed finches picking at one end of a piece of cactus (which
is in request among all the animals of the lower region),
whilst a lizard was eating at the other; and afterwards the
little bird with the utmost indifference hopped on the back
of the reptile.
I opened the stomachs of several, and found them full of
vegetable fibres, and leaves of different trees, especially of a
species of acacia. In the upper region they live chiefly on
the acid and astringent berries of the guayavita, under which
trees I have seen these lizards and the huge tortoises feeding
together. To obtain the acacia-leaves, they crawl up the low
stunted trees ; and it is not uncommon to see one or a pair
quietly browsing, whilst seated on a branch several feet above
the ground.
The meat of these animals when cooked is white, and by
those whose stomachs rise above all prejudices, it is relished
as very good food. Humboldt has remarked that in inter-
tropical South America, all lizards which inhabit dry regions
are esteemed delicacies for the table. The inhabitants say,
that those inhabiting the damp region drink water, but
that the others do not travel up for it from the sterile
country like the tortoises. At the time of our visit, the
females had within their bodies numerous large elongated
eggs. ‘These they lay in their burrows, and the inhabitants
seek them for food.
These two species of Amblyrhyncus agree, as I have
already stated, in general structure, and in many of their
habits. Neither have that rapid movement, so characteristic
of true Lacerta and Iguana. They are both herbivorous,
472 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. Oct. 1835.
although the kind of vegetation consumed in each case is so
very different. Mr. Bell has given the name to the genus from
the shortness of the snout: indeed, the form of the mouth
may almost be compared to that of the tortoise. One is
tempted to suppose this is an adaptation to their herbivorous
appetites. It is very interesting thus to find a well-charac-
terized genus, having its aquatic and terrestrial species, be-
longing to so confined a portion of the world. The former
species is by far the most remarkable, because it is the only
existing Saurian, which can properly be said to be a maritime
animal. I should perhaps have mentioned earlier, that in
the whole archipelago, there is only one rill of fresh water
that reaches the coast; yet these reptiles frequent the sea-
beaches, and no other parts in all the islands. Moreover,
there is no existing lizard, as far as I am aware, excepting
this Amblyrhyncus, that feeds exclusively on aquatic pro-
ductions. If, however, we refer to epochs long past, we
shall find such habits common to several gigantic animals of
the Saurian race.
To conclude with the order of reptiles. Of snakes there are
several species, but all harmless. Of toads and frogs there
are none. I was surprised at this, considering how well the
temperate and damp woods in the elevated parts appeared
adapted for their habits. It recalled to my mind the sin-
gular statement made by Bory St. Vincent,* namely, that
none of this family are to be found on the volcanic islands
in the great oceans. There certainly appears to be some
foundatioa for this observation; which is the more remark-
able, when compared with the case of lizards, which are
generally among the earliest colonists of the smallest islet.
It may be asked, whether this is not owing to the different
facilities of transport through salt-water, of the eggs of the
latter protected by a calcareous coat, and of the slimy spawn
of the former ?
As I at first observed, these islands are not so remarkable
* Voyage aux quatre Iles d@ Afrique.
Oct. 1835. NUMBER OF REPTILES, 473
for the number of species of reptiles, as for that of indi-
viduals; when we remember the well-beaten paths made by
the many hundred great tortoises—the warrens of the ter-
restrial Amblyrhyncus—and the groups of the aquatic species
basking on the coast-rocks—we must admit that there is no
other quarter of the world, where this order replaces the her-
bivorous mammalia in so extraordinary a manner. It is
worthy of observation by the geologist (who will probably
refer back in his mind to the secondary periods, when the
Saurians were developed with dimensions, which at the
present day can be compared only to the cetaceous mam-
malia), that this archipelago, instead of possessing a humid
climate and rank vegetation, cannot be considered otherwise
than extremely arid, and for an equatorial region, remarkably
temperate.
To finish with the zoology : I took great pains in collecting
the insects, but I was surprised to find, even in the high and
damp region, how exceedingly few they were in number.
The forests of Tierra del Fuego are certainly much more
barren; but with that exception I never collected in so poor
acountry. In the lower and sterile land I took seven species
of Heteromera, and a few other insects; but in the fine
thriving woods towards the centre of the islands, although
I perseveringly swept under the bushes during all kinds of
weather, I obtained only a few minute Diptera and Hymen-
optera. Owing to this scarcity of insects, nearly all the
birds live in the lower country; and the part which any one
would have thought much the most favourable for them, is
frequented only by a few of the small tyrant-flycatchers. I
do not believe a single bird, excepting the water-rail, is con-
fined to the damp region. Mr. Waterhouse informs me that
nearly all the insects belong to European forms, and that
they do not by any means possess an equatorial character.
I did not take a single one of large size, or of bright colours.
This last observation applies equally to the birds and
flowers. It is worthy of remark, that the only land-bird
with bright colours, is that species of tyrant-flycatcher, which
AT4. GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. Oct. 1835.
seems to be a wanderer from the continent. Of shells,
there are a considerable number of land kinds, all of which,
I believe are confined to this archipelago. Even of marine
species, a large proportion were not known, before the col-
lection made by Mr. Cuming on these islands was brought
to England.
I will not here attempt to come to any definite conclu-
sions, as the species have not been accurately examined ;
but we may infer, that, with the exception of a few wanderers,
the organic beings found on this archipelago are peculiar to
it; and yet that their general form strongly partakes of an
American character. It would be impossible for any one
accustomed to the birds of Chile and La Plata to be placed
on these islands, and not to feel convinced that he was,
as far as the organic world. was concerned, on American
ground. ‘This similarity in type, between distant islands
and continents, while the species are distinct, has scarcely
been sufficiently noticed. The circumstance would be ex-
plained, according to the views of some authors, by saying
that the creative power had acted according to the same
law over a wide area.
It has been mentioned, that the inhabitants can distin-
guish the tortoises, according to the islands whence they are
brought. I was also informed that many of the islands
possess trees and plants which do not occur on the others.
For instance the berry-bearing tree, called Guyavita, which
is common on James Island, certainly 1s not found on Charles
Island, though appearing equally well fitted for it. Unfortu-
nately, I was not aware of these facts till my collection was
nearly completed: it never occurred to me, that the produc-
tions of islands only a few miies apart, and placed under the
same physical conditions, would be dissimilar. I therefore
did not attempt to make a series of specimens from the
separate islands. It is the fate of every voyager, when he
has just discovered what object in any place is more par-
ticularly worthy of his attention, to be hurried from it.
In the case of the mocking-bird, I ascertained (and have
Oct. 1835. TAMENESS OF BIRDS. 475
brought home the specimens) that one species (Orpheus
trifasciatus, Gould) is exclusively found in Charles Island;
a second (O. parvulus) on Albemarle Island; and a third
(O. melanotus) common to James and Chatham Islands.
The two last species are closely allied, but the first would
be considered by every naturalist as quite distinct. I
examined many specimens in the different islands, and in
each the respective kind was alone present. These birds
agree in general plumage, structure, and habits; so that
the different species replace each other in the economy of
the different islands. These species are not characterized
by the markings on the plumage alone, but likewise by the
size and form of the bill, and other differences. I have
stated, that in the thirteen species of ground-finches, a
nearly perfect gradation may be traced, from a beak extra-
ordinarily thick, to one so fine, that 1t may be compared to
that of a warbler. I very much suspect, that certain mem-
bers of the series are confined to different islands ; therefore,
if the collection had been made on any one island, it would
not have presented so perfect a gradation. It is clear, that
if several islands have each their peculiar species of the
same genera, when these are placed together, they will have a
wide range of character. But there is not space in this
work, to enter on this curious subject.
Before concluding my account of the zoology of these
islands, I must describe more in detail the tameness of the
birds. This disposition is common to all the terrestrial spe-
cies; namely, to the mocking-birds, the finches, sylvicole,
tyrant-flycatchers, doves, and hawks. There is not one
which will not approach sufficiently near to be killed with a
switch, and sometimes, as I have myself tried, with a cap
or hat. A gun is here almost superfluous; for with the
muzzle of one I pushed a hawk off the branch of a tree.
One day a mocking-bird alighted on the edge of a pitcher
(made of the shell of a tortoise), which I held in my hand
whilst lying down. It began very quietly to sip the water,
and allowed me to lift it with the vessel from the ground.
476 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. Oct. 1835.
I often tried, and very nearly succeeded, in catching these
birds by their legs. Formerly the birds appear to have
been even tamer than at present. Cowley* (in the year
1684) says that the “ Turtle-doves were so tame that they
would often alight upon our hats and arms, so as that we
could take them alive: they not fearing man, until such time
as some of Our company did fire at them, whereby they were
rendered more shy.” Dampiert (in the same year) also says
that a man in a morning’s walk might kill six or seven dozen
of these birds. At present, although certainly very tame,
they do not alight on people’s arms; nor do they suffer them-
selves to be killed in such numbers. It is surprising that
the change has not been greater; for these islands during the
last hundred and fifty years, have been frequently visited by
bucaniers and whalers ; and the sailors, wandering through
the woods in search of tortoises, always take delight in
knocking down the little birds.
These birds, although much persecuted, do not become
wild in a short time: in Charles Island, which had then been
colonized about six years, I saw a boy sitting by a well
with a switch in his hand, with which he killed the doves
and finches as they came to drink. He had already pro-
cured a little heap of them for his dinner; and he said he
had constantly been in the habit of waiting there for the
same purpose. We must conclude that the birds, not
having as yet learnt that man is a more dangerous animal
than the tortoise, or the amblyrhyncus, disregard us, in
the same manner as magpies in England do the cows and
horses grazing in the fields.
The Falkland Islands offer a second instance of this dispo-
sition among its birds. The extraordinary tameness of the
dark-coloured Furnartus has been remarked by Pernety,
Lesson, and other voyagers. It is not, however, peculiar
to that bird: the Caracara, snipe, upland and lowland
* Cowley’s Voyage, p. 10, in Dampier’s Collection of Voyages.
+ Dampier’s Voyage, vol. i., p. 103.
Oct. 1835. TAMENESS OF BIRDS. 477
goose, thrush, Emberiza, and even some true hawks, are
all more or less tame. Both hawks and foxes are present ;
and as the birds are so tame, we may infer that the absence
of all rapacious animals at the Galapagos, is not the cause of
their tameness there. The geese at the Falklands, by the
precaution they take in building on the islets, show that
they are aware of their danger from the foxes ; but they are
not by this rendered wild towards man. This tameness of the
birds, especially the waterfowl, is strongly contrasted with
the habits of the ‘same species in Tierra del Fuego, where
for ages past they have been persecuted by tie wild inha-
bitants. In the Falklands, the sportsman may sometimes
kill more of the upland geese in one day, than he is able to
carry home; whereas in Tierra del Fuego, it is nearly as
difficult to kill one, as it is in England of the common
wild species.
In the time of Pernety* (1763), all the birds appear to
have been much tamer than at present. Pernety states that
the Furnarius would almost perch on his finger ; and that with
a wand he killed ten in half an hour. At that period, the
birds must have been about as tame as they now are at the
Galapagos. They appear to have learnt caution more
quickly at the Falklands than at the latter place, and they
have had proportionate means of experience; for besides
frequent visits from vessels, the islands have been at inter-
vals colonized during the whole period.
Even formerly, when all the birds were so tame, by
Pernety’s account it was impossible to kill the black-
necked swan. It is rather an interesting fact, that this is a
bird of passage, and therefore brings with it the wisdom
learnt in foreign countries.
I have not met with any account of the /and birds being so
tame, in any other quarter of the world, as at the Galapagos
and Falkland Islands. And it may be observed that of the
few archipelagoes of any size, which when discovered were
* Pernety, Voyage aux Iles Malouines, vol. ii., p. 20.
ys yag p
478 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. Oct. 1835.
uninhabited by man, these two are among the most import-
ant. From the foregoing statements we may, I think, con-
clude; first, that the wildness of birds with regard to man, is
a particular instinct directed against ham, and not dependent
on any general degree of caution arising from other sources
of danger; secondly, that it is not acquired by them in a
short time, even when much persecuted; but that in the
course of successive generations it becomes hereditary. With
domesticated animals we are accustomed to see instincts
becoming hereditary ; but with those in a state of nature, it
is more rare to discover instances of such acquired know-
ledge. In regard to the wildness of birds towards men, there
is no other way of accounting for it. Few young birds in
England have been injured by man, yet all are afraid of
him: many individuals, on the other hand, both at the Gala-
pagos and at the Falklands, have been injured, but yet have
not learned that salutary dread. We may infer from these
facts, what havoc the introduction of any new beast of prey
must cause in a country, before the instincts of the aborigines
become adapted to the stranger’s craft or power.
479
CHAPTER XX.
Tahiti— Aspect—Vegetation on the slope of the mountains—View of
Eimeo—Excursion in the interior—Profound ravines—Succession of
waterfalls—Number of wild useful plants—-Temperance of inhabitants
—Their moral state—Parliament convened—New Zealand—Bay of
islands— Hippahs— Absence of all government—Excursion to Waimate
— Missionary establishment—English weeds now run wild— Waiomio—
Funeral service—Sail from New Zealand.
TAHITI AND NEW ZEALAND.
OcroBeR 20TH.—The survey of the Galapagos Archi-
pelago being concluded, a course was steered towards Tahiti ;
and we commenced our long passage of 3200 miles. In the
course of a few days we sailed out of the gloomy and clouded
region, which extends during the winter far from the coast of
South America. We then enjoyed bright and clear weather,
while running pleasantly along at the rate of 150 or 160 miles
a day before a steady trade-wind. ‘The temperature in this
more central part of the Pacific, is higher than near the
American shore. The thermometer in the poop cabin, both
by night and day, ranged between 80° and 83°, which to my
feelings was quite delightful; but with one degree higher,
the effect became oppressive. We passed through the
Dangerous or Low Archipelago, and saw several of those
most curious rings of land, just rising above the edge of the
water, which have been called Lagoon Islands. A long and
brilliantly-white beach is capped by a margin of green vege-
tation; and this strip appears on both hands rapidly to nar-
row away in the distance, and then sinks beneath the horizon.
From the mast-head a wide expanse of smooth water can be
seen within the annular margin of land. These low islands
bear no proportion to the vast ocean out of which they
abruptly rise; and it seems wonderful, that such weak in-
480 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
truders are not overwhelmed, by the all-powerful and never-
tiring waves of that great sea, miscalled the Pacific.
NoveEmMBER 15TH.—At daylight, Tahiti, an island which
must for ever remain as classical to the voyager in the South
Sea, was in view. At this distance the appearance was
not very inviting. The luxuriant vegetation of the lower
parts was not discernible, and as the clouds rolled past, the
wildest and most precipitous peaks showed themselves to-
wards the centre of the island. As soon as we came to an
anchor in Matavai Bay, we were surrounded by canoes.
This was our Sunday, but the Monday of Tahiti: if the
case had been reversed, we should uot have received a single
visit ; for the injunction not to launch a canoe on the sab-
bath is rigidly obeyed. After dinner we landed to enjoy all
the delights of the first impressions produced by a new
country, and that country the charming Tahiti. A crowd of
men, women, and children, was collected on the memorable
point Venus, ready to receive us with laughing, merry faces.
They marshalled us towards the house of Mr. Wilson, the
missionary of the district, who met us on the road, and gave
us a very friendly reception. After sitting a short time in
his house, we separated to walk about, but returned there in
the evening.
The land capable of cultivation is scarcely in any part
more than a fringe of low alluvial soil, accumulated round
the base of the mountains, and protected from the waves of
the sea by a coral reef, which encircles at a distance the
entire line of coast. The reef is broken in several parts so
that ships can pass through, and the lake of smooth water
within thus affords a safe harbour, as well as a channel for
the native canoes. The low land which comes down to the
beach of coral sand, is covered by the most beautiful pro-
ductions of the intertropical regions. In the midst of
bananas, orange, cocoa-nut, and breadfruit trees, spots are
cleared where yams, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, and pine-
apples, are cultivated. Even the brushwood is a fruit-tree,
namely, the guava, which from its abundance is as noxious
Nov. 1835. TAHITI. 451
asa weed. In Brazil I have often admired the contrast of
varied beauty in the banana, palm, and orange tree: here
we have in addition the bread-fruit, conspicuous from its
large, glossy, and deeply digitated leaf. It is admirable to
behold groves of a tree, sending forth its branches with
the force of an English oak, loaded with large and most
nutritious fruit. However little on most occasions utility
explains the delight received from any fine prospect, in this
case it cannot fail to enter as an element in the feeling.
The little winding paths, cool from the surrounding shade,
led to the scattered houses; and the owners of these every
where gave us a cheerful and most hospitable reception.
I was pleased with nothing so much as with the inhabi-
tants. There is a mildness in the expression of their counte-
nances, which at once banishes the idea of a savage; and an
intelligence, which shows they are advancing in civilization.
Their dress is as yet incongruous; no settled costume having
taken the place of the ancient one. But even in its present
state, it is far from being so ridiculous as it has been
described by travellers of a few years’ standing. Those
who can afford it wear a white shirt, and sometimes a
jacket, with a wrapper of coloured cotton round their
middles; thus making a short petticoat, like the chilipa of
the Gauchos. This dress appears so general with the chiefs,
that it will probably become the settled fashion. No one,
even to the queen, wears shoes or stockings; and only the
chiefs have a straw hat on their heads. The common
people, when working, keep the upper part of their bodies
uncovered; and it is then that the Tahitians are seen to
advantage. ‘They are very tall, broad-shouldered, athletic,
and with well-proportioned limbs. It has been somewhere
remarked, that it requires little habit to make a darker tint
of the skin more pleasing and natural, even to the eye of an
European, than his own colour. To see a white man bathing
by the side of a Tahitian, was like comparing a plant
bleached by the gardener’s art, with one growing in the
open fields. Most of the men are tattooed; and the orna-
VOL, III. ZC
482 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
ments follow the curvature of the body so gracefully, that
they have a very pleasing and elegant effect. One common
figure, varying only in its detail, branches somewhat like a
tuft of palm-leaves* from the line of the backbone, and
curls round each side. The simile may be a fanciful one,
but I thought the body of a man thus ornamented, was like
the trunk of a noble tree embraced by a delicate creeper.
Many of the older people had their feet covered with
small figures, placed in order so as to resemble a sock.
This fashion, however, is partly gone by, and has been
succeeded by others. Here, although each man must for
ever abide by the whim which reigned in his early days, yet
fashion is far from immutable. An old man has thus his
age for ever stamped cn his body, and he cannot assume the
airs of a young dandy. The women are also tattooed in the
same manner as the men, and very commonly on their
fingers. An unbecoming fashion in one respect is now
almost universal: it is that of cutting the hair, or rather
shaving it, from the upper part of the head, in a circular
form, so as to leave only an outer ring of hair. The
missionaries have tried to persuade the people to change
this habit: but it is the fashion, and that is sufficient
answer at Tahiti as well as at Paris. JI was much dis-
appointed in the personal appearance of the women; they
are far inferior in every respect to the men. The custom
of wearing a flower in the back of the head, or through a
small hole in each ear, is pretty; the flower is generally
either white or scarlet, and like the Camelia Japonica.
They wear also a sort of crown of woven cocoa-nut leaves,
as a shade to their eyes. The women appear to be in
greater want of some becoming costume, even than the
men.
Nearly all understand a little English ;—that is, they
know the names of common things, and by the aid of this,
* The similarity is not closer than between the capital of a Corinthian
column and a tuft of acanthus.
Novy. 1835. TAHITI. 483
together with signs, a lame sort of conversation could be
carried on. In returning in the evening to the boat, we
stopped to witness a very pretty scene; numbers of children
were playing on the beach, and had lighted bonfires, which
illuminated the placid sea and surrounding trees. Others,
in circles, were singing Tahitian verses. We seated our-
selves on the sand, and joined their party. The songs
were impromptu, and I believe related to our arrival: one
little girl sang a line, which the rest took up in parts,
forming a very pretty chorus. The whole scene made us
unequivocally aware that we were seated on the shores of an
island in the South Sea.
NovemBer 177rH.—This day is reckoned in the log-book
as Tuesday the 17th instead of Monday the 16th, owing to
our, so far successful, chase of the sun. Before breakfast
the ship was hemmed in by a flotilla of canoes, and when
the natives were allowed to come on board, I suppose their
numbers could not have been under two hundred. It was
the opinion of every one, that it would have been difficult
to have picked out an equal number from any other nation,
who would have given so little trouble. Every body
brought something for sale: shells were the main article of
trade. The Tahitians now fully understand the value of
money, and prefer it to old clothes or other articles. The
various coms, however, of English and Spanish denomination
puzzle them, and they never seemed to think the small
silver quite secure until changed into dollars. Some of
the chiefs have accumulated considerable sums of money.
One not long since offered eight hundred dollars (about
160 pounds sterling) for a small vessel; and frequently they
purchase whale-boats and horses, at the rate of from fifty
to a hundred dollars.
After breakfast I went on shore, and ascended the slope
of the nearest part of the mountain, to an elevation between
two and three thousand feet. The form of the land is
rather singular, and may be understood by explaining its
hypothetical origin. I believe the imterlor mountains once
Oo 72
a owt
*
484 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
stood as a smaller island in the sea; and that around their
steep flanks, streams of lava and beds of sediment were
accumulated under water, in a conical mass. This, after
being raised, has been cut by numerous profound ravines,
which all diverge from the common centre; the intervening
ridges being flat-topped, and belonging to one slope. Having
crossed the narrow girt of inhabited and fertile land, I
followed the line of one of these ridges; having on each
hand, very steep and smooth-sided valleys. The vegeta-
tion is singular, consisting almost exclusively of small dwarf
ferns, which, higher up, are mingled with coarse grass.
The appearance was not very dissimilar from that on some
of the Welsh hills; and this being so close above the
orchard of tropical plants on the coast, was very surprising.
At the highest point which I reached, trees again appeared.
Of these three zones of comparative luxuriance, the lower
one owes its moisture, and therefore fertility, to its extreme
flatness ; for being scarcely raised above the level of the sea,
the water, which it receives from the higher land, drains
away slowly. ‘The upper zone extends into a moister atmo-
sphere; whilst the intermediate part, not being benefited
by either of these advantages, is barren. The wood in the
upper part was very pretty; tree-ferns having replaced the
cocoa-nuts of the coast. It must not, however, be supposed
that these woods at all equal the forests of Brazil. In an
island, that vast number of productions which characterizes
a continent, cannot be expected to occur.
From the point which I attained, there was a good view
of the distant island of EKimeo, dependant on the same
sovereign with Tahiti. On the lofty and broken pinnacles,
white massive clouds were piled up, which formed an island
in the blue sky, as Eimeo itself did in the blue ocean.
The island, with the exception of one small gateway is
completely encircled by a reef. At this distance, a narrow
but well-defined line of brilliant white was alone visible,
where the waves first encountered the wall of coral. The
glassy water of the lagoon was included within this line;
Nov. 1835. TAHITI. 485
and out of it the mountains rose abruptly. The effect was
very pleasing, and might aptly be compared to a framed
engraving, where the frame represented the breakers, the
marginal paper the lagoon, and the drawing the island itself.
When in the evening I descended from the mountain, a
man, whom I had pleased with a trifling gift, met me,
bringing with him hot roasted bananas, a pine-apple, and
cocoa-nuts. After having walked under a burning sun, I
do not know any thing more delicious than the milk of a
young cocoa-nut. Pine-apples are here so abundant, that
the people eat them in the same wasteful manner as we
might turnips. They are of an excellent flavour,—perhaps
even better than those cultivated in England; and this I
believe is the highest compliment which can be paid to a
fruit, or indeed to any thing else. Before going on board
I went to Mr. Wilson, who interpreted to the Tahitian, who
had paid me so adroit an attention, that | wanted him
and another man to accompany me on a short excursion
into the mountains.
NoveMBER 18tH.—In the morning I came on shore
early, bringing with me some provisions in a bag, and two
blankets for myself and servant. These were lashed to
each end of a pole, and thus carried by my Tahitian com-
panions: from custom these men are able to walk for a
whole day, with as much as fifty pounds at each end. I
told my guides to provide themselves with food and
clothing: but for the latter, they said their skins were suf-
ficient, and for the former, that there was plenty of food
in the mountains. The line of march was the valley of
Tia-auru, in which the river flows that enters the sea by
Point Venus. This is one of the principal streams in the
island, and its source lies at the base of the loftiest pin-
nacles, which attain the elevation of about 7000 feet. The
whole island may be considered as one group of mountains,
so that the only way to penetrate the interior is to follow
up the valleys. Our road, at first, lay through the wood
which bordered each side of the river; and the glimpses
486 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
of the lofty central peaks, seen as through an avenue,
with here and there a waving cocoa-nut tree on one side,
were extremely picturesque. The valley soon began to
narrow, and the sides to grow lofty and more precipitous.
After having walked between three and four hours, we
found the width of the ravine scarcely exceeded that of the
bed of the stream. On each hand the walls were nearly
vertical; yet from the soft nature of the volcanic strata,
trees and a rank vegetation sprung from every projecting
ledge. These precipices must have been some thousand
feet high: and the whole formed a mountain gorge, far more
magnificent than any thing which I had ever before beheld.
Until the mid-day sun stood vertically over the ravine, the
air had felt cool and damp, but now it became very sultry.
Shaded by a ledge of rock, beneath a facade of columnar
lava, we ate our dinner. My guides had already procured
a dish of small fish and fresh-water prawns. ‘They carried
with them a small net stretched on a hoop; and where the
water was deep and in eddies, they dived, and like otters,
by their eyesight followed the fish into holes and corners,
and thus secured them.
The Tahitians have the dexterity of amphibious animals
in the water. An anecdote mentioned by Ellis shows how
much they feel at home in that element. When a horse
was landing for Pomarre in 1817, the slings broke, and it
fell into the water: immediately the natives jumped over-
board, and by their cries and vain efforts at assistance,
almost drowned the animal. As soon, however, as it
reached the shore, the whole population took to flight,
and tried to hide themselves from the man-carrying-pig, as
they christened the horse.
A little higher up, the river divided itself into three little
streams. The two northern ones were impracticable, owing
to a succession of waterfalls, which descended from the
jagged summit of the highest mountain; the other to all
appearance was equally inaccessible, but we managed to
ascend it by a most extraordinary road. The sides of
Nov. 1835. EXCURSION INTO THE MOUNTAINS. 487
the valley were here nearly precipitous; but, as frequently
happens with stratified rocks, small ledges projected, which
were thickly covered by wild bananas, liliaceous plants,
and other luxuriant productions of the tropics. The Ta-
hitians, by climbing amongst these ledges, searching for fruit,
had discovered a track by which the whole precipice could
be scaled. The first ascent from the valley was very danger-
ous: for it was necessary to pass the face of a naked rock,
by the aid of ropes, which we brought with us. How any
person discovered that this formidable spot was the only
point where the side of the mountain was practicable, I
cannot imagine. We then cautiously walked along one of
the ledges, till we came to the stream already alluded to.
This ledge formed a flat spot, above which a_ beautiful
cascade, of some hundred feet, poured down its waters, and
beneath it another high one emptied itself into the main
stream. rom this cool and shady recess, we made a
circuit to avoid the overhanging cascade. As before, we
followed little projecting ledges, the apparent danger being
partly hidden by the thickness of the vegetation. In pass-
ing from one of the ledges to another, there was a vertical
wall of rock. One of the Tahitians, a fine active man,
placed the trunk of a tree against this, climbed up it, and
then by the aid of crevices reached the summit. He fixed
the ropes to a projecting point, and lowered them for us,
then hauled up a dog which accompanied us, and lastly
our luggage. Beneath the ledge on which the dead tree
was placed the precipice must have been five or six hundred
feet deep; and if the abyss had not been partly concealed
by the overhanging ferns and lilies, my head would have
turned giddy, and nothing should have induced me to have
attempted it. We continued to ascend sometimes along
ledges, and sometimes along knife-edged ridges, having on
each hand profound ravines. In the Cordillera, I have seen
mountains on a far grander scale, but for abruptness, no
part of them at all comparable to this. In the evening we
reached a flat little spot on the banks of the same stream,
488 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
which I have mentioned as descending by a chain of water-
falls. Here we bivouacked for the night. On each side of
the ravine there were great beds of the Feyé, or mountain-
banana, covered with ripe fruit. Many of these plants were
from twenty to twenty-five feet high, and from three to
four in circumference. By the aid of strips of bark for
twine, the stems of bamboos for rafters, and the large leaf
of the banana for a thatch, the Tahitians in a few minutes
built an excellent house; and with the withered leaves
made a soft bed.
They then proceeded to make a fire, and cook our even-
ing meal. A light was procured by rubbing a blunt-pointed
stick in a groove made in another (as if with the intention
of deepening it), until by friction the dust became ignited.
A peculiarly white and very light wood (the Hoebzscus
tiliaceus) is alone used for this purpose: it is the same
which: serves for poles to carry any burden, and for the
floating outrigger to steady the canoe. The fire was pro-
duced in a few seconds: but, to a person who does not
understand the art, it requires the greatest exertion; as I
found, before at last, to my great pride, I succeeded in
igniting the dust. The Gaucho in the Pampas uses a
different method: taking an elastic stick about eighteen
inches long, he presses one end on his breast, and the other
(which is pointed) in a hole in a piece of wood, and then
rapidly turns the curved part, like a carpenter’s centre-bit.
The Tahitians having made a small fire of sticks, placed a
score of stones, of about the size of cricket-balls, on the
burning wood. In about ten minutes’ time the sticks were
consumed and the stones hot. They had previously folded
up in small parcels of leaves, pieces of beef, fish, ripe and
unripe bananas, and the tops of the wild arum. These green
parcels were laid in a layer between two layers of the
hot stones, and the whole then covered up with earth, so
that no smoke or steam could escape. In about a quarter
of an hour, the whole was most deliciously cooked. The
choice green parcels were now laid on a cloth of banana-
Nov. 1835. EXCURSION INTO THE MCUNTAINS. 489
leaves, and with a cocoa-nut shell we drank the cool water
of the running stream; and thus we enjoyed our rustic
meal.
I could not look on the surrounding plants without admira-
tion. On every side were forests of banana; the fruit of
which, though serving for food in various ways, lay in heaps
decaying on the ground. In front of us there was an
extensive brake of wild sugar-cane; and the stream was
shaded by the dark green knotted stem of the Ava,—so
famous in former days for its powerful intoxicating effects.
I chewed a piece, and found that it had an acrid and
unpleasant taste, which would have induced any one at
once to have pronounced it poisonous. Thanks be to the
missionaries, this plant now thrives only in these deep
ravines, innocuous to every one. Close by I saw the wild
arum, the roots of which, when well baked, are good to
eat, and the young leaves better than spinach. There was
the wild yam, and a liliaceous plant called Ti, which grows
in abundance, and has a soft brown root, in shape and size
like a huge log of wood. ‘This served us for dessert, for it is
as sweet as treacle, and with a pleasant taste. There were,
moreover, several other wild fruits, and useful vegetables.
The little stream, besides its cool water, produced eels and
cray-fish. I did indeed admire this scene, when I compared
it with an uncultivated one in the temperate zones. I felt
the force of the observation, that man, at least savage man,
with his reasoning powers only partly developed, is the
child of the tropics.
As the evening drew to a close, I strolled beneath the
gloomy shade of the bananas up the course of the stream.
My walk was soon brought to a close, by coming to a water-
fall between two and three hundred feet high; and again
above this there was another. I mention all these waterfalls
in this one brook, to give a general idea of the inclination of
the land. In the little recess where the water fell, it did not
appear that a breath of wind had ever entered. The leaves
of the banana, damp with spray, possessed an unbroken edge,
490 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
instead of being split, as generally is the case, into a thousand
shreds. From our position, almost suspended on the
mountain-side, there were glimpses into the depths of the
neighbouring valleys; and the lofty points of the central
mountains, towering up within sixty degrees of the zenith,
hid half the evening sky. Thus seated, it was a sublime
spectacle to watch the shades of night gradually obscuring
the last and highest pinnacles.
Before we laid ourselves down to sleep, the elder Tahitian
fell on his knees, and with closed eyes repeated a long prayer
in his native tongue. He prayed as a Christian should do,
with fitting reverence, and without the fear of ridicule or any
ostentation of piety. At our meals neither of the men would
taste food, without saying beforehand a short grace. Those
travellers, who think that a Tahitian prays only when the
eyes of the missionary are fixed on him, should have slept
with us that night on the mountain-side. Before morning
it rained very heavily; but the good thatch of banana-leaves
kept us dry.
NovemBer 19ru.— At daylight my friends, after their
morning prayer, prepared an excellent breakfast in the same
manner as in the evening. ‘They themselves certainly par-
took of it largely; indeed I never saw any men eat nearly so
much. I should suppose such capacious stomachs must be
the result of a large part of their diet consisting of fruit and
vegetables, which contain, in a given bulk, a comparatively
small portion of nutriment. Unwittingly, I was the means of
my companions breaking (as I afterwards learned) one of their
own laws and resolutions. I took with me a flask of spirits,
which they could, not resolve to refuse; but as often as they
drank a little, they put their fingers before their mouths, and
uttered the word “ Missionary.” About two years ago,
although the use of the ava was prevented, drunkenness from
the introduction of spirits became very prevalent. The mis-
sionaries prevailed on a few good men, who saw their country
rapidly going to ruin, to join with them in a Temperance
Society. From good sense or shame all the chiefs and the
Nov. 1835. TEMPERANCE OF INHABITANTS. 491
queen were at last persuaded to joinit. Immediately alaw was
passed, that no spirits should be allowed to be introduced into
the island, and that he who sold and he who bought the for-
bidden article, should be punished by a fine. With remark-
able justice, a certain period was allowed for stock in hand to
be sold, before the law came into effect. But when it did,a
general search was made in which even the houses of the
missionaries were not exempted, and all the ava (as the
natives call all ardent spirits) was poured on the ground.
When one reflects on the effect of intemperance on the abo-
rigines of the two Americas, I think it will be acknowledged,
that every well-wisher of Tahiti owes no common debt of
gratitude to the missionaries. As long as the little island of
St. Helena remained under the government of the East India
Company, spirits, owing to the great injury they had pro-
duced, were not allowed to be imported; but wine was sup-
plied from the Cape of Good Hope. It is rather a striking,
and not very gratifying fact, that in the same year that spirits
were allowed to be sold on that island, their use was banished
from Tahiti by the free will of the people.
After breakfast we proceeded on our journey. As my
object was merely to see a little of the interior scenery, we
returned by another track, which descended into the main
valley lower down. For some distance we wound, by a most
intricate path, along the side of the mountain which formed
the valley. In the less precipitous parts we passed through
extensive groves of the wild banana. The Tahitians, with
their naked, tattooed bodies, their heads ornamented with
flowers, and seen in the dark shade of the woods, would have
formed a fine picture of man, inhabiting some primeval
forest. In our descent we followed the line of ridges; these
were exceedingly narrow, and for considerable lengths steep
as a ladder; but all clothed with vegetation. The extreme
care necessary in poising each step rendered the walk
fatiguing. I am never weary of expressing my astonish-
ment at these ravines and precipices: the mountains may
almost be described, as rent by so many crevices. When
492 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
viewing the surrounding country from the knife-edged ridges,
the point of support was so small, that the effect was
nearly the same, I should think, as from a balloon. In
this descent we had occasion to use the ropes only once, at
the point where we entered the main valley. We slept under
the same ledge of rock, where, the day before, we had dined:
the night was fine, but from the depth and narrowness of the
gorge, profoundly dark.
Before actually seeing this country, I had difficulty in
understanding two facts mentioned by Ellis; namely, that
after the murderous battles of former times, the survivors on
the conquered side retired into the mountains, where a
handful of men could resist a multitude. Certainly half-a-
dozen men, at the spot where the Tahitian reared the old
tree, could easily have repulsed thousands. Secondly, that
after the introduction of Christianity, there were wild men
who lived in the mountains, and whose retreats were un-
known to the more civilized inhabitants.
NovEeMBER 20TH.—In the morning we started early, and
reached Matavai at noon. On the road we met a large
party of noble athletic men, going for wild bananas. I found
that the ship, on account of the difficulty in watering, had
moved to the harbour of Papawa, to which place I imme-
diately walked. This is a very pretty spot. The cove is
surrounded by reefs, and the water as smooth as that in a
lake. The cultivated ground, with all its beautiful pro-
ductions, and the cottages, comes close down to the water’s
edge. |
From the varying accounts which I had read before reach-
ing these islands, I was very anxious to form, from my own
observation, a judgment of their moral state—although such
judgment would necessarily be very imperfect. A first
impression at all times very much depends on one’s pre-
viously-acquired ideas. My notions were drawn from Ellis’s
“Polynesian Researches’—an admirable and most inte-
resting work, but naturally looking at every thing under
a favourable point of view; from Beechey’s Voyage; and
Nov. 1835. TAHITI. 493
from that of Kotzebue, which is strongly adverse to the
whole missionary system. He who compares these three
accounts, will, I think, form a tolerably accurate conception
of the present state of Tahiti. One of my impressions,
which I took from the two last authorities, was decidedly
incorrect; viz., that the Tahitians had become a gloomy race,
and lived in fear of the missionaries. Of the latter feeling I
saw no trace, unless, indeed, fear and respect be confounded
under one name. Instead of discontent being a common
feeling, it would be difficult in Europe to pick out of a crowd
half so many merry and happy faces. The prohibition of
the flute and dancing is inveighed against as wrong and
foolish ;—the more than presbyterian manner of keeping the
sabbath, is looked at in a similar light. On these points I
will not pretend to offer any opinion in opposition to men
who have resided as many years as | was days on the island.
On the whole it appears to me, that the morality and
religion of the inhabitants is highly creditable. There are
many who attack, even more acrimoniously than Kotzebue,
both the missionaries, their system, and the effects produced
by it. Such reasoners never compare the present state with
that of the island only twenty years ago; nor even with that
of Europe at this day; but they compare it with the high
standard of Gospel perfection. ‘They expect the missionaries
to effect that, which the Apostles themselves failed to do.
In as much as the condition of the people falls short of this
high order, blame is attached to the missionary, instead of
credit for that which he has effected. They forget, or will not
remember, that human sacrifices, and the power of an idola-
trous priesthood—a system of profligacy unparalleled in the
world, and infanticide a consequence on that system—bloody
wars, where the conquerors spared neither women nor chil-
dren — that all these have been abolished; and that dis-
honesty, intemperance, and licentiousness have been greatly
reduced by the introduction of Christianity. Ina voyager
to forget these things is base ingratitude; for should he
chance to be at the point of shipwreck on some unknown
494 TAHITI. Nov. 1835.
coast, he will most devoutly pray that the lesson of the
missionary may be found to have extended thus far.
In point of morality the virtue of the women, it has been
often said, is most open to exception. But before they are.
blamed too severely, it will be well distinctly to call to mind the
scenes described by Captain Cook and Mr. Banks, in which
the grandmothers and mothers of the present race played a
part. Those who are most severe, should consider how much
of the morality of the women in Europe is owing to the
system early impressed by mothers on their daughters, and
how much in each individual case to the precepts of religion.
But it is useless to argue against such reasoners:—I believe
that disappointed in not finding the field of licentiousness
quite so open as formerly, they will not give credit to a
morality which they do not wish to practice, or to a religion
which they undervalue, if not despise.
SunpDAy 22p.—The harbour of Papiete, which may be
considered as the capital of the island, is about seven miles
distant from Matavai, to which point the Beagle had returned.
The queen resides there, and it is the seat of government,
and the chief resort of shipping. Captain FitzRoy took a
party there to hear divine service, first in the Tahitian lan-
guage, and afterwards in our own. Mr. Pritchard, the lead-
ing missionary in the island, performed the service, which
was a most interesting spectacle. The chapel consisted of a
large airy framework of wood; and it was filled to excess by
tidy, clean people, of all ages and both sexes. I was rather
disappointed in the apparent degree of attention; but I be-
lieve my expectations were raised too high. At all events
the appearance was quite equal to that in a country church in
England. The singing of the hymns was decidedly very
pleasing ; but the language from the pulpit, although fluently
delivered, did not sound well. A constant repetition of
words, like “tata ta, mata mai,” rendered it monotonous.
After English service, a party returned on foot to Matavai.
It was a pleasant walk, sometimes along the sea-beach and
sometimes under the shade of the many beautiful trees.
Nov. 1835. TAHITIAN PARLIAMENT. 495
About two years ago, a small vessel under English colours
was plundered by the inhabitants of the Low Islands, which
were then under the dominion of the Queen of Tahiti. It
was believed that the perpetrators were instigated to this
act by some indiscreet laws issued by her majesty. The
British government demanded compensation ; which was
acceded to, and a sum of nearly three thousand dollars was
agreed to be paid on the first of last September. The com-
modore at Lima ordered Captain FitzRoy, to inquire con-
cerning this debt, and to demand satisfaction if it were not
paid. Captain FitzRoy accordingly requested an interview
with the queen: and a parliament was held to consider the
question; at which all the principal chiefs of the island and
the queen were assembled. I will not attempt to describe
what took place, after the interesting account given by
Captain FitzRoy. ‘The money it appeared had not been
paid. Perhaps the alleged reasons for the failure were
rather equivocating: but otherwise I cannot sufficiently ex-
press our general surprise, at the extreme good sense, the
reasoning powers, moderation, candour, and prompt resolu-
tion, which were displayed on all sides. I believe every one
of us left the meeting with a very different opinion of the
Tahitians, from that which we entertained when entering.
The chiefs and people resolved to subscribe and complete
the sum which was wanting: Captain FitzRoy urged that it
was hard that their private property should be sacrificed for
the crimes of distant islanders. ‘They replied, that they were
grateful for his consideration, but that Pomarre was their
Queen, and they were determined to help her in this her
difficulty. This resolution and its prompt execution (for a
book was opened early the next morning), made a perfect
conclusion to this very remarkable scene of loyalty and good
feeling.
After the main discussion was ended, several of the chiefs
took the opportunity of asking Captain FitzRoy many intel-
ligent questions, concerning international customs and laws.
These related to the treatment of ships and foreigners. On
496 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
some points, as soon as the decision was made, the law was
issued verbally on the spot. This Tahitian parliament lasted
for several hours; and when it was over Captain FitzRoy
invited the queen to pay the Beagle a visit.
NoveMBER 26TH.—In the evening, with a gentle land-
breeze, a course was steered for New Zealand, and as the
sun set we took a farewell look at the mountains of Tahiti,—
the island to which every voyager has offered up his tribute of
admiration.
DeEcEMBER 19TH.—In the evening we saw New Zealand
in the distance. We may now consider ourselves as having
nearly crossed the Pacific ocean. It is necessary to sail over
this great sea to understand its immensity. Moving quickly
onwards for weeks together we meet with nothing, but the
same blue, profoundly deep, ocean. Even within the Archi-
pelagoes, the islands are mere specks, and far distant one
from the other. Accustomed to look at maps, drawn on a
small scale, where dots, shading, and names are crowded
together, we do not judge rightly how infinitely small the
proportion of dry land is to the water of this great sea. The
meridian of the Antipodes likewise has now been passed ;
and every league, thanks to our good fortune, which we
travel onwards, is one league nearer to England. These
Antipodes call to mind old recollections of childish doubt and
wonder. Only the other day, I looked forward to this airy
barrier, as a definite point in our voyage homewards ; but now
I find it, and all such resting-places for the imagination, are like
shadows which a man moving onwards cannot catch. A gale
of wind, which lasted for some days, has lately given us time
and inclination to measure the future stages in our long
voyage, and to wish most earnestly for its termination.
DrEcEMBER 21stT.—Larly in the morning we entered the
Bay of Islands, and being becalmed for some hours near the
mouth, we did not reach the anchorage till the middle of the
day. The country is hilly, but with a smooth outline; and
it is deeply intersected by numerous arms, extending from
the bay. The surface appears from a distance, as if clothed
Dec. 1835. BAY OF ISLANDS. 497
with coarse pasture, but this in truth is nothing but fern.
On the more distant hills, as well as in patches in some of
the valleys, there is a good deal of wood-land. The general
tint of the landscape is not a bright green; and it resembles
the country a short distance to the southward of Con-
cepcion in Chile. In several parts of the bay, little villages
of square tidy-looking houses were scattered close down
to the water’s edge. Three whaling ships were lying at
anchor ; but with the exception of these, and of a few canoes,
now and then crossing from one shore to the other, an air of
extreme quietness reigned over the whole district. Only a
single canoe came alongside. This, and the aspect of the
whole scene, afforded a remarkable, and not very pleasing
contrast, with our joyfu! and boisterous welcome at Tahiti.
In the afternoon we went on shore to one of the larger
groups of houses, which yet hardly deserves the title of a vil-
lage. Its name is Pahia: it is the residence of the mis-
sionaries; and with the exception of their servants and
labourers, there are no native residents. Inthe vicinity of
the Bay of Islands, the number of Englishmen, including
their families, amounts to between two and three hundred.
All the cottages, many of which are white washed, and look
as I have said very neat, are the property of the English.
The hovels of the natives are so diminutive and paltry, that
they can scarcely be perceived from any distance. At Pahia,
it was quite pleasing to behold the English flowers in the
platforms before the houses; there were roses of several
kinds, honeysuckle, jasmine, stocks, and whole hedges cf
sweetbriar.
DecremBeER 22p.—In the morning I went out walking;
but I soon found, that the country was very impracticable.
All the hills are thickly covered by tall fern, together with a
low bush which grows like a cypress; and very little ground
has been cleared or cultivated in this neighbourhood. I then
tried the sea-beach; but proceeding towards either hand,
my walk was soon stopped short, by creeks and deep streams
of fresh water. The communication between the inhabitants
VOL. III. 2K
498 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
of the different parts of the bay, is (as in Chiloe) almost
entirely kept up by boats. I was surprised to find that
almost every hill, which I ascended, had been at some former
time more or less fortified. The summits were cut into steps
or successive terraces, and they had been frequently pro-
tected by deep trenches. I afterwards observed that the
principal hills inland, in hke manner showed an artificial out-
line. These are the Pas, so frequently mentioned by Captain
Cook under the name of “ hippah”; the difference of sound
being owing to the prefixed article.
That the Pas had formerly been used, was evident from
the piles of shells, and the pits in which, as 1 was informed,
sweet potatoes were kept as reserved provisions. As there
was no water on these hills, the defenders could never have
anticipated a long siege, but only a hurried attack for plunder ;
under which circumstances the successive terraces would
have afforded good protection. ‘The general introduction of
fire-arms has changed the whole system of warfare; and an
exposed situation on the top of a hill would now be worse
than useless. ‘The Pas in consequence, is at the present day,
always built on a level piece of ground. It consists of a
double stockade of thick and tall posts, placed in a zigzag
- line, so that every part can be flanked. Within the stockade
a mound of earth is thrown up, behind which the defenders
can rest in safety, or use their fire-arms over it. On the
level of the ground, little archways sometimes pass through
this breastwork, by which means the defenders can crawl
out to the stockade, to reconnoitre their enemies. The Rev.
W. Williams, who gave me this account, added, that in one
Pas he had noticed spurs or buttresses projecting from the
inside of the mound of earth. On asking the chief the use
of them, he replied, that if two or three of his men should
be shot their neighbours would not see the bodies, and so
be discouraged.
These Pases are considered by the New Zealanders as very
perfect means of defence: for the attacking force is never
so well disciplined as to rush in a body to the stockade. cut
Dec. 1835. NEW ZEALAND. 499
it down, and effect their entry. When a tribe goes to war,
the chief cannot order one party to go here, and another
there; but every man fights in the manner which best pleases
himself; and for individuals to approach a stockade defended
by fire-arms, must appear certain death. I should think
a more warlike race of inhabitants could not be found in
any part of the world, than the New Zealanders. Their
conduct on first seeing a ship, as described by Captain
Cook, strongly illustrates this: the act of throwing volleys
of stones at so great and novel an object, and their de-
fiance, of “ Come on shore and we will kill and eat you
all,’ shows uncommon boldness. ‘his warlike spirit is
evident in many of their customs, and even in their smallest
actions. Ifa New Zealander is struck, although but in joke,
the blow must be returned; and of this I saw an instance
with one of our officers.
At the present day, from the progress of civilization, there
is much less warfare. When Europeans first traded here,
muskets and ammunition far exceeded in value any other
article: now they are in little request, and are indeed often
offered for sale. Among some of the southern tribes, how-
ever, there is still much hostility. I heard a characteristic
anecdote of what took place there some time ago. A mis-
sionary found a chief and his tribe in preparation for war ;—
their muskets clean and bright, and their ammunition ready.
He reasoned long on the inutility of the war, and the little
provocation which had been given for it. The chief was much
shaken in his resolution, and seemed in doubt: but at
length it occurred to him, that a barrel of his gunpowder
was ina bad state, and that it would not keep much longer.
This was brought forward as an unanswerable argument
for the necessity of immediately declaring war: the idea
of allowing so much good gunpowder to spoil was not to be
thought of; and this settled the point.
I was told by the missionaries, that in the life of Shongi,
the chief who visited England, the love of war was the one
and lasting spring of every action. The tribe in which he
2k 2
500 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
was a principal chief, had at one time been much oppressed,
by another from the Thames river. A solemn oath was taken
by the men, that when their boys should grow up, and they
should be powerful enough, they would never forget or for-
give these injuries. To fulfil this appears to have been
Shongi’s chief motive for going to England ; and when there
it was his sole object. Presents were valued only as they
could be converted into arms; of the arts, those alone were
interesting, which were concerned with the manufacture of
arms. When at Sydney, Shongi, by a strange coincidence,
met the hostile chief of the Thames river at the house of. Mr.
Marsden: their conduct was civil to each other; but Shongi
told him, that when again in New Zealand he would never
cease to carry war into his country. The challenge was
accepted ; and Shongi on his return fulfilled the threat to the
utmost letter. The tribe on the Thames river was utterly
overthrown, and the chief to whom the challenge had been
given, was himself killed. Shongi, although harbouring such
deep feelings of hatred and revenge, is described as having
been a goodnatured person. -
In the evening I went with Captain FitzRoy, and Mr.
Baker, one of the missionaries, to pay a visit to Kororadika.
This is the largest village, and will one day, no doubt increase
till it becomes the chief town: besides a considerable native
population, there are many English residents. These latter are
men of the most worthless character: and among them are many
runaway convicts from New South Wales. There are many
spirit-shops; and the whole population is addicted to drunk-
enness and all kinds of vice. As this is the capital, a person
would be inclined to form his opinion of the New Zealanders
from what he here saw ; but in this case his estimate of their
character would be too low. This little village is the very
stronghold of vice. Although many tribes in other parts
have embraced Christianity, here the greater part yet remain
in heathenism. In such places the missionaries are held in
little esteem: but they complain far more of the conduct of
their countrymen, than of that of the natives. It is strange,
Dec. 1835. NEW ZEALAND. 501
but I have heard these worthy men say, that the only pro-
tection which they need, and on which they rely, is from the
native chiefs against Englishmen.
We wandered about the village, and saw and conversed
with many of the people, both men, women, and children.
Looking at the New Zealander, one naturally compares him
with the Tahitian; both belonging to the same family of
mankind. The comparison, however, tells heavily against
the New Zealander. He may, perhaps, be superior in
energy, but in every other respect, his character is of
a much lower order. One glance at their respective expres-
sions, brings conviction to the mind, that one is a savage, the
other a civilized man. It would be vain to seek in the whole
of New Zealand, a person with the face and mien of the old
Tahitian chief, Utamme. No doubt the extraordinary man-
ner in which tattooing is here practised, gives a disagreeable
expression to their countenances. The complicated but
symmetrical figures covering the whole face, puzzle and mis-
lead an unaccustomed eye: it is moreover probable, that the
deep incisions, by destroying the play of the superficial
muscles, give an air of rigid inflexibility. But besides this,
there is a twinkling in the eye, which cannot indicate any
thing but cunning and ferocity. Their figures are tall and
bulky; but in elegance are not comparable with those of the
working classes in Tahiti.
Both their persons and houses are filthily dirty and offen-
sive: the idea of washing either their bodies or their clothes
never seems to enter their heads. I saw a chief, who was
wearing a shirt black and matted with filth; and when asked
how it came to be so dirty, he replied, with surprise, “ Do
not you see it is an old one?” Some of the men have shirts ;
but the common dress 1s one or two large blankets, generally
black with dirt, which are thrown over their shoulders in a
very inconvenient and awkward fashion. A few of the prin-
cipal chiefs have decent suits of English clothes; but these
are only worn on great occasions.
Considering the number of foreigners residing in New
502 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
Zealand, and the amount of commerce carried on there, the
state of government of the country is most remarkable. It
is, however, incorrect to use the term government, where
absolutely no such thing exists. The land is divided, by
well-determined boundaries, between various tribes, inde-
pendent of each other. The individuals in each tribe con-
sist of freemen, and slaves taken in war; and the land is
common to all the free born; that is, each may occupy and
till any part that is vacant. In a sale, therefore, of land,
every such person must receive part payment. Among the
freemen, there will always be some one, who from riches,
from talents, or from descent from some noted character,
will take the lead ; and in this respect he may be considered
as the chief. But if the united tribe should be asked, who
was their chief, no one would be acknowledged. Without
doubt, in many cases, individuals have obtained great in-
fluence; but as far as I can understand the system, their
power is not legitimate. Even the authority of a master over
his slave, or a parent over his child, appears to be regu-
lated by no kind of ordinary custom. Proper laws of course
are quite unknown: certain lines of action are generally
considered right, and others wrong: if such customs are
infringed, the injured person and his tribe, if they have
power, seek retribution; if not, they treasure up the recol-
lection of the injury till the day of revenge arrives. If the
state in which the Fuegians live should be fixed at zero
in the scale of government, I am afraid New Zealand would
rank but a few degrees higher ; while Tahiti, even when first
discovered, would have occupied a respectable position.
DreceMBER 23p.—At a place called Waimate, about
fifteen miles from the Bay of Islands, and midway between
the eastern and western coasts, the missionaries have pur-
chased some land for agricultural purposes. I had been in-
troduced to the Rev. W. Williams, who, upon my expressing
the wish, invited me to pay him a visit there. Mr. Bushby,
the British Resident, offered to take me in his boat bya creek,
where I should see a pretty waterfall, and by which means my
Dec. 1835. NEW ZEALAND. 503
walk would be shortened. He likewise procured for mea guide.
Upon asking a neighbouring chief to recommend a man, the
chief himself offered to go; but his ignorance of the value of
money was so complete, that at first he asked how many
pounds I would give him; but, afterwards was well contented
with two dollars. When I showed the chief avery small
bundle, which I wanted carried, it became absolutely neces-
sary to take a slave for that purpose. These feelings of pride
are beginning to wear away; but formerly a leading man
would sooner have died than undergone the indignity of
carrying the smallest burden. My companion was a light
active man, dressed in a dirty blanket, and with his face com-
pletely tattooed. He had formerly been a great warrior. He
appeared to be on very cordial terms with Mr. Bushby; but
at various times they had quarrelled violently. Mr. Bushby
remarked that a little quiet irony would frequently silence
any one of these natives in their most blustering moments.
This chief has come and harangued Mr. Bushby in a hector-
ing manner, saying, “ A great chief, a great man, a friend of
mine, has come to pay me a visit—you must give him some-
thing good to eat, some fine presents, &c.” Mr. Bushby has
allowed him to finish his discourse, and then has quietly re-
plied by some such answer as, “ What else shall your slave
do for you?” The man would then instantly, with a very
comical expression, cease his braggadocio.
Some time ago, Mr. Bushby suffered a far more serious
attack. A chief and a party of men tried to break into his
house in the middle of the night, and not finding this so
easy, commenced a brisk firing with their muskets. Mr.
Bushby was slightly wounded; but the party was at length
driven away. Shortly afterwards it was discovered who
was the aggressor; and a general meeting of the chiefs was
convened to consider the case. It was considered by the
New Zealanders as very atrocious, inasmuch as it was a
night attack, and that Mrs. Bushby was lying ill in the house:
this latter circumstance, much to their honour, being con-
504. NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
sidered in all cases as a protection. The chiefs agreed to
confiscate the land of the aggressor to the King of England.
The whole proceeding, however, in thus trying and punishing
a chief was entirely without precedent. The aggressor,
moreover, lost cast in the estimation of his equals; and this
was considered by the British as of more consequence, than
the confiscation of his land.
As the boat was shoving off, a second chief stepped into her,
who only wanted the amusement of the passage up and down
the creek. I never saw a more horrid and ferocious expres-
sion, than this man had. It immediately struck me, I had
somewhere seen his likeness: it will be found in Retzsch’s
outlines to Schiller’s ballad of Fridolin, where two men are
pushing Robert into the burning iron furnace. It is the
man who has his arm on Robert’s breast. Physiognomy
here spoke the truth; this chief had been a notorious mur-
derer, and was to boot an arrant coward. At the point
where the boat landed, Mr. Bushby accompanied me a few
hundred yards on the road: I could not help admiring the
cool impudence of the hoary old villain, whom we left lying
in the boat, when he shouted to Mr. Bushby, “ Do not you
stay long, I shall be tired of waiting here.”
We now commenced our walk. The road lay along a well-
beaten path, bordered on each side by the tall fern, which
covers the whole country. After travelling some miles, we
came to a little country village, where a few hovels were col-
lected together, and some patches of ground cultivated for
potato crops. The introduction of the potato, has been
the most essential benefit to the island; itis now much more
used, than any native vegetable. New Zealand is favoured
by one great natural advantage; namely, that the inhabitants
can never perish from famine. The whole country abounds
with fern; and the roots of this plant, if not very palatable,
yet contain much nutriment. A native can always subsist
on these, and on the shells which are abundant on all parts
of the sea-coast. The villages are chiefly conspicuous, by
Dec. 1835. EXCURSION TO WAIMATE. 505
the platforms which are raised on four posts ten or twelve
feet above the ground, and on which the produce of the
fields is kept secure from all accidents.
On coming near one of the huts, I was much amused by
seeing in due form the ceremony of rubbing, or as it should
more properly be called, pressing noses. The women, on
our first approach, began uttering something in a most
dolorous voice; they then squatted themselves down and
held up their faces; my companions standing over them,
placed the bridge of their own noses at right angles to
theirs, and commenced pressing. ‘This lasted rather longer
than a cordial shake of the hand would with us; and as we
vary the force of the grasp of the hand in shaking, so do they
in pressing. During the process they uttered comfortable
little grunts, very much in the same manner as two pigs do,
when rubbing against each other. I noticed, that the slave
would press noses with any one he met, indifferently either
before or after his master the chief. Although among
savages the chief has absolute power of life and death over
his slaye, yet there is an entire absence of ceremony between
them. Mr. Burchell has remarked the same thing in
Southern Africa with respect to the rude Bachapins. Where
civilization has arrived at a certain point, as among the
Tahitians, complex formalities are soon instituted between
the different grades of society. For instance, in the above
island, formerly all were obliged to uncover themselves as
low as the waist in presence of the king.
The ceremony of pressing noses having been completed
with all present, we seated ourselves in a circle in the front
of one of the houses, and rested there half-an-hour. All the
native hovels which I have seen, have nearly the same form
and dimensions, and all agree in being filthily dirty. They
resemble a cow-shed with one end open, but having a par-
tition a little way within, with a square hole in it, which
thus cuts off a part, and makes a small gloomy chamber. In
this the inhabitants keep all their property, and when the
506 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
weather is cold they sleep there. They eat, however, and
pass their time in the open part in front.
My guides having finished their pipes, we continued our
walk. ‘The path led through the same undulating country,
the whole uniformly clothed as before with fern. On our
right hand, we had a serpentine river, the banks of which
were fringed with trees, and here and there on the hill-sides
there were clumps of wood. ‘The whole scene, in spite of its
green colour, bore rather a desolate aspect. The sight of so
much fern impresses the mind with an idea of sterility.
This, however, is not the case; for wherever the fern grows
thick and breast-high, the land by tillage becomes productive.
Some of the residents, with much probability think that
all this extensive open country was originally covered with
forests, and that it has been cleared by the aid of fire.
It is said that by digging in the barest spots, lumps of the
kind of resin which flows from the kauri pine, are frequently
found. The natives had an evident motive in thus clearing
‘the country; for in such parts the fern, formerly so staple an
article of food, flourishes best. The almost entire absence of
associated grasses, which forms so remarkable a feature in
the vegetation of this island, may perhaps be accounted for,
by the open parts being the work of man, while nature had
designed the country for forest land.
The soil is volcanic; in several parts we passed over
slaggy and vesicular lavas, and the form of a crater could
clearly be distinguished in several of the neighbouring hills.
Although the scenery is nowhere beautiful, and only occa-
sionally pretty, I enjoyed my walk. I should have enjoyed
it more, if my companion, the chief, had not possessed extra-
ordinary conversational powers. I only knew three words ;
“ good,” “bad,” and “ yes: and with these I answered all
his remarks, without of course having understood one word
he said. This, however, was quite sufficient: I was a good
listener, an agreeable person, and he never ceased talking
to me.
Dec. 1835. WAIMATE. 507
At length we reached Waimate. After having passed
over so many miles of an uninhabited useless country, the
sudden appearance of an English farm-house, and its well-
dressed fields, placed there as if by an enchanter’s wand, was
exceedingly pleasing. Mr. Williams not being at home, I
received in Mr. Davies’s house a cordial and pleasant wel-
come. After drinking tea with his family party, we took a
stroll about the farm. At Waimate there are three large
houses, where the missionary gentlemen Messrs. Williams,
Davies, and Clarke, reside ; and near them are the huts of the
native labourers. On an adjoining slope fine crops of barley
and wheat in full ear were standing; and, in another part, fields
of potatoes and clover. But I cannot attempt to describe all
Isaw; there were large gardens, with every fruit and vegetable
which England produces ; and many belonging to a warmer
clime. I may instance, asparagus, kidney beans, cucumbers,
rhubarb, apples, pears, figs, peaches, apricots, grapes, olives,
gooseberries, currants, hops, gorze for fences, and English
oaks; also many different kinds of flowers. Around the farm-
yard there were stables, a thrashing-barn with its winnowing
machine, a blacksmith’s forge, and on the ground plough-
shares and other tools: in the middle was that happy mix-
ture of pigs and poultry, which may be seen so comfortably
lying together in every English farm-yard. At the distance
of a few hundred yards, where the water of a little rill was
dammed up into a pool, a large and substantial water-mill
had been erected.
All this is very surprising, when it is considered, that five
years ago, nothing but the fern flourished here. Moreover,
native workmanship, taught by the missionaries, has effected
this change :—the lesson of the missionary is the enchanter’s
wand. The house has been built, the windows framed, the fields
ploughed, and even the trees grafted, by the New Zealander.
At the mill, a New Zealander may be seen powdered white
with flour, like his brother miller in England. When I looked
at this whole scene, I thought it admirable. It was not
merely that Kngland was vividly brought before my mind;
508 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
yet, as the evening drew to a close, the domestic sounds, the
fields of corn, the distant country with its trees now appear-
ing like pasture-land, all might well be mistaken for some
part of it. Nor was it the triumphant feeling at seeing what
Englishmen could effect, but it was something of far more
consequence; the object for which this labour had been
bestowed—the moral effect on the aborigines of this fine
country.
The missionary system here appears to me different from
that of Tahiti; much more attention is there paid to reli-
gious instruction, and to the direct improvement of the mind;
here, more to the arts of civilization. I do not doubt that in
both cases, the same object is kept in view. Judging from the
success alone, I should rather lean to the Tahiti side; pro-
bably, however, each system is best adapted to the country
where it is followed. The mind of a Tahitian is certainly
one of a higher order; and on the other hand, the New Zea-
lander, not being able to pluck from the tree that shades his
house the bread-fruit and banana, would naturally turn his
attention with more readiness to the arts. When comparing,
the state of New Zealand with that of Tahiti, it should
always be remembered, that from the respective forms of
government of the two countries, the missionaries here have
had to labour at a task, many times more difficult. The
reviewer of Mr. Earle’s travels in the Quarterly Journal, by
pointing out a more advantageous line of conduct for the
missionaries, evidently considers that too much attention has
been paid to religious instruction, in proportion to other
subjects. This opinion being so very different from the one
at which I arrived, any third person hearing the two sides,
would probably conclude, that the missionaries had been the
best judges, and had chosen the right path.
Several young men were employed about the farm, who
had been brought up by the missionaries; having been re-
deemed by them from slavery. ‘They were dressed in a shirt,
jacket and trousers, and had a respectable appearance. Judg-
ing from one trifling anecdote, I should think they must be
Dec. 1835. WAIMATE. 509
honest. When walking in the fields, a young labourer came
up to Mr. Davies, and gave him a knife and gimlet, saying
he had found them on the road, and did not know to whom
they belonged! ‘These young men and boys appeared very
merry and good-humoured. In the evening I saw a party
of them at cricket: when I thought of the austerity of which
the missionaries have been accused, I was amused by observ-
ing one of their own sons taking an active part in the game.
A more decided and pleasing change was manifested in the
young women, who acted as servants within the houses.
Their clean, tidy, and healthy appearance, like that of dairy-
maids in England, formed a wonderful contrast with the
women of the filthy hovels in Kororadika. The wives of
the missionaries tried to persuade them not to be tattooed ;
but a famous operator having arrived from the south, they
said, “ We really must just have a few lines on our lips; else
when we grow old our lips will shrivel, and we shall be so
very ugly.” Tattooing is not nearly so much practised as
formerly ; but as it is a badge of distinction between the
chief and the slave, it will not probably very soon be dis-
used. So soon does any train of ideas become habitual,
that the missionaries told me, that even in their eyes, a
plain face looked mean, and not like that of a New Zealand
gentleman.
Late in the evening | went to Mr. Williams’s house, where
I passed the night. I found there a very large party of
children, collected together for Christmas-day, and _ all
sitting round a table at tea. I never saw a nicer or more
merry group: and to think, that this was in the centre of
the land of cannibalism, murder, and all atrocious crimes!
The cordiality and happiness so plainly pictured in the faces
of the little circle, appeared equally felt by the older persons
of the mission.
DrEcEMBER 24TH.—In the morning, prayers were read
in the native tongue to the whole family. After breakfast,
I rambled about the gardens and farm. This was a market-
day, when the natives of the surrounding hamlets bring
510 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
their potatoes, Indian corn, or pigs, to exchange for
blankets, tobacco, and sometimes, through the persuasions
of the missionaries, for soap. Mr. Davies’s eldest son, who
manages a farm of his own, is the man of business in the
market. The children of the missionaries, who came while
young to the island, understand the language better than
their parents, and can get any thing more readily done by
the natives.
A little before noon, Messrs. Williams and Davies walked
with me to part of a neighbouring forest, to show me the
famous Kauri pines. I measured one of these noble trees,
in a part which was not enlarged near the roots, and found
it to be thirty-one feet in circumference. There was another
close by, which I did not see, thirty-three; and I heard of
one, no less than forty feet. The trunks are also very
remarkable from their smoothness, cylindrical figure, absence
of branches, and having very nearly the same girth through
a length from sixty to even ninety feet. The crown of this
tree, where it is irregularly branched, is small, and out of
proportion to the trunk; and the foliage is likewise diminutive
as compared with the branches. The forest in this part was
almost composed of the Kauri; and the largest, from the
parallelism of their sides, stood up like gigantic columns of
wood. The timber of this tree is the most valuable pro-
duct of the island: moreover, a quantity of resin oozes
from the bark, which is collected and sold at a penny
a pound to the Americans, but its use is kept secret.
On the outskirts of the wood, I saw the New Zealand
flax growing in the swamps: this is the second most valuable
export. This plant somewhat resembles (but not botanically)
the common iris; the under surface of the leaf is lined by a
layer of strong silky fibres; and the upper consists of green
vegetable matter, which is scraped off with a broken shell,
and the hemp remains in the hand of the workwoman.
In the forest, besides the kauri, there are some other fine
timber trees. I saw numbers of beautiful tree-ferns, and
was told of palms. Some of the New Zealand forests must
Dec. 1835. WAIMATE. 511
be impenetrable to an extraordinary degree. Mr. Mat-
thews gave me an account of one, which, although only
thirty-four miles wide, and separating two inhabited districts,
like the central forest of Chiloe, had never been passed until
lately. He and another missionary, each with a party of
about fifty men, undertook to open a road: but it cost them
more than a fortnight’s labour! In the woods I saw very
few birds. With regard to animals, it is a most remarkable
fact, that so large an island, extending over more than 700
miles in latitude, and in many parts ninety broad, with
varied stations, a fine climate, and land of all heights, from
14,000 feet downwards, with the exception of a small rat,
should not possess one indigenous animal. It is moreover
said, that the introduction of the common Norway kind,
has annihilated from the northern extremity of the island,
the New Zealand species, in the short space of two years.
‘In many places I noticed several sorts of weeds, which, like
the rats, I was forced to own as countrymen. A leek,
however, which has overrun whole districts, and will be
very troublesome, was imported lately by the favour of a
French vessel. The common dock is widely disseminated,
and will, I am afraid, for ever remain a proof of the rascality
of an Englishman, who sold the seeds for those of the
tobacco-plant.
On returning from our pleasant walk to the houses, I
dined with Mr. Williams; and then, a horse being lent me,
I returned to the Bay of Islands. I took leave of the
missionaries, with thankfulness for their kind welcome, and
with feelings of high respect for their gentleman-like, useful,
and upright characters. I think it would be difficult to find
a body of men better adapted for the high office which they
fulfil.
CuristMAs-DAy.—In a few more days, the fourth year
of our absence from England will be completed. Our first
Christmas-day was spent at Plymouth; the second at St.
Martin’s Cove, near Cape Horn; the third at Port Desire,
in Patagonia; the fourth at anchor in a harbour in the
512 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
Peninsula of Tres Montes; this fifth here; and the next, I
trust in providence, will be in England. We attended divine
service in the chapel of Pahia; part of the service was read
in English, and part in the New Zealand language.
As far as I was able to understand, the greater number
of people in this northern’ part of the island profess
Christianity. It is curious, that the religion even of those
who do not profess it, has been modified and is now partly
Christian, partly heathen. Moreover, so excellent is the
Christian faith, that the outward conduct even of the un-
believers is said to have been decidedly improved by the
spread of its doctrines. It is beyond doubt, however, that
much immorality still exists;—-that there are many who
would not hesitate to kill a slave for a trifling offence;
and that polygamy is still common, — indeed, I believe,
general.
We did not hear of any recent act of cannibalism; but
Mr. Stokes found burnt human bones, strewed round an
old fireplace, on a small island near the anchorage: these
remains of some quiet banquet might, indeed, have been
lying there for several years. Notwithstanding the above
facts, it is probable that the moral state of the people will
rapidly improve. Mr. Bushby mentioned one pleasing anec-
dote as a proof of the sincerity of some, at least, of those
who profess Christianity. One of his young men left him,
who had been accustomed to read prayers to the rest of the
servants. Some weeks afterwards, happening to pass late
in the evening by an outhouse, he saw and heard one of his
men reading the bible with difficulty, by the light of the fire,
to the others. After this, the party knelt and prayed: in
their prayers they mentioned Mr. Bushby and his family, and
the missionaries, each separately in his respective district.
DeceMBER 26rTH.—Mr. Bushby offered to take Mr. Suli-
van and myself in his boat, some miles up the river to Cawa-
Cawa; and proposed afterwards to walk on to the village of
Waiomio, where there are some curious rocks. Following
one of the arms of the bay, we enjoyed a pleasant row,
Dec. 1835. NEW ZEALAND. 513
and passed through pretty scenery, until we came to a
village, beyond which the boat could not proceed. From
this place a chief and a party of men volunteered to walk
with us to Waiomio, a distance of four miles. The
chief was at this time rather notorious, from having lately
hung one of his wives and a slave, for adultery. When
one of the missionaries remonstrated with him, he seemed
surprised, and said he thought he was exactly following
the English method. Old Shongi, who happened to be in
England during the Queen’s trial, expressed great disappro-
bation at the whole proceeding: he said he had five wives,
and he would rather cut off all their heads, than be so
much troubled about one. Leaving this village, we crossed
over to another, seated on a hill-side at a little distance.
The daughter of a chief, who was still a heathen, had died
here five days before. The hovel in which she had expired
had been burnt to the ground: her body being enclosed
between two small canoes was placed upright on the ground,
and protected by an enclosure bearing wooden images of
their gods, and the whole was painted bright red, so as
to be conspicuous from afar. Her gown was fastened to the
coffin, and her hair being cut off was cast at its foot. The
relatives of the family had torn the flesh of their arms,
bodies, and faces, so that they were covered with clotted
blood; and the old women looked most filthy, disgusting
objects. On the following day some of the officers visited
this place, and found the women still howling and cutting
themselves.
We continued our walk, and soon reached Waiomio.
Here there are some singular masses of limestone, resem-
bling ruined castles. These rocks have long served for
burial-places, and in consequence are held sacred. One of
the young men cried out, “ Let us all be brave,” and ran on
ahead; but when within a hundred yards, the whole party
thought better of it, and stopped short. With perfect indif-
ference, however, they allowed us to examine the whole
place. At this village we rested some hours, during which
VOL. III. 2L
514 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835.
time there was a long discussion with Mr. Bushby, concern-
ing the right of sale of certain lands. One old man, who
appeared a perfect genealogist, illustrated the successive
possessors by bits of stick driven into the ground. Before
leaving the houses, a little basketful of roasted sweet-
potatoes was given to each of our party; and we ll,
according to the custom, carried them away to eat on the
road. I noticed that among the women employed in cook-
ing, there was a man-slave: it must be an humiliating thing
for a man in this warlike country to be employed in doing
that which is considered as the lowest woman’s work.
Slaves are not allowed to go to war; but this perhaps can
hardly be considered as a hardship. I heard of one poor
wretch who, during hostilities, ran away to the opposite
party ; being met by two men, he was immediately seized ;
but they not agreeing to whom he should belong, each stood
over him with a stone hatchet, and seemed determined that
the other at least should not take him away alive. The
poor man, almost dead with fright, was only saved by the
address of a chief’s wife. We afterwards enjoyed a pleasant
walk back to the boat, but did not reach the ship till late in
the evening.
DECEMBER 30TH.—In the afternoon we stood out of the
Bay of Islands on our course to Sydney. I believe we were
all glad to leave New Zealand. It is not a pleasant place.
Amongst the natives there is absent that charming sim-
plicity which is found at Tahiti; and the greater part of the
English are the very refuse of society. Neither is the
country itself attractive. I look back but to one bright
spot, and that is Waimate, with its Christian inhabitants.
DES
CHAPTER XXII.
Sydney—Prosperity—Excursion to Bathurst—Aspect of woods—Party
of Natives—Gradual extinction of aborigines — Blue Mountains—
Weatherboard—View of a grand gulf-like valley—Sheep farm—Lion-
ant—Bathurst, general civility of lower orders—State of society—Van
Diemen’s Land — Hobart Town—Aborigines all banished—Mount
Wellington—King George’s Sound—Cheerless aspect of country—
Bald Head, calcareous casts like branches of trees—Party of natives—
Leave Australia. ,
AUSTRALIA.
JANUARY 12TH, 1836 —Karly in the morning, a light air
carried us towards the entrance of Port Jackson. Instead
of beholding a verdant country scattered over with fine
houses: a straight line of yellowish cliff brought to our minds
the coast of Patagonia. A solitary lighthouse, built of white
stone, alone told us we were near a great and populous
city. Having entered the harbour, it appeared fine and
spacious; but the level country, showing on the cliff-formed
shores bare and horizontal strata of sandstone, was covered
by woods of thin scrubby trees, that bespoke useless sterility.
Proceeding further inland, the country improved ; beautiful
villas and nice cottages were here and there scattered along
the beach. In the distance stone houses, two and three
stories high, and windmills, standing on the edge of a bank,
pointed out to us the neighbourhood of the capital of
Australia.
At last we anchored within Sydney Cove. We found
the little basin occupied by many large ships, and surrounded
by warehouses. In the evening I walked through the town,
and returned full of admiration at the whole scene. It isa
most magnificent testimony to the power of the British
nation. Here, in a less promising country, scores of years
have effected many times more, than the same number of
centuries have done in South America. My first feeling
2b 2
—<—
516 NEW SOUTH WALES. Jan. 1836.
was to congratulate myself that I was born an Englishman.
Upon seeing more of the town afterwards, perhaps my admi-
ration fell a little; but yet it is a fine town; the streets are
regular, broad, clean, and kept in excellent order; the houses
are of a good size, and the shops well furnished. It may be
faithfully compared to the large suburbs, which stretch out
from London and a few other great towns in England: but
not even near London or Birmingham is there an appear-
ance of such rapid growth. ‘The number of large houses just
finished and others building was truly surprising ; neverthe-
less, every one complained of the high rents and difficulty
in procurmg a house. In the streets, gigs, phaetons, and
carriages with livery servants, were driving about; and of the
latter, many- were extremely well equipped. Coming from
South America, where in the towns every man of property is
known, no one thing surprised me more than not being able
to ascertain readily to whom this or that carriage belonged.
Many of the older residents say, that formerly they knew
every face in the colony, but now that in a morning’s ride
it is a chance if they know one. Sydney has a population
of twenty-three thousand, and is rapidly increasing: it must
contain much wealth. It appears that a man of business can
hardly fail to make a large fortune. I saw on all sides fine
houses,—one built from the profits of steam-vessels,—
another from building, and so on. An auctioneer, who was
a convict, it is said, intends to return home, and will take
with him 100,000 pounds. Another has an income so large
that scarcely any body ventures to guess at it—the least
sum assigned being fifteen thousand a year. But the two
crowning facts are,—first, that the public revenue has in-
creased 60,000/. during this last year; and secondly, that
less than an acre of land within the town of Sydney sold for
8000/. sterling.
I hired a man and two horses to take me to Bathurst; a
village about one hundred and twenty miles in the interior,
and the centre of a great pastoral district. By this means
I hoped to get a general idea of the appearance of the
Jan. 1836. EXCURSION TO BATHURST. 57
country. On the morning of the 16th (January) I set
out on my excursion. The first stage took us to Para-
matta, a small country-town, the second to Sydney in im-
portance. The roads were excellent, and made upon the
MacAdam principle: whinstone having been brought for the
purpose from the distance of several miles. The road ap-
peared much frequented by all sorts of carriages ; and I met
two stage-coaches. In all these respects there was a close
resemblance to England; perhaps the number of alchouses
was here in excess. The iron gangs, or parties of convicts,
who have here committed some trifling offence, appeared the
least like England; they were working in chains, under the
charge cf sentries with loaded arms. The power, which the
government possesses, by means of forced labour, of at once
opening good roads throughout the country, has been, I
believe, one main cause of the early prosperity of this
colony.
I slept at night at a very comfortable inn at Emu ferry,
thirty-five miles from Sydney, and near the ascent of the
Blue Mountains. This line of road is the most frequented,
and has been longest inhabited of any in the colony. The
whole land is enclosed with high railings, for the farmers
have not succeeded in rearing hedges. There are many
substantial houses and good cottages scattered about; but
although considerable pieces of land are under cultivation,
the greater part yet remains as when first discovered.
Making allowances: for the cleared parts, the country here
resembled all that 1 saw during the ten succeeding days.
The extreme uniformity of the vegetation is the most
remarkable feature in the landscape of the greater part of
New South Wales. Kvery where we have an open wood-
land; the ground being partially covered with a very thin
pasture. The trees nearly all belong to one family; and
mostly have the surface of their leaves placed in a vertical,
instead of as in Kurope, a nearly horizontal position: the
foliage is scanty, and of a peculiar, pale green tint, without
any gloss. Hence the woods appear light and shadowless: this,
518 NEW SOUTH WALES. _ Jan. 1836.
although a loss of comfort to the traveller under the scorch-
ing rays of summer, is of importance to the farmer, as it
allows grass to grow where it otherwise could not. The
leaves are not shed periodically: this character appears
common to the entire southern hemisphere, namely, South
America, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope. The
inhabitants of this hemisphere and of the intertropical
regions, thus lose perhaps one of the most glorious, though
to our eyes common, spectacles in the world,—the first
bursting into full foliage of the leafless tree. They may,
however, say that we pay dearly for our spectacle, by having
the land covered with mere naked skeletons for so many
months. This is too true; but our senses thus acquire a keen
relish for the exquisite green of the spring, which the eyes of
those living within the tropics, sated during the long year with
the gorgeous productions of those glowing climates, can never
experience. The greater number of thetrees, with the exception
of some of the blue gums, do not attain a large size; but they
grow tall and tolerably straight, and stand well apart. The
bark of some falls annually, or hangs dead in long shreds,
which swing about with the wind; and hence the woods
appear desolate and untidy. Nowhere is there an appearance
of verdure, but rather that of arid sterility. I cannot imagine
a more complete contrast in every respect than between the
forests of Valdivia, or Chiloe, and the woods of Australia.
Although this colony flourishes so remarkably, the ap-
pearance of infertility is to a certain degree real. The soil
without doubt is good, but there is so great a deficiency
both of rain and running water, that it cannot produce much.
The agricultural crops, and often those in gardens, are
estimated to fail once in three years; and this has even
happened on successive years. Hence the colony cannot
supply itself with the bread and vegetables, which its in-
habitants consume. It is essentially pastoral, and chiefly
so for sheep, and not the larger quadrupeds. The alluvial
Jand near Emu ferry was some of the best cultivated which
I saw; and certainly the scenery on the banks of the
Jan. 1836. ABORIGINES. 519
Nepean, bounded to the west by the Blue Mountains, was
pleasing even to the eye of a person thinking of England.
At sunset, a party of a score of the black aborigines
passed by, each carrying, in their accustomed manner, a
bundle of spears and other weapons. By giving a leading
young man a shilling, they were easily detained, and threw
their spears for my amusement. They were all partly
clothed, and several could speak a little English; their
countenances were goodhumoured and pleasant; and they
appeared far from being such utterly degraded beings as
they are usually represented. In their own arts they are
admirable: a cap being fixed at thirty yards distance, they
transfixed it with a spear, delivered by the throwing stick,
with the rapidity of an arrow from the bow of a practised
archer. In tracking animals or men they show most wonder-
ful sagacity; and I heard of several of their remarks which
manifested considerable acuteness. They will not, however,
cultivate the ground, or build houses and remain stationary,
or even take the trouble of tending a flock of sheep when
given to them. On the whole they appear to me to stand
some few degrees higher in the scale of civilization than the
Fuegians.
It is very curious thus to see in the midst of a civilized
people, a set of harmless savages wandering about without
knowing where they shall sleep at night, and gaining their
livelihood by hunting in the woods. As the white man has
travelled onwards, he has spread over the country belonging
to several tribes. These, although thus enclosed by one
common people, keep up their ancient distinctions, and
sometimes go to war with each other. In an engagement
which took place lately, the two parties most singularly chose
the centre of the village of Bathurst, for the field of battle.
This was of service to the defeated side, for the runaway
warriors took refuge in the barracks.
The number of aborigines is rapidly decreasing. In my
whole ride, with the exception of some boys brought up
in the houses, I saw only one other party; these were rather
520 NEW SOUTH WALES. Jan. 1836.
more numerous than the first, and not so well clothed. This
decrease, no doubt, must be partly owing to the introduction
of spirits, to European diseases (even the milder ones of
which, as the measles,* prove very destructive), and to the
gradual extinction of the wild animals. It is said that num-
bers of their children invariably perish in very early infancy
from the effects of their wandering life. As the difficulty of
procuring food increases, so must their wandering habits ;
and hence the population, without any apparent deaths from
famine, is repressed in a manner extremely sudden com-
pared to what happens in civilized countries, where the father
may add to his labour, without destroying his offspring.
Besides these several evident causes of destruction, there
appears to be some more mysterious agency generally at
work. Wherever the European has trod, death seems to
pursue the aboriginal. We may look to the wide extent of
the Americas, Polynesia, the Cape of Good Hope, and
Australia, and we shall find the same result. Nor is it the
white man alone, that thus acts the destroyer; the Polynesian
of Malay extraction has in parts of the Kast Indian archi-
pelago, thus driven before him the dark-coloured native. The
varieties of man seem to act on each other; in the same way
as different species of animals—the stronger always extir-
pating the weaker. It was melancholy at New Zealand to
hear the fine energetic natives saying, they knew the land
was doomed to pass from their children. Every one has heard
of the inexplicable reduction of the population in the beautiful
and healthy island of Tahiti since the date of Captain Cook’s
voyages: although in that case we might have expected it
would have been otherwise; for infanticide, which formerly
* It is remarkable how the same disease is modified in different climates.
At the little island of St. Helena, the introduction of scarlet fever is
dreaded as a plague. In some countries, foreigners and natives are as
differently affected by certain contagious disorders, as if they had been dif-
ferent animals: of which fact some instances have occurred in Chile;
and, according to Humboldt, in Mexico. (Polit. Essay on Kingdom of
New Spain, vol, iv.)
Jan. 1836. | EXTINCTION OF ABORIGINES. 521
prevailed to so extraordinary a degree, has ceased, and the
murderous wars have become less frequent.
The Rev. J. Williams, in his interesting work,* says, that
the first intercourse between natives and Europeans, “ is in-
variably attended with the introduction of fever, dysentery,
or some other disease, which carries off numbers of the peo-
ple.” Again he affirms, “ It is certainly a fact, which can-
not be controverted, that most of the diseases which have
raged in the islands during my residence there, have been
introduced by ships ;+ and what renders this fact remarkable
is, that there might be no appearance of disease among the
crew of the ship, which conveyed this destructive importa-
tion.” This statement is not quite so extraordinary as it at
first appears; for several cases are on record of the most
malignant fevers having broken out, although the parties
themselves, who were the cause, were not affected. In the
early part of the reign of George III., a prisoner who had
been confined in a dungeon, was taken in a coach with
four constables before a magistrate ; and, although the man
himself was not ill, the four constables died from a short
putrid fever; but the contagion extended to no others.
* Narrative of Missionary Enterprise, p. 282.
+ Captain Beechey (chap. iv., vol. i.) states that the inhabitants of
Pitcairn Island, are firmly convinced that after the arrival of every ship
they suffer cutaneous and other disorders. Captain Beechey attributes
this to the change of diet during the time of the visit. Dr. Macculloch
(Western Isles, vol. ii., p. 32) says, “It is asserted, that on the arrival of
a stranger (at St. Kilda) all the inhabitants, in the common phraseology,
catch a cold.” Dr. Macculloch considers the whole case, although often
previously affirmed, as ludicrous. He adds, however, that “the question
was put by us to the inhabitants who unanimously agreed in the story.”
In Vancouver's Voyage, there is a somewhat similar statement with respect
to Otaheite: nor are these (as I believe) the only instances. Humboldt
(Polit. Essay on King. of New Spain, vol. iv.) says, that the great epidemics
at Panama and Callao are “ marked” by the arrival of ships from Chile, be-
cause the people from that temperate region, first experience the fatal
effects of the torrid zones. I may add, that I have heard it stated in
Shropshire, that sheep, which have been imported from vessels, although
themselves in a healthy condition, if placed in the same fold with others,
frequently produce sickness in the flock.
522 NEW SOUTH WALES. Jan. 1836.
From these facts it would almost appear as if, the effluvium
of one set of men shut up for some time together, was poi-
sonous when inhaled by others (and perhaps more so, if the
men be of different races). Mysterious as this circum-
stance appears to be, it is not more surprising than that the
body of one’s fellow-creature, directly after death, and before
,putrefaction has commenced, should often be of so deleterious
a quality, that the mere puncture from an instrument used in
its dissection should prove fatal.
JANUARY 17TH.—Early in the morning we passed the
Nepean in a ferry-boat. The river, although at this spot
both broad and deep, had a very small body of running
water. Having crossed a low piece of land on the opposite
side, we reached the slope of the Blue Mountains. The
ascent is not steep, the road having been cut with much
care on the side of a sandstone cliff. At no great elevation
an almost level plain extends, which, rising imperceptibly
to the westward, at last attains a height of more than three
thousand feet. From so grand a title as Blue Mountains,
and from their absolute altitude, I expected to have seen
a bold chain of mountains crossing the country; but instead
of this, a sloping plain presents merely an inconsiderable
front to the low land of the coast. From this first slope, the
view of the extensive woodland to the eastward, was striking,
and the surrounding trees grew bold and lofty. But when
once on the sandstone platform, the scenery becomes ex-
ceedingly monotonous; each side of the road is bordered
by scrubby trees of the never-failing Eucalyptus family; and
with the exception of two or three small inns, there are no
houses, or cultivated land: the road, moreover, is solitary ;
the most frequent object being a bullock-waggon, piled up
with bales of wool.
In the middle of the day we baited our horses at a little
inn, called the Weatherboard. The country here is elevated
2800 feet above the sea. About a mile and a half from this
place, there is a view exceedingly well worth visiting. By
following down a little valley and its tiny rill of water, an
Jan. 1836. BLUE MOUNTAINS. 523
immense gulf is unexpectedly seen through the trees which
border the pathway, at the depth of perhaps 1500 feet.
Walking on a few yards one stands on the brink of a vast
precipice, and below is the grand bay or-gulf (for I know not
what other name to give it), thickly covered with forest.
The point of view is situated as if at the head of a bay, the
line of cliff diverging on each side, and showing headland
behind headland, as on a bold sea-coast. These cliffs are
composed of horizontal strata of whitish sandstone; and so
absolutely vertical are they, that in many places, a person
standing on the edge, and throwing down a stone, can see it
strike the trees in the abyss below. So unbroken is the
line, that it is said, in order to reach the foot of the waterfall,
formed by this little stream, it is necessary to go a distance
of sixteen miles round. About five miles distant in front,
another line of cliff extends, which thus appears completely
to encircle the valley; and hence the name of bay is justified,
as applied to this grand amphitheatrical depression. If we
imagine a winding harbour, with its deep water surrounded
by bold cliff-like shores, laid dry, and a forest sprung up on
its sandy bottom, we should then have the appearance and
structure here exhibited. This kind of view was to me quite
novel, and extremely magnificent.
In the evening, we reached the Blackheath. The sand-
stone plateau has here attained the elevation of 3400 feet;
and is covered, as before, with the same kind of scrubby
wood. From the road there were occasional glimpses into a
profound valley, of the same character as the one described ;
but from the steepness and depth of its sides, the bottom
was scarcely ever to be seen. The Blackheath is a very
comfortable inn, kept by an old soldier; and it reminded me
of the small inns in North Wales. I was surprised to find
that here, at the distance of more than seventy miles from
Sydney, fifteen beds could be made up for travellers.
JANUARY 18TH.—Very early in the morning, I walked
about three miles to see Govett’s Leap: a view of a similar
but even perhaps more stupendous character than that near
524 NEW SOUTH WALES. Jan. 1836.
the Weatherboard. So early in the day the gulf was filled
with a thin blue haze, which, although destroying the general
effect, added to the apparent depth at which the forest was
stretched below the country on which we were standing.
Soon after leaving the Blackheath, we descended from the
sandstone platform by the pass of Mount Victoria. To
effect this pass, an enormous quantity of, stone has been cut
through; the design, and its manner of execution, would
have been worthy of any line of road in England,—even that
of Holyhead. We now entered upon a country less elevated
by nearly a thousand feet, and consisting of granite. With
the change of rock, the vegetation improved; the trees were
both finer, and stood further apart; and the pasture between
them was a little greener, and more plentiful.
At Hassan’s Walls, I left the high road, and made a short
detour to a farm called Walerawang; to the superintendent
of which, I had a letter of introduction from the owner in
Sydney. Mr. Browne had the kindness to ask me to stay
the ensuing day, which I had much pleasure in doing. This
place offers an example of one of the large farming, or
rather sheep-grazing, establishments of the colony. Cattle
and horses are, however, in this case, rather more numerous
than usual, owing to some of the valleys being swampy, and
producing a coarser pasture. The sheep were 15,000 in
number, of which the greater part were feeding under the
care of different shepherds, on unoccupied ground, at the
distance of more than a hundred miles, and beyond the
limits of the colony. Mr. Browne had just finished, this
day, the last of the shearing of seven thousand sheep; the
rest being sheared in another place. I believe the profit of
the average produce of wool from 15,000 sheep, would be
more than 5000/. sterling. Two or three flat pieces of
ground near the house were cleared and cultivated with
corn, which the harvest men were now reaping: but no
more wheat is sown than sufficient for the annual support
of the labourers employed on the establishment. The
usual number of assigned convict servants here is about
Jan. 1836. NEW SOUTH WALES. 525
forty, but at the present time there were rather more.
Although the farm was well stocked with every requisite,
there was an apparent absence of comfort; and not even
a single woman resided here. The sunset of a fine day
will generally cast an air of happy contentment on any
scene; but here, at this retired farm-house, the brightest
tints on the surrounding woods could not make me forget
that forty hardened, profligate men, were ceasing from their
daily labours, like the slaves from Africa, yet without their
just claim for compassion.
Early on the next morning, Mr. Archer, the joint super-
intendent, had the kindness to take me out Kangaroo-
hunting. We continued riding the greater part of the day,
but had very bad sport, not seeing a kangaroo, or even a
wild dog. The greyhounds pursued a kangaroo rat into a
hollow tree, out of which we dragged it: it is an animal as
big as a rabbit, but with the figure of a kangaroo.
610 ADDENDA.
be added to this list of animals as indigenous to America ;” and it is evident
from a previous passage, that the bones have been found fossil. Mr.
Rogers states, that the remains of two kinds of elephant and three kinds
of oxen have been discovered there; as have, on two occasions, parts
of the Megatherium. At Big Bone Lick, where the remains of the ele-
phant, mastodon, and ox, are so extraordinarily numerous, the megalonyx
has been found; and this isa parallel case to the contemporaneous em-
bedment, in the southern hemisphere, of the mastodon, horse, mega-
therium, and the other Edentata. The more I reflect on the geo-
graphical distribution in the Old and New World of these gigantic
mammifers, during the period antecedent to the present, in relation
to the existing faunas of North and South America, now so strongly con-
trasted with each other, the more pregnant with interest the case appears
to be. I know of no other instance, in which we can thus almost mark
the period of the splitting up of one great region into two well charac-
terized zoological provinces. With respect to the ancient range of the
genus Equus, I may add to what has already been said, that its remains
have been found from England in the west, to the Himalaya in the east,
(Buckland’s Reliquie Diluviane, p.222,) and from the western coast of
North America, to the eastern plains of America in the southern hemi-
sphere. We may, therefore, suspect that a very little research would disco-
ver the remains of the horse, embedded in the frozen soil of Kamtschatka,
with those of the fossil ox and elephant ; and thus render complete the
evidence, that we there see the ancient, but perhaps temporary line of
junction, since interrupted, between the fauna of what we call the New
World with that of the Old. But I doubt not, that the snow-clad heights of
Chimborazo, Illimani and Aconcagua have seen as many, and as strange
forms of animals, pass by and become extinct, as ever did the Alpine pin-
nacles, or those loftiest ones of the Himalaya. ;
Page 268. ,
y
When contrasting the productions of the eastern coast of South Ame-
rica, with those of the western, and likewise with those of the correspond-
ing parallels of latitude in Europe, I should have added (line 15) after the
grape and fig, as flourishing in lat. 41°, the peach, and the nectarine (both
of course standards), water and musk melons, batatas dulces ( Convolvulus
batatas ), the olive and the orange; the latter, however, had only been
lately introduced, but it promised to succeed well.
@
Page 272.
*
I have spoken of the low latitudes in which tropical forms of vegetation
ADDENDA. 611
are found in the southern hemisphere, and likewise of some mammalia
and of birds. With respect to the parrot of the Strait of Magellan, Mac-
quarrie Island in lat. 55° S. and long. 160° E. offers an analogous instance,
_ in possessing a species of this genus. I am, however, now enabled to
bring forward a more important observation, as directly bearing on the
evidence by which geologists have chiefly judged of the climate of ancient
Europe, namely, on the character of the marine productions of the south-
ern hemisphere. In my journal I have remarked that. the southern seas
teem with life, under innumerable forms ; and the truth of this remark is
amply attested by the vast herds of great unwieldy seals with which the
shores of Patagonia, the Falkland and the Antarctic islands, were, ac-
cording to the narratives of all the early navigators, almost covered.
Having mentioned these facts to Mr. George B. Sowerby, he informs me,
that the shells of the southern part of the southern hemisphere have some
affinity in general character with those of the intertropical seas, or rather
that they are of much larger size and of more vigorous growth than the
analogous species (excepting the chitons of California) under correspond-
ing zones in the northern hemisphere. Thus the immense size of the
Patella, Fissurellee, Chitons, and Barnacles of the Strait of Magellan, and
the large size of the former at the Cape of Good Hope, may be taken as
instances. On the east coast of South America (in lat. 39°) three species
of Oliva (one of large size), a Voluta (and perhaps a second species),
and a Terebra, are amongst the most abundant shells on the mud-banks of
Bahia Blanca. Another species of Voluta is found as far south as 45°,
and there is some reason to believe, even much further. Oliva, Voluta,
and Terebra are amongst the best-characterized tropical forms, that is,
both the individuals and species of these genera are extremely abundant
in the intertropical seas, whilst they are very rare, or do not exist, on the
shores of temperate countries. It is doubtful even if one small species of
these three genera, an Oliva, inhabits the southern shores of Europe ;
whilst in a higher latitude, on the coast of South America, species of ali
three are the most abundant kinds.
At Bahia Blanca many of these shells are embedded in gravel, and have
been raised above the level of the sea. Now let us suppose that the
climate of South America and of the surrounding seas were to undergo
some change, so as to become in every respect like that of Europe; it
can, I think, scarcely be doubted, that the shells of the abovementioned
genera would gradually become extinct, and be replaced by others better
adapted to the new climate. What, then, would a geologist say, who
entertained the generally-received opinions on the distribution of organic
beings in accordance with our knowledge of the northern hemisphere (or,
rather, in this imaginary case of both hemispheres), when he found
these gravel beds abounding with ee, Volutas, and Terebras ?—such
2Q 2
612 ADDENDA.
shells not existing there. We may also suppose that he had discovered
that the limits of the more tropical forms, both animal and vegetable, of
the productions of the land, had likewise during this former period
extended further south: what, then, would he say? Would he not at
once infer, with the strongest appearance of truth, that the climate formerly
. had a more tropical character, properly so called, and therefore had a higher
annual mean temperature than at present? Nevertheless, we know such
an inference would have been absolutely erroneous. To put the case in
another point of view: should a geologist find, in lat. 39°, on the coast
of Spain, a tertiary deposit, abounding with Olivas, Volutas, and Terebras ; ~
or in lat. 45°, on the coast of France, other beds, containing a large
Voluta, and numerous Patella, Fissurelle, Chitons, and Balani, larger
and of stronger growth than the existing species, would he be justified,
after what is now known, in pronouncing that the climate formerly had
a higher mean temperature? I think it may be safely asserted that
he would not be so justified, but rather would be bound to search for
other evidence. In the actual case of Europe, we have knowledge (as will
be shown in a following note*) of another element in the problem,
namely of the lower descent during former times of the snow-line,—as is
inferred from the former low descent of glaciers, on the same moun-
tains, where they now occur only at great heights; and likewise from
the congelation during this same period of the soil in a low latitude—and
this new element, I believe, gives the key to the solution of the problem,
which is, that the climate of Europe was formerly more equable, but so
far from being strictly more tropical, that it probably even had a lower
mean annual temperature than it now possesses. I need scarcely say
that I here refer only to the later tertiary periods: in the more ancient
epochs, the plainest analogies tell us of an equatorial climate, whilst on
the other hand, we are very far from having the smallest reason to sup-
pose that the snow-line then descended low ; and this is the key, as Ihave
called it, to the problem of later times.
Page 282.
With respect to ice transporting fragments of rock in the Antarctic
regions, M. Cordier, in bis instructions (L’Institut, 1837, p. 283) to the
voyage of the Astrolabe and the Zélée, has this passage: “ Les relations
de l’expédition anglo-américaine de découverte exécutée en 1830, nous ont
* As these notes are appended to the Journal, I haye found it scarcely
possible to classify them properly. I have been obliged to allude to the
lower descent of the glaciers in Europe during former periods—facts which
are first brought forward in a succeeding note to p. 294.
ADDENDA. 613
fait connaitre que les plages des Nouvelles-Shetland sont couvertes de
grands blocs erratiques formés de granite, et par conséquent d’une nature
différente des autres roches du pays. M. James Eights, naturaliste de
Pexpédition, n’hésite pas a considérer ces blocs comme ayant été apportés
par les glaces, qui viennent annuellement s’échouer et se fondre sur les
plages dont il s’agit et comme étant Jes indices de terres inconnues situées
plus prés du pdle que la terre la Trinité.” I have not been able to find
any account of this expedition, Lieutenant Kendall describes (Geograph.
Journal, 1830) pinnacles of syenite in Smith’s Island, one of the South
Shetland group; so that the inferences regarding the distances, from which
the blocks are supposed to have come, probably are erroneous.
In speaking (p. 272) of the rigour of the climate of Deception Island
in South Shetland, I might have mentioned that Lieut. Kendall says
( Geograph. Journal, 1830, p. 66), that on March the Sth, “ We took the
hint of the freezing over of the cove (lat. 62° 55’) and effected our retreat.”
This is the same as if, in the northern hemisphere, the harbour of
Christiansund in Norway, were to freeze on the 8th of September!
Page 285.
I have described the dimensions of the great glacier which in
Jat. 46° 50’, sends down an arm to Kelly Harbour, and another to a flat
swamp ; I now find from information communicated to me by Captain
FitzRoy, that it must communicate with the channels and bays north-
ward, which extend behind the peninsula of Tres Montes. Aguéros, in
giving an account of an expedition of the missionaries (Descripcion Histo-
rial de la Provincia de Chiloe, p. 227), says, they encountered in the La-
guna de San Rafael (lat. 46° 33’ to 46° 48’) “ many icebergs (muchos
farallones de nieve), some great, some small, and others middle sized.”
This was on the 22d of November, 1778. Captain FitzRoy also tells me,
that in the account of another missionary voyage, it is said that the boats
had difficulty, on account of the islands of ice, in passing through the Catto
de Perdon, a strait connecting the Laguna de San Rafael, with the other
bays behind Tres Montes. Transposing in imagination, as I have done
at p. 291, the places in the southern hemisphere to corresponding ones in
Europe, these facts are the same as if, in a channel of the sea stretching
‘from the Mediterranean between the Alps and the Jura, a boat should
encounter in the latitude of the lake of Geneva, and on the 22d of June, (but
not on one occasion only,) so many icebergs, and of such dimensions, that
the historian of the voyage should describe them as being “some great,
some small, and others middle sized” !
Having insisted so strongly, in this part of my Journal, that it is in the
southern hemisphere, where tropical forms encroach on the temperate
614 ADDENDA.
zones, that solid glaciers descend to the sea in low latitudes ; I might have
added that it is in this same hemisphere, that the icebergs, which have
been formed in the Polar Regions, are drifted furthest from their birth-
place. Horsburgh ( Philosoph. Transact., 1830) describes several great ice-
bergs seen by a ship, in her passage to India, in 35° 50’ S.: that is, far to
the northward of the latitude, where tree-ferns, arborescent grasses, para-
sitical orchideous plants, and even palm-trees grow ; and within sixty miles
of the land, where the rhinoceros, elephant, hippopotamus, lion,and hyena,
are very numerous.
Page 289.
Until lately I was not aware that there were sufficient data to speak
with some precision of the southern limits of erratic blocks in the northern
half of the New World. In Canada, and in the northern parts of the
United States, innumerable great scattered fragments of rocks have been
described by Bayfield, Bigsly, Hitchcock, and others. In parts of Massa-
chusetts, according to Professor Hitchcock (Report on the Geology of),
boulders seem to cover the whole face of the country. Further south-
ward we hear from Mr. Rogers (Report to Brit. Assoc., vol. iii.) that boulders
are common over the great valley which crosses Pennsylvania, Maryland,
and Virginia (lat. 56° 30’ to 42°): and likewise in the states of Ohio,
Kentucky, and Indiana, which are in nearly the same latitude. Mr.
Rogers having described some blocks of sandstone at Washington and on
the Susquehanna, which must have come from some distance northward,
adds that “ Drake in his picture of Cincinnati (39° 10’) mentions large
masses of granite in that part of the Obio, resting on the ordinary finer
diluvium. The nearest granite to the north is at least one hundred leagues
distant ; while no primary rock occurs south or east, within even a much
greater limit.” He then proceeds, ‘“‘ We are reminded here of the great
detached blocks, which strew the plains of northern Europe, and the ex-
planation suggested, that they have been carried there upon floating ice ;”
and concludes with the important remark, that Mr. Conrad, who has ex-
plored the state of Alabama (30° to 35°) was never once able to perceive
a boulder upon its surface. It would hence appear that 36° 80’ is the
southern limit of the dispersion of erratic blocks in the United States ;
and these are spoken of, as having come from the north. Therefore, there
is no occasion to suppose that the ice, in which by the theory they are
believed to have been embedded, was formed in so low a latitude as that
here mentioned ; and at present, in the southern hemisphere, icebergs are
drifted to latitudes, though not formed in them, nearer the tropic than
36° 30’. In Europe I cannot hear of erratic blocks having been found
further south than the southern flanks of the Alps, in lat.45°; and Hum-
e
ADDENDA. 615
boldt has said (see Cuvier’s Theory of the Earth, translated by Professor
Jameson, p. 846) that they do not occur in Lombardy. I may here re-
mark, that care should be taken to separate the phenomenon of great
angular blocks, from that of rounded ones, although of considerable
size; for torrents, and more especially the waves of the sea, during
its slow oscillation of level, are agents sufficiently powerful to produce
great effects. The lowest latitude in South America, in which I found
large angular fragments, which must have been transported by ice there
formed, or by some unknown means, was in latitude 41°. But as I did
not examine the country immediately north of it, I am not prepared to
say that this is their extreme limit ; but between latitude 27° and 33°, I
found no appearance, on either side of the Cordillera, which indicated a
power of transportation of the kind required to remove boulders from a
distance. Thus, we find that the limit of their dispersion in the two
Americas is nearly the same; although they approach the warmer zones
rather more closely in the northern than in the southern division of the
continent, and in both, probably, more so than in Europe.
In the note, in which I have considered the apparent exceptions to the
law, that erratic boulders are not found in the intertropical regions, I
have said that the internal evidence of the Macao case led me to doubt its
reality, and I now find it is distinctly stated by M. Chevalier that the
rounded blocks result from the secular disintegration of the fundamental
rock (L’Institut, 1838, p. 151—Analysis of the Voyage of the Bonite). 1
may here add, that M. Puillon Boblaye, in his description of Bone and
Constantine on the northern coast of Africa (L’ Institut, 1838, p. 248,
says, “ Je n’ai rien vu que putt indiquer le phénomeéne des blocs erratiques.”
My statement that erratic boulders are not found in Australia, is fully
borne out by information communicated to me by Major Mitchell, who,
in his repeated expeditions, has traversed so much of the south-east divi- |
sion of that continent. With the several facts given here and in the
Journal (p. 289), I can scarcely doubt that the law of the distribution of
erratic blocks is finally determined ; and it is needless to specify the great,
not to say conclusive, importance of this law on the theory of the means
of their transportation, — a problem which has so long perplexed
geologists.
Page 294.
In my discussion on the climate of the southern hemisphere, I have
showa that a low altitude of the line of perpetual snow, and consequently
the descent of glaciers to the level of the sea in latitudes relatively low to
what occurs in the northern hemisphere, and likewise the perpetual con-
gelation of the soil a little beneath the surface in countries without the
*
616 ADDENDA.
frigid zone, are the results of a climate which appears favourable to the
passage of tropical forms beyond their proper limits, and to a vigorous
native vegetation. The climate is one of an equable nature ; and this
must, to a considerable degree, be the effect of the great area of ocean
compared with the land of the southern hemisphere. In the northern he-
misphere we have proofs, that the productions both of the land and water,
during the period antecedent to the present, had a more tropical charac-
ter than they now have, and there is, also, a high degree of probability that
the proportional area of water was much greater.
If then we judge from the analogy of the southern hemisphere, the
first and simple inference from these facts, is, that the temperature of Europe
was formerly more equable, though perhaps with a lower mean, than it
now is. It may be asked, as a test of this inference, did the snow-line’
formerly descend lower than it now does? Was the soil formerly frozen
a little beneath the surface in a low latitude? The congealed carcasses
of the great Pachydermata of Siberia answer the second question ; and in
my journal, I have indirectly considered the first one as answered, by the
fact of the many erratic boulders of Europe having travelled from moun-
tains, situated in regions where great bodies of ice do not at present descend
to the level of the sea. For on the theory that these boulders were trans-
ported by icebergs from glaciers, which formerly descended into the sea in
latitudes where perpetual snow is not now found, or if so, only at great
heights, the problem receives so simple a solution, that I did not hesitate,
having the other data, to assume, that the snow-line in Europe formerly
did descend much lower than it does at present. But, had I studied my
subject more attentively, I might have taken a higher ground : in a note,
indeed (p. 294), I have stated that according to Professor Esmark, it is
certain, that the glaciers of Norway formerly descended to a lower level ;
and I now found that some time since, Messrs. Venetz and Charpentier,
and more lately M. Agassiz, have incontestably shown, from the presence
of glacier-dikes or moraines, and from the polished and scratched surface —
of the rocks, that in the Alps enormous bodies of ice formerly descended
to the borders even of the lake of Geneva, and therefore much lower than
the line of present lowest descent.* With these several facts it might
have been boldly asserted, that the climate of Europe formerly was like
* No doubt if much more snow fell formerly than at present, the
glaciers would formerly have descended somewhat lower; but as Europe
now has a moderately humid climate, it is improbable in the highest
degree (if indeed possible) that a difference of that kind could have
caused the former extremely low descent of the ancient glaciers of the
Alps: therefore we are compelled to attribute the difference to a change
of temperature of some kind.
i)
ADDENDA. 617
that of the southern hemisphere as it now is; and consequently, as we
know, that the sea within recent tertiary periods stood at a higher level
over a large portion of our continent, it might have been affirmed, had
there been no record of the existence of erratic blocks on this side of the
globe, that it would be an anomaly, difficult of explanation, should there
not be found around the eminences of central and northern Europe great
unrolled fragments, scattered at long distances from their parent sources,
and often separated from them by profound valleys.
M. Agassiz has lately (Address to the Helvetic Society, July 1837,
translated in Jameson’s New Philosophical Journal, vol. xxiii., p. 364, and in
several communications in the French periodical L’ Institut) written on the
subject of the glaciers and boulders of the Alps. He clearly proves, as
it appears to me, that the presence of the boulders on the Jura cannot be
explained by any debacle, or by the power of ancient glaciers driving
before them moraines, or by the subsequent elevation of the surface on
which the boulders now lie. M. Agassiz also denies that they were
transported by floating ice, but he does not fully state his objections to this
theory ; nor does he oppose it, by the argument of the apparent anomaly of
a low descent of glaciers, with the generally-received opinion of the more
tropical character of the productions of the antecedent periods,—which was
philosophical, until the effects of a temperate and equable climate were
considered.* On the contrary, he assumes that, during the gradual cooling
of the earth, there have been periods of excessive refrigeration. It is
needless to state that such an hypothesis is not supported by a single
fact—without, indeed, the assumed sudden renewal of life on the surface of
the world at successive periods be considered such. During this imagined
period of excessive refrigeration, the Alps and the greater part of Europe,
and even of Asia, are supposed to have been covered by one immense
sheet of ice, and during the asswmed sudden elevation of the Alps, frag-
ments of rocks are supposed to have been shot over the frozen surface,
and, when the ice melted, to have dropped on the surface where they now
lie. M. Agassiz considers that this view explains the position of the
boulders on pinnacles, and their absence in the valleys. I confess I
should have thought, after the flexure and elevation of the ice, these
would have been the least probable situations: but neither this, or some
* M. Charpentier (in his account of M. Venetz’s investigations on the
Glaciers of the Valais—Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, vol. xxi., p.
215) was fully aware of this difficulty. His explanation rests on a sup-
posed enormous oscillation of level in the Alps,—an assumption which is
unsupported by other facts, and is not applicable to the general case of
Europe.
618 ADDENDA.
other facts (p. 381), are quite intelligible to me from the briefness, with
which they are alluded to. M. Agassiz says (p. 375), “ The erratic
blocks of the Jura every where repose on polished surfaces, all those at
least which have not been carried beyond the crest of our mountains, and
which have not fallen to the bottom of our longitudinal valleys, as may be
seen throughout the valleys of the Creux du Vent. But they do not
repose immediately upon these polished surfaces. Wherever the rounded
pebbles which accompany the great blocks have not been removed by
subsequent influences, it is remarked that small blocks, in other words
pebbles of different sizes, form a bed of some inches, and sometimes even
of many feet, upon which the great angular blocks repose. These pebbles
are also much rounded, even polished, and are heaped up in such a way
that the larger are above the smaller, and that the last often pass below
into a fine sand, lying immediately over the polished surfaces. This
order of superposition, which is constant, is opposed to all idea of a
transport by currents; for in this latter case the order of the super-
position of the pebbles would have been precisely reversed.” Further on
(p. 879) he remarks that the action of the glaciers is immense; ‘ for
these masses, continually moving upon each other, and on the surface,
bruise and grind down every thing moveable, and polish the solid surfaces
on which they repose ; at the same time that they push before them all
that they encounter, with a force which is irresistible. It is to these
movements (of the great stratum of ice) we must attribute the strange
superposition of the rolled pebbles, and of the sand, which immediately
reposes upon the polished surfaces; and it is unquestionably to the
grating of this sand upon these surfaces that the fine lines which we find
(previously compared to the scratches made by a diamond on glass) are
owing, and which would never have existed, if the sand had been acted
upon bya current of water.” Now it may be demanded, by what pos-
sible means can such violent action arrange the large pebbles above the
smaller ones, and these again above the sand? The fact appears to me
utterly inexplicable on this view. Again it is said, that the surface of
the rock is marked by furrows and gibbosities, as well as by scratches, and
that these “ never follow the direction of the slope of the mountain, but
are oblique and longitudinal (that is, in the line of the mountain, and
therefore nearly horizontal), a direction which excludes every idea of a
stream of water being the cause of these erosions.” What explanation
will it be believed is offered for this fact ?—It is, that the fine lines and
furrows “must have resulted from the much greater facility which the ice
had in dilating itself in the direction of the great Swiss valley, than trans-
versely, confined as it were between the Jura and the Alps.”!
ADDENDA. 619
I will now endeavour to show how far these very curious facts, which
we owe to M. Agassiz’s observation, can be explained by the theory of
floating ice: and the theory, I may add, if applicable to this case, solves
that which presents far greater difficulties, than any other of the kind
in Europe. I should first state that I make two assumptions, and if these
be rejected, the theory is not applicable to the case of the erratic blocks
of the Alps :—first, that an arm of the sea extended between the Jura and
the Alps, during that period in which, as I have before shown, it is probable,
that the proportional area of water in Europe was greater, and certain,
that the productions of the land and water had a more tropical character,
at the same time that the snow-line descended lower. The age of the
Molasse, which occupies this area, between the Jura and Alps, has not
been accurately determined; but it is supposed to be miocene, and is
said to contain leaves of the Chamzerops, a genus of palms, at present
found further from the equator than any other kind. It is not, however,
evident that the Molasse was deposited by the sea during the latest
period, when it occupied a confined limit between the Alps and Jura ;
but even if this should be found to be the case, it would be rash in any
one positively to conclude that glaciers could not have descended to the
shores of a sea, on which the Chamerops flourished, after that we know
they descend in the southern hemisphere so near the limits of several
tropical forms.
My second assumption is, that the elevation of this much of Switzer-
land, whenever it took place, was slow and gradual: this is supported by
the strongest analogies of South America, Scandinavia, and other parts of
the world ; whilst on the other hand, the assumption that it had been sudden,
would be unsupported by a single ascertained fact in nature. Now, as
the numerous masses of ice, which fall from the glaciers at the head of the
sounds on the South American coast, are slowly drifted outwards (owing
to the fresh water flowing in from the foot of the glaciers), and in the more
open channels are left to be acted on by the winds and currents; so must
it have been with the icebergs. from the glaciers of the Alps, situated in
the same latitude, and under similar conditions. 'These icebergs would in
most cases be driven on some part of the surrounding shore; but from
floating deep they would ground a little way from the beach, and then
being packed together, and driven to and fro, as the winds changed, and as
the tides rose and fell, would they not, like a glacier on the land, though
in a lesser degree, ‘bruise and grind down every thing and polish the solid
surface, on which they reposed?” In the rapids of the North American
rivers, over which large bodies of ice are driven, carrying with them peb-
bles and fragments of rocks, 1 am informed by Dr. Richardson, that the
primitive rocks are scooped and hollowed, and have their surfaces polished
and glossy. Dr. Richardson, however, is not prepared to say, whether this
620 ADDENDA.
is caused by the passage of the ice or of the pebbles.* Although the ice-
bergs might be drifted from side to side of the sound, if they were moved
after having grounded, it would be along the shore by the set of the cur-
rents or wind, and perhaps slightly up and down by the tidal changes.
Would not the necessary effect of this be, that the scratches formed by
the sand grating between the rocks and the bottom of the icebergs should
be, with some irregularities, longitudinal, or (from the effect of the tidal
movement) oblique? And as the mountains slowly emerged during ages,
every part would be thus acted on; and consequently the whole surface
would be marked by longitudinal scratches.
The icebergs on the South American coast sometimes transport angular
fragments of rock, to the distance of many miles from the glacier whence
they were detached ; and as the winds and currents generally have suffi-
cient steadiness to drive any floating object soon on shore, (as is known
to be the case with a capsized boat, a barrel, or floating carcass, &c.), so
the blocks of rock would be generallyt landed on the shores of the chan-
* It must be remembered, that I am here considering the effect of ice-
bergs, in inland and protected sounds. Dr. Richardson tells me, that the
great icebergs in the Arctic sea are packed together, and are driven with
such force against the shore, that they push up before them, to the height
of several feet, every pebble and boulder which lies on the bottom ; and
consequently the submarine ledges of rock are kept absolutely bare. Ifa
fragment were to be wedged beneath one of these mountain-masses of ice,
when forced upward with such overwhelming power, it is impossible to
doubt that the underlying surface of solid rock would be deeply scored.
As it is known that the shingle on most beaches has a tendency to travel
in one direction, so must the icebergs; and hence we may conjecture,
that the grooves, would generally be slightly oblique to the line of coast,
and parallel to each other.
+ We might expect that they would sometimes be finches into the
deep, whilst on their passage. M. Charpentier (Edinburgh New Phil.
Journal, vol. xxi., p. 217) observes, speaking of another theory, “This
view is equally insufficient to account for the extraordinary position of
immense single blocks, which we sometimes find planted vertically in the
soil, in the valleys, as on the sides of a mountain, and split up throughout
their whole extent from top to bottom,—a phenomenon which would
force us to believe that these blocks, had fallen perpendicularly from a
certain height on the very spots where we now see them, and had been
rent asunder by the fall, into the several fragments lying near one ano-
ther.” M. Charpentier considers this owing to the fragments having fallen
through fissures in the enormous glaciers, which, as he believes, extended
from the Alps, across the lake of Geneva, and up the Jura. The explana-
tion above suggested is, at least, as simple as this.
ADDENDA. 621
nels between the Alpine ranges, and not dropped in the intervening
spaces. If any pointed rock came so near the surface that a float-
ing mass of ice, thus charged, grounded on it, the block would, when the
ice melted, be there left. But it may be asked, would the blocks usually
be deposited on the bare surface of the rocky bottom off the shore, or on
an intervening layer of gravel or sediment ? From what I have observed
when passing in boats through the channels of Tierra del Fuego, and from
frequent examinations of the armings of the lead used in sounding, I feel
nearly sure that absolutely bare submarine rock is not very common.
Moreover, where matter is depositing near a shore, the finer the particles
are, the further they are drifted: in approaching a coast I have actually
traced every step in the series, from the finest sand to large pebbles. But
as the land in any case is slowly elevated, the same forces which carried
the large pebbles to a certain distance from the beach, and the smaller
ones to a still further distance, will, after each little elevation, carry them
somewhat further :—a layer of little pebbles thus covering the sand, and
a layer of large pebbles the smaller ones. Hence, when the part near the
shore is converted into dry land, a section of the bed which was origi-
nally the bottom of the sea will necessarily show solid rock covered by
sand, this by fine pebbles, and these again by others, gradually increasing
in size. Such then, I conclude, must have been the nature of the sub-
littoral deposits of the Alps, during their assumed slow elevation. Finally,
as icebergs of large size would seldom be driven up on the beach of a sheet
of water, if, like the channel between the Jura and the Alps, it were pro-
tected from the open sea, any fragments of rock transported by them would
have been dropped some way outside, and therefore when upraised with
the whole country, they would be found in most cases reposing on beds
(where the loose matter had not been subsequently removed), charac-
terized by the order of superposition just described.
Such is the explanation I would suggest of the very curious facts
observed by M. Agassiz. I make no assumptions which are not sup-
ported by strong analogies and the foundation of the theory—namely, a
change of climate of a peculiar kind—can be shown by reasoning, inde-
pendent of the existence of erratic blocks, to be probable in a high
degree: whether this is the case with the theory of M. Agassiz, I leave
the reader to decide.
Having said thus much on the scratched rocks of the Alps, I am
tempted to make a few remarks on those of Scotland, described by Sir
James Hall* in his celebrated paper (Hdinburgh Phil. Transact., vol. vii.)
* Sir James Hall believes that erratic boulders were transported by
debacles, when embedded in ice. He seems to have been led to this
opinion, by a clear perception of the difficulty of supposing the existence
622 ADDENDA.
on the Revolutions of the Earth’s Surface :—a case which has always
appeared to me to be the strongest ever adduced in favour of the theory
of an overwhelming debacle having rushed, at least in that country, over
hill and valley. The furrows and scratches in the same district are
parallel to each other, and hence run in the same direction :—thus, near
Edinburgh, they extend in a line a little north of west and south of east,
that is parallel to the valley of the estuary; but both to the eastward and
westward they deviate from this line by more than half a right angle ; and
on the south-west part of Scotland they have no uniform direction.
In the north of Scotland, however, near Brora, Mr. Murchison (Geolog.
Transact. 2d Series, vol. ii., p. 857) found the hills marked in parallel
lines, directed north-west and south-east. The furrows and scratches
near Edinburgh seem generally to traverse the less inclined surfaces, but
Sir James, speaking of one part, says “the perpendicular face as well as
the rest is covered with lines, which are horizontal, or nearly so.” In
these respects the case appears very similar to that of the Alps: the
rocks, however, are not polished ;* but this may be owing to their nature,
sandstone and trap, and not to any difference in the cause; for Dr.
Richardson tells me that in the same rivers in North America, in which
the granitic rocks are much polished, those of laminated limestone are
not at all so. Near Edinburgh, where the lines extend west and east,
the western face of the hills (of which the highest mentioned is four
hundred and seventy feet above the sea) is chiefly marked, whilst on the
opposite or protected side, a long tail of (so called) diluvium extends,
which consists of blue clay, with large erratic boulders embedded in it.
These boulders, as I am informed by Mr. James Hall, and by Mr. Smith
of Jordanhill, are themselves marked with parallel lines, having one
direction, which shows that they were held fast whilst drifted across the
country, and not rolled over and over, like a pebble inastream. It is
of glaciers in the Alps and in other regions of central Europe, excepting
at great altitudes; and from such situations a debacle was absolutely
requisite to transport fragments on ice. Sir James rejects the belief of
M, Wrede (given on the authority of De Luc), that the boulders of the
Baltic may have been brought into their present place by ice, -acting,
during a steady and slow change in the level of the ocean. M. Wrede,
therefore, appears to have been the originator of the theory advocated in
this volume ; and no country was more likely than Sweden to have given
birth to such a theory.
* It is, however, said in Professor Buckland’s Reliquie Diluviane,
p- 202, that Colone] Imrie found the surface of some trap-rocks in the
southern parts of Stirlingshire, having “a considerable degree of polish ;
and this polish is almost always seen marked by long linear scratches.”
ADDENDA. 623
admitted by all that the grooves on the solid rock were formed by the
passage of these boulders over it. Although the minor inequalities of
the surface of the land appear to have had no influence whatever on the
action which produced the scratches, yet the larger features, as the
general bearing of the main valleys, appear to have determined their
direction. Sir James distinctly states that the scoopings and furrows have
precisely that form which the long action of torrents tends to produce on
a solid rock ; but he adds, and I believe most truly, that the furrowed
surface produced by such means is smooth, and not deeply scored and
scratched. It is indeed utterly inconceivable that large stones should be
carried along as if “ independently of their gravity” by any ordinary means,
with such velocity, as to mark with horizontal lines the perpendicular
face of a rock. From these facts,—from the presence of great erratic
blocks, from the steepness of one face of the grooved hills, and the
tail of sediment stretching out from the other, Sir James Hall, having
in his mind the recorded cases of the great waves consequent on earth-
quakes, inferred that a vast deluge had burst over the country from the
westward.
M. Brongniart, and lately M. Sefstrom (Z’Jnstitut, February 22d, 1837),
have described phenomena in Sweden almost identical with those of Scot-
land. The rocks are there grooved and scratched,* even to the height of
1500 feet, in north and south lines, parallel to the valley of the Baltic and
of the Gulf of Bothnia; but they are considerably ‘deflected by the
larger inequalities of surface. The north side of the hills are most-affected,
whilst from the southern side, long ridges, called oasars, stretch out ; they
are composed of sand and waterworn materials, and appear to be simi-
lar, but on a much larger scale, to the tails of diluvium in Scotland. In
Sweden, however, the erratic blocks always lie on the surface of these
ridges, and are not embedded within them: but M. Sefstrém says, that
at the time when the grooves were formed, enormous masses of rock were
torn from the mountains. In the United States, the phenomenon of the
grooved rocks appears to be developed in an extraordinary manner. Pro-
* Mr. Lyell, moreover, describes (Philosoph. Transact., 1835, p. 18),
the rocks of gneiss on the beach near Oregrund in Sweden, as being so
“ smooth and polished, that it is difficult to walk on them.” Further on
(p. 21), he describes the large bodies of ice, which are annually packed
on this coast, so as to be eighteen feet thick: here then we have the
same phenomena as in the Alps; and great icebergs in movement, instead
of solid glaciers. More lately M. Berzelius has sent specimens of these
rocks, “polished as if by emery ina constant rectilinear direction” (Zdinb.
New Phil. Journal, vol. 1., p. 318), to Paris, accompanied by a letter to
M. Elie de Beaumont.
624 ADDENDA.
fessor Hitchcock (Report on the Geolog. of Massachusetts, p. 167) de-
scribes a tract about two hundred miles in width, over which nearly all
the bare rock on the hills, even to the height of three thousand feet, is
scored by parallel lines. In some parts boulders, weighing from fifty to
one hundred tons, are yet lying on the surfaces, which bear the marks of
their passage. The furrows are generally directed a little west of north,
but in the western part of Massachusetts, and in the eastern of New York,
they extend in a north-west and south-east line, and in one part even to
W. 20° N. M. Sefstrom and Professor Hitchcock explain these appear-
ances in their respective countries by the same agency, as Sir James Hall
does in Scotland.
The theory of a great debacle is in these cases based on the united
presence of erratic boulders, ridges of waterworn materials, forming tails
to scarped hills, and parallel furrows and scratches on the surface of the
rocks. Ist. With respect to the boulders, it would be superfluous to
repeat the arguments in favour of the idea of their transportation by ice :
and in the case of Sweden, it would be pre-eminently superfluous, as we
know. (see Lyell on the Rising of the Land in Sweden, Phil. Transact., 1835)
that blocks are there transported yearly by this means. 2d. Every one
who has examined a great estuary, or a channel where the tides run
strongly, is aware that linear banks are formed behind any obstacle.
Therefore these tails of diluvium might have been formed, as far as regards
their external form, by ordinary means; and with respect to their internal
structure, which appears extremely irregular, and without any stratification,
it must be difficult for any one to speak with certainty, until the joint
effects of ice transporting coarse fragments and gentle currents of water,
fine mud, are better known. Mr. Lyell, indeed (Phil. Transact., 1835,
p. 15) has advanced strong reasons, showing from the structure and com-
position of the oasars that they could not have been formed by any sud-
den debacle. Whilst such linear banks were depositing on one side of the
hills, the other, or exposed front, would almost necessarily become scarped.
3d. We have the admission of Sir James Hall, that the scoopings and
grooves resemble those produced by the slow action of running water :
therefore the scratches appear to be the only part of the phenomenon
which remains unexplained.
In the Alps, we are told, that scratches are formed on rocks by glaciers
grinding over them. According to the theory of floating ice, we have
evidence in the erratic blocks near Edinburgh, that ice was formerly in
action there ; and, from the analogies given in this volume, it might well
have been so, since the scene of supposed action lies two degrees nearer
the Pole than Georgia, in the southern ocean, “ almost wholly covered
with everlasting snow.” What then would be the effect of the tides and
gales of wind, driving packed icebergs with irresistible force, through chan-
ADDENDA. 625
nels, and over rocky shoals ;—each part of the surface being exposed for
centuries, as the country was elevated, to this action? Would not the
fragments of rock embedded in the ice grate in a direct path over the
surface, regardless of minor inequalities? and would not the fragments
themselves be grooved and scored in one direction? Can we for one
moment believe it possible that boulders, either in water or in the
thickest mud, could be driven over a rugged surface, or along a_ per-
pendicular face of solid rock, with such enormous velocity as with their
points to groove and scratch it, and nevertheless not to be rolled over and
over, like a stone descending a mountain, but to be marked with parallel
lines of abrasion, equally with the fixed, underlying mass? It appears to
me that we assuredly can make no such admission. ‘Travellers in the
Arctic regions tell us that the drift-ice, with its irresistible power, can
force up the gravel and sand into mounds (see Geograph. Journal, vol.
viii., p. 221), and drive before it great bouldérs, and even ships, and
masses of ice, high and dry on the beach. What then would be the effect
of a few pebbles, or a single fragment, between such masses of ice and a
steep coast-wall of rock ? Would not scratches “ horizontal, or nearly so”’
be formed, “indicating (to use Sir James Hall’s words) that grinders had
been pressed against the rock;” as if “ independently of their gravity” ?
In this explanation only vere cause are introduced, and reasons
can be assigned, for the belief that these causes have been in action
in these districts. On the theory of debacles, it still remains to be
proved that rocks can be thus scooped and furrowed, or hills scarped ;
although I am far from affirming they cannot,—and scratched, I presume,
they certainly would be. With respect to Sweden, where the land is
now rising, and where ice even still is a transporting agent, it is undoubt-
edly the part of the geologist, to endeavour by long and laborious research
to account for the phenomena by these real agencies. For to introduce,
before it is absolutely forced on us, the hypothesis of a deluge of mud
and stones, fifteen hundred feet deep in Sweden, or three thousand in
North America, which rushing over the country, rounded the northern
fronts of the hills, and rolling by their eastern and western flanks, left them
marked with oblique furrows, is to violate, as it appears to me, every rule
of inductive philosophy.
Page 297.
With reference to the embedment of the Siberian animals with their
flesh, I have mentioned in a note, the case of ice described as rising from
the bottom of the sea, off the coast of Greenland. Messrs. Dease and
Simpson, during their late memorable journey along the shores of the
Arctic ocean, speaking of one part (Geograph. Journal, vol. viii., p. 218)
VOL. III. 2 Qk*
626 ADDENDA.
say, ‘‘ The ice lay much closer here ; and numerous masses adhered to the
bottom, under the water, which obliged us to search a passage out from
the shore.” Further on (p. 220) they say, “ But nowhere had the thaw
penetrated more than two inches beneath the surface (of the land), while
under water along the shore, the bottom was still impenetrably frozen.”
This was on the second of August. It should, however, be observed,
that the sea along this part of the American coast is extremely shallow.
Page 321.
1 have given my reasons for believing that the temperature of the
mineral springs of Cauquenes, was permanently changed by the earth-
quake of 1822. This inference is altogether false, for I find that
Schmidtmeyer, in his Travels in Chile during the years 1820.and 1821,
says (p. 811) that the temperature of the different springs was 83°, 103°,
106°, 112°, 117° and 118° of Fahrenheit. Now Mr. Caldcleugh says,
after the earthquake of February, 1835, the temperature fell from 118° to
92°. Previously, therefore, to this shock, it had regained the tempera-
ture which it had in 1820.
Page 377.
When I offered my views on the cause of the great waves, which follow
earthquakes on certain coasts, I was not aware of the paper on this subject
by Sir James Hall in the Edinburgh Royal Transactions, vol. vii., p. 154.
I cannot, however, perceive the necessity of a sudden elevation of the bot-
tom, to produce the observed effects, as supposed by that distinguished
philosopher. Having read the abstract of a Notice on the Resistance of
Water, by Mr. Russell, I perceive the subject is far more intricate, than
I was at the time aware. |
Page 381.
I have said that during the few months subsequently to the great shock
of February, 1835, at Concepcion, upwards of three hundred tremours were
felt, but I should have said, within twelve days. (See Geograph. Journal,
vol. vi., p. 822. Sketch of Surveying Voyage of the Adventure and Beagle,
by Captain FitzRoy). From some additional information which I have
met with since finishing this chapter, I find the train of volcanic pheno-
mena, which followed this earthquake, affected a larger area than that
mentioned (seven hundred by four hundred miles), and affected it ina
manner which gives great additional weight to the argument that South
America is in that part a mere crust resting over a sheet of fluid rock ;
ADDENDA. 627
and likewise to the generalization that the action of volcanoes, and the
permanent elevation of the land (and consequently, as I believe, the ele-
vation of mountain chains) are parts of the same phenomenon, and due to
the same cause.
Page 446.
When I put together the few and exceedingly imperfect remarks on the
subject of Miasmata, I did not know of Dr. Ferguson’s remarkable disser- .
tation—the result of his investigations in Holland, Spain, Portugal, and
the West Indies—on the Nature and History of Marsh Poison (Edin-
burgh Royal Transact., vol. ix., p. 273). He there clearly proves the fact,
which had struck me with so much surprise, namely, that the driest dis-
tricts, which, according to common notions, would be considered as the
most healthy, are often singularly the contrary. In his concluding re-
marks, Dr. Ferguson says (p. 290), “ One only condition, then, seems to
be indispensable to the production of the marsh poison, on all surfaces
capable of absorption, and that is the paucity of water, where it has pre-
viously or recently abounded. ‘To this there is no exception in climates
of high temperature ; and from thence we may justly infer, that the poi-
son-is produced at a highly advanced stage of the drying process.” And,
from facts previously stated, it would appear that even in barren hilly coun-
tries, the banks of mountain torrents, which had been overflowed, some-
times became extremely insalubrious. In another place, Dr. Ferguson
says, “It is from these (the dried and half-dried margins of lakes and
marshes) that the poison uniformly emanates, and never from the body
of the lake or pool; and I think it may be fairly presumed, that water, as
long as it can preserve the figure of its particles above the surface, is in-
noxious, and that it must first be absorbed into the soil, and disappear
from the eye, before it can produce any mischievous effects. Whoever
in malarious countries waits for the evidence of putrefaction will, in all
the most dangerous places, wait too long, as every onecan testify who has seen
pestilence teem forth, to the paralyzation of armies,—from the bare barren
sands of the Alentejo in Portugal, the arid burnt plains of Estremadura
in Spain, and the recently flooded table-lands of Barbadoes.” I cannot
forbear quoting here a remarkable fact, mentioned by Humboldt, though
interpreted in a different manner by that illustrious traveller. Speaking
of the intermittent fevers which are so common near the great cataracts, or
raudales, of the Orinoko, he says (Pers. Nar., vol. v., p. 17) the causes
‘* are violent heats, joined with the excessive humidity of the air, bad nu-
. triment, and, if we may believe the natives (as well as the missionaries),
the pestilent exhalations that arise from the bare rocks of the raudales.”
Further on (p. 85), he says, “ many examples are adduced of persons, who
628 ADDENDA.
having passed the night on these black and naked rocks, have awakened
in the morning with a strong paroxysm of fever.” Humboldt thinks that
these cases may be explained by the effect produced on the body by the
high temperature, which the black rocks, coated with a layer of the oxides
of manganese and iron, retain during the night. But it appears to me
that the relation is too remarkable to be thus explained, between this
fact and those mentioned by Dr. Ferguson, in which the desiccation of
nearly bare rock in Spain, and of a very thin bed of earth overlying dry
coral-rock in the West Indies, has given rise to the most pestiferous
exhalations.
Page 461.
The sixth bird, mentioned as an inhabitant of the Galapagos, Mr.
Gould now finds is not like the rest, peculiar to these see but isa
known North American species of Ammodramus.
Page 465.
I have given my reason for believing that the Zestudo, inappropriately
called Indicus, is an aboriginal species of the Galapagos. I now find (Kerr's
Voyages, vol. X., p. 873) that as far back as 1708, Woods, Rogers, and
Courtney, in their voyage round the world, speaking of the tortoises of |
these islands, say that it is the opinion of the Spaniards that there is no
other in these seas, except at the Galapagos: it is, however, then added,
that they are common in Brazil,—a mistake which may be attributed to
two different species not having been distinguished. It has been said
that the bones of TYestudo Indicus were found in numbers in the Isle
of France, with some fragments of those of the Dodo; but M. Bibron—
one of the best authorities in Europe on reptiles—informs me that he
has reason to believe that a second species has been confounded under
this name.
In the same page I remark that there is every reason for believing that
several of the islands possess their own peculiar varieties or species of
tortoise, but that my specimens were too small to decide this question.
M. Bibron now informs me, that he has seen full-grown animals, brought
from this Archipelago, which he considers undoubtedly to be distinct
species. At p. 467, I have observed that the specimens of the Ambly-
rhyncus cristatus—that extraordinary marine herbivorous lizard—were
larger from Albemarle, than from any other island. In this case, also,
M. Bibron tells me, he has seen what he considers two species of the ..
aquatic Amblyrhyncus, besides the terrestrial species. Doubtless the
several islands have their own representatives of the Amblyrhyncus, like
ADDENDA. 629
they have of some of the birds, and of the tortoises, With respect to the
plants from this Archipelago, Professor Henslow writes to me, that
although he has not yet examined them attentively, he finds that “there
are several instances of distinct species of the same genus, sent from one
island only: that is, whilst the genus is common to two or three islands,
the species are often different in the different islands. In some cases the
species seem to run very close to each other, but are, I believe, distinct.”
I may observe that, from my ignorance of botany, I collected more
blindly in this department of natural history than in any other ; so that
certainly it was not intentionally that I brought the different species from
different islands. If, indeed, I at all noticed their resemblance, I probably
collected the second and third species as duplicate specimens of the first.
It is useless to repeat here my regrets at not having procured a perfect series
in every order of nature from the several islands : my excuse must be, the
entire novelty of the fact, that islands in sight of each other should be
characterized by peculiar faunas: I ought, perhaps, rather to think it
fortunate, that sufficient materials were obtained to establish so remark-
able a circumstance in the geographical distribution of organic beings,
although they are insufficient to determine to what extent the fact holds
good.
Page 477.
To the two cases of land-birds being extremely tame in islands only
lately inhabited by man, I might have added Tristan da Acunha.
Captain D. Carmichael (Linn. Transact., vol. xii., p. 496), speaking of
the thrush and bunting—the only true land-birds—says, “ they fly about
the cantonment, and are so tame as to suffer themselves to be caught
with a hand-net.”
Page 552.
One of the species of Millepora, which is mentioned as having the
property of stinging, is the MZ. complanata; and the other, I believe, is
M. alcicornis, In the Voyage of the Astrolabe (vol. iv., p. 19), an
Actinia is said to have this property, and even to infect the water, which
it squirts from its mouth. A flexible coralline, allied to Sertularia, was
observed (p. 837) at New Ireland to have the same stinging power.
meyis iW
VOL. III. Qer*
INDEX
TO
MR. DARWIN’S JOURNAL.
Aborigines banished from Van Diemen’s
Land, 533.
of New South Wales, 519.
extermination of, 520.
Absence of coral formations in certain
seas, 562.
of trees in Pampas, 53.
Aconcagua, river of, 415.
, volcano of, 308.
Advice to collectors, 598.
Africa, Southern part desert, yet supports
large animals, 98.
Agouti, habits of, 81.
Albemarle Island, 457.
Alcedo Americana, 162.
Alluvium stratified in Andes, 387.
Amblyrhyncus subcristatus, 469. —
cristatus, 466.
Anas brachyptera, 457.
Animal, extinct, allied to the Camelide,
208.
Animalcula, pelagic, 16.
Angra, capital of Terceira, 594.
Antarctic islands, 272.
Antipodes, 496.
Ants of Brazil, 37.
Apires, or miners, 420.
Aplysia, 5.
Apple-trees, 363.
Aptenodytes demersa, 256.
Areas of alternate movements in the Pa-
cific and Indian oceans, 563,
Armadillo-like covering of fossil animals
in South America, 181.
Armadilloes, habits of, 113.
Arrow-head found in Pampas, 123.
Ascension, 586.
Australia, 515,
Australian barrier, 536.
Azores, 594,
VOL, III.
Bahia Blanca, 89—123.
Bahia, Brazil, 11.
, scenery of, 589.
Bald Head, Australia, 537.
Ballenar, Chile, 428.
Banda Oriental, 169.
Barking bird, 352.
Basaluc platform of Santa Cruz, 216,
Bathurst, Australia, 528.
Bay of Islands, New Zealand, 496.
Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, 237.
, scenery of, 240.
Beetles alive in sea, 186.
Beetles, dung-feeders, 583.
Bell of Quillota, 312.
Berkeley Sound, 245,
Birds, species peculiar to certain islan
in the Galapagos Archipelago, 475.
Birds, tameness of, 475.
Birgos latro, 551,
Bizcacha, habits of, 143.
Bolas, manner of using, 59.
Bones, of the guanaco collected in certain
spots, 197.
Boulders of Tierra del Fuego, 267.
Bramador, El, 441.
Brazil, great area of granite, 12.
Buenos Ayres, 140.
Bug of Pampas, 403.
Bulimus, on desert places, 426.
—, extinct species of, 582.
Burchell, Mr., travels of, 101.
Butterflies, flocks of, 185.
Butterfly producing clickmg sound, 38.
Bynoe, Mr., account of floating ice,
283.
Cacti, 318.
Calasoma, on wirg out a sea, (8.
ZR
616
Calcareous casts of branches and roots of
trees at King George’s Sound, 537.
Calcareous incrustations on rocks of As-
cension, 587.
Callao, 446.
Calomys bizcacha, 143.
Camelidz, fossil animal allied to, 210.
Cape of Good Hope, 573.
Capybara, or carpincho, 57.
Caracara, or Carrancha, 64.
Carcharias megalodon, 423.
Cardoon, beds of, 138.
Carrion hawks, 63.
Casuchas, 413.
Castro, Chiloe, 338.
Cathartes atratus, 68.
Cattle, effects of their grazing on the ve-
getation, 137.
Cattle wild at the Falkland Islands, 247.
Cauquenes, hot springs of, 321.
Cause of extinction of species among
Mammalia, 210.
of discoloured sea, 18.
Cavia Patagonica, 81.
Cervus campestris, 51.
Chacao, Chiloe, 335.
Chaik, formation of, 553.
Charles Island, Galapagos Archipelago,
456,
Cheucau, 351.
Chile, 308.
- features of country, 311.
Chiloe, 333, 356.
, forests of, 358.
, roads of, 357.
Chonos Archipelago, 342.
——- , vegetation of, 349.
, ornithology of, 353.
Chupat, Rio, 125.
Clearness of atmosphere within Andes,
398.
Clouds of vapour after rain, 27.
— on Corcovado, 33.
Colias edusa, flocks of, 185.
Collecters, advice to, 598.
Concluding remarks, 602.
Colonia del Sacramiento, 169.
Compound animals, 261.
Concepcion, Chile, 370,
Condor, habits of, 219.
Conferve, pelagic, 14.
Convicts, condition of;in New South
Wales, 531.
Copiap6, river of, 429.
—, valley of, 430.
—, town of, 437.
Coquimbo, 421.
Coral formations, 559.
, stinging species of, 552.
——., dead, 549.
INDEX.
Cordillera, passage of, 583.
, different productions on east
and west side, 399.
, structure of, 389.
, geology of, 390.
—., rivers of, 407.
Corrales, where animals are slaughtered
at Buenos Ayres, 140.
Countries, unhealthy, 446.
Crabs, hermit species of, 544.
at Keeling Island, 551.
Craters, number of at the Galapagos
Archipelago, 453.
Crustacea, like trilobites, 303.
—~, pelagic, 189.
Ctenomys Braziliensis, 58.
Cucao, Chiloe, 359.
Cuckoo-like habits of Molothrus, 6@.
Cumbre of Cordillera, 414.
Cuttle-fish, habits of, 6.
Dacelo Jugoensis, 2.
Dasypus, three species of, 113.
Deer, with strong odour, 56.
Degradation of coral reefs, 547.
Deserts of Peru, 444.
Despoblado, valley of, 437.
Diodon, habits of, 13.
Discoloured sea, 18.
Dogs, shepherd, 174.
D’Orbigny, travels in South America, 110.
Doris, eggs of, 258.
Droughts, periodical, 157.
, great in Pampas, 155.
Dung-feeding beetles, 583.
Dust, falling from atmosphere, 4.
Earthenware fossil, 452.
Earthquake at Concepcion, 370.
, effects of on hard rock, 376,
— — —, effects of on sea, 373, 377.
—_—— , line of vibration of, 375.
accompanied by an elevation of
the coast, 379.
, causes of, 380.
—at Valdivia, 369.
, effects of on the tides, 369.
—_——-, at Coquimbo, 422.
, effects of on a river-bed, 415.
of Callao, 450.
—— accompanied by rain, 431.
Eggs of Doria, 258.
Elater, springing powers of, 35.
Electricity of atmosphere, within Andes,
O99:
Elevated shells near Lima, 451.
at Chiloe, 362.
Elevation of coast of Chile, 310, 417.
IN DEX.
Elevation within human era, 451.
Entomology of the Galapagos Archipe-
layo, 473.
— of Brazil, 37.
Entre Rios, geology of, 149.
Epeira, habits of, 40.
Erratic blocks, how transported, 288.
——-— absent in intertropical countries,
288.
——— on plains of Santa Cruz, 224.
of Tierra del Fuego, 267.
Estancia, value of, 170.
Extermination of aborigines in Australia,
520.
Extinction of species, causes of, 210.
—— of wild animals in New South
Wales, 525.
Extinct quadrupeds in South America, 95,
104, 146, 149, 152, 180, 210.
Falkland Islands, 246.
—, birds tame at, 476.
Fennel, 138.
Fern-trees, 536.
Fernando Noronha, 10.
Fields of dead coral, 4.59.
Fire, art of making, 251, 488.
Fish, eating coral, 553.
—— emitting harsh sound, 160.
Fleas, 424.
Forests of Tierra del Fuego, 228, 300.
Fossil Mammalia, 95, 104, 146, 149,
152, 180, 210.
earthenware, 452.
Fox, of the Falkland Islands, 249.
—— of Chiloe, 341.
Frogs, noises of, 34.
—-—- and toads, not found on volcanic
islands, 472.
Fruit trees, southern limit of, 268.
Fucus giganteus, 303,
Fuegians, 227, 234, 239, 240, 242.
Fulgurites, 69.
Fungus, edible, 298.
Furnarius fuliginosus, 353.
rufus, 112.
—
Galapagos Archipelago, 453.
— belongs to American Zoolo-
gical province, 474.
Gallinazo, 68.
Gauchos, 48.
character of, 182.
live on meat, 136.
Gay, M., on floating islands, 323.
Geese at the Falkland Islands, 257.
Geology of La Plata, 52.
of Patagonia, 201.
611
Geology of Cordillera, 390.
Glaciers, 279, 283, 306.
effects of, 280, 283.
in lat. 46° 40’, 285.
Glow worms, 34,
Goats, destructive to vegetation at St.
Heiena, 582.
Goeree Roads, 237.
Good Success Bay, 227.
Gossamer spider, 187.
Granite mountaias, Tres Montes, 345.
Gravel, how transported. 201 to 206.
Greenstone, fragments of, 313.
Gryllus migratorius, 412.
Guanaco, habits of, 195.
Guantajaya, mines of, 444.
Guardia del Monte, 137.
Guasos of Chile, 315.
Guasco, 427.
Gunnera scabra, 340.
Gypsum, great beds of, 389.
Hailstorm, 134.
Hall, Capt. Basil, on terraces of Coquim-
bo, 423.
Height of snow-line on Cordillera, 275.
Hermit crabs, 544.
Himantopus melanura, 133.
Horse, powers of swimming of, 168.
wild at the Falkland Islands, 248,
fossil, 149.
Horsemanship of the Gauchos, 175.
Hot springs of Cauquenes, 321.
Humming-birds of Rio de Janeiro, 37.
of Chile, 330.
Hunting party in Pampas, 131.
Hybernation of animals, 115.
Hydrocherus capybura, 57.
Hydrophobia, 436.
Hymenophailus, 37.
Jaguar, habits of, 159,
James Island, Galapagos Archipelago,458.
Ibis melanops, 194.
Ice at bottom of sea, 297.
—- prismatic structure of, 397.
Icebergs, 280, 282, 283.
Inca’s bridge, 409,
Incrustations, calcareous on rocks of As-
cension, 587.
—————— of phosphate of lime, 8.
Indians, 118.
— grave of, 199.
of the Pampas, 84.
—— ruins of housesof, 409, 458.
——— of Valdivia, 366.
——— antiquities of, in Chile, 325.
——— decrease in numbers, 122.
612
Insects, first colonistsof St.Paul’srocks,10.
——-— blown out to sea, 186.
Iquique, 442,
Kater’s peak, 233.
Kauri pine, 510.
Keeling Island, 539.
ee birds of, 543.
entomology of, 544.
——_—_ Flora of, 541.
Kelp, or sea-weed, 303,
King George’s Sound, 536.
Labourers, condition of, jn Chile, 317,
324, 417.
Lagoon islands, 540, 553.
Lakes of brackish water in Brazil, 24.
Lampyris occidentalis, 34.
Lazo, manner of using, 50.
Lepus magellanicus, 248.
Lichen on loose sand at Iquique, 444.
Lightning storms, 72.
tubes, 69.
Lima, 446.
Lime changed by lava into crystalline
rock, 5.
, phosphate of, 90.
Lion-ant in Australia, 526.
Lizard, marine species of, 466.
Llama or Guanaco, habits of, 195.
—, fossil species, allied to, 210.
Locusts, swarms of, 402.
Longevity of species in Molluscs, 97.
Lorenzo, San, island of, 451.
Luxuriant vegetation not necessary to
support large animals, 98.
Lyell, Mr., on terraces of Coquimbo, 423.
on longevity of Molluscs, 97.
on Siberian animals preserved in
ice, 293.
on transportation of boulders by
ice, 287.
on subsidence in the Pacific, 557.
Madrina, or the godmother of a troop of
mules, 384.
Magdalen Channel, 305.
Magellan, Strait of, 263.
Maldonado, 45.
Mammalia fossil, 95, 104, 146, 149, 152,
180, 210.
Mandioca, 25.
Mares, killed for their hides, 179.
Mare’s flesh, eaten by the troops, 83.
Marine Saurian, 466.
Mastodon angustidens, 152.
Mauritius, 570.
INDEX.
Maypo river, 385.
Melisuga Kingii, 330.
Meteorolites, 433,
Mendoza, 404.
Miasmita, 446,
Mice, inhabit sterile places, 139.
Millepora, stinging property of, 552.
Mills for grinding ores, 324.
Milvulus forficatus, 163.
Mines, 424.
how discovered, 486.
Miners, 418, 420.
condition of, 323.
Mining system in Chile, 317.
Missionary system at Tahiti, 493.
at New Zealand, 508.
Mocking bird, 62.
Molothrus, habits of, 60.
Monte Video, 167.
Mount Sarmiento, 306.
—- Tarn, 265.
Mules, 384.
Murchison, Mr., on rocks from Falkland
Islands, 253.
Myopotamus Coipus, 351.
New Zealand, 496.
Caledonia, 559.
Noctua cwnicularia, 145. »
Noises from hill at Copiapé, 441.
ra
Noses, ceremony of pressing, 505.
Octopus, habits of, 6.
Oily coating on sea, 19.
Opbryessa, 115.
Opuntia Galapageia, 460.
Darwinii, 194.
Ores, gold, 324.
Ornithology of the Galapagos Islands,
461.
Orpheus modulator, 62.
Osorno, volcano of, 356. :
Ostrich, habits of, 105.
—, eggs of, 152.
Otaheite, 480.
Otter, Chonos Archipelago, 351.
Owl of Pampas, 145.
Palm-trees, sap from, 312.
Pampas, number of embedded reniains in,
155.
Papilio feronia, 38.
Parana, Rio, 146.
— islands in, 158.
Parrots, 1635.
Partridges, how caught, 51.
Pas, fortresses of New Zealand, 498.
INDEX.
Passes in Cordillera, 408.
Pasture, altered from grazing of cattle,
137.
Patagonia, geology of, 201.
Peat, formation of, 349.
Pebbles perforated, 173.
—.
Pelagic animals in southern ocean, 190.
Penas, Gulf of, 284.
Penguin, habits of, 256.
Pentand, Mr., on Boliviaa Andes, 392.
Pepsis, habits of, 40.
Pernambuco, 591.
———— reef of, 593.
Petrels, habits of, 354.
Peuquenes, pass of, 389.
Phosphate of lime incrusting rocks, 8.
Phosphorescence of sea, 191.
Plains at foot of Andes in Chile, 402.
round the Sierra Ventana, 126.
almost horizontal near St. Fe, 146.
Planarie, terrestrial species of, 30.
Plover, long-legged, 133.
Polished rocks, Brazil, 12.
Polyborus chimango, 66.
Nove Zelande, 67.
Polyborus Braziliensis, 64.
Ponsonby Sound, 240.
Porto Praya, 1.
Port Desire, 193.
——_——, river of, 198.
— St. Julian, 199.
-, entomology of, 200.
Famine, 264.
Portillo pass, 383, 398.
Potato, wild, 347.
Procellaria gigantea, habits of, 354.
Protococcus nivalis, 394.
Pteroptochos, two species of, 329.
, three species of, 351.
Puffinus cinereus, 354.
Puffinuria Berardii, 355.
Puma, habits of, 327.
—, flesh of, 135.
Puna, or short respiration, 593.
Punta Alta, Bahia Blanca, 95.
Gorda, 438.
Pyrophorus luminosus, 35.
—
Quillota, 310.
——-, valley of, 314.
Rabbit, wild, at the Falkland Islands, 248,
Rain at Coquimbo, 422, 425,
in Chile, effects on vegetation, 417.
Rat, only aboriginal animal of New
Zealand, 511.
Red snow, 394.
Reef at Pernambuco, 590.
transported in roots of trees, 549.
613
Reefs, encircling, 555,
-, barrier, 556,
, fringing, ib.
Remedies of the Gauchos, 148.
Reptiles absent in Tierra del Fuego, 301.
— at Galapagos, 472,
Respiration, dificult in Andes, 593. |
Revolution of October, 1833, at Buenos
Ayres, 165.
Rhinoceroses, live in desert countries,
100, 103, 577.
Rhyncops nigra, 161.
Rio de Janeiro, 21.
—- Plata, 44.
—- Negro, 73.
—- Colorado, 82.
Rocks burnished with ferruginous matter,
iz:
Rosas, General, 85.
Ruins of Callao, 450.
of Indian buildings in Cordillera,
409,
Ruts worn in lava rocks, 597.
St. Heiena, 578.
— Fe, 147.
— Jago, trade-wind, 3.
— Paul’s rocks, 7.
Salado, Rio, 137.
Salinas at the Galapagos Archipelago, 459.
—, at the Rio Negro, 75.
Saline efflorescences, 91.
Salt-lakes, 75.
Sandal-wood trees, dead at Juan Fer-
nandez, 583.
San Pedro, forests of, 341.
Sand, hot from sun’s rays, at Galapagos
Archipelago, 459.
Santa Cruz, river of, 213.
Santiago, Chile, 319.
Sauce, Rio, 124.
Saurophagus sulphureus, 62.
Scenery of Andes, 388, 394,
Scissor-tail, 163.
Scissor-beak, habits of, 161.
Sea-pen, habits of, 117.
Shells, land,species,in great numbers, 426.
Shepherd dogs, 174.
Shingle-beds, how deposited, 201, to
206.
Siberian animals, how preserved in ice,
293.
, preserved in ice, food
necessary during their existence, 103.
Silicified trees in vertical position, 406.
Silurian formations at Falkland Islands,
253,
Silurus, habits of, 160.
Slavery, 27.
Smelling power of carrion hawks, 222.
614
Smith, Dr. Andrew, on the support of
large quadrupeds, 99.
————., on perforated peb-
bles, 173.
Snake, venemous, 114.
Snow-line, on Cordillera, 275.
Snow, effects of on rocks, 388.
, red, 394.
Soda, nitrate of, 443.
, sulphate of, 91.
Southern islands, 272.
Sparus, coral-eating fish, 553.
Spawn on surface of sea, 18.
Spiders, habits of 40.
, gossamer, 187.
Stalactites of sulphate of lime, 9.
Steam issuing from fissures in ground at
the Azores, 596.
Stinging coral, 552.
Streams of stones at Falkland Islands,
254:
Struthio Rhea, 105.
Darwinii, 108.
Subsidence in Pacific Ocean, 557.
—at Keeling Island, 560.
Sulpbate of soda incrusting the ground,91.
Sydney, 515.
Tabanus, 200.
Tahiti (Otaheite), 480.
-, three zones of fertility, 484.
Tail, fossil, gigantic size of, 181.
Talcahuano, 370.
Tameness of birds, 475,
Tapocolo and Turco, 329.
Tapalguen, Sierra, flat hills of quartz,135.
Tasmania, 532.
Tattooing, 482, 501.
Temperance of the Tahitians, 490,
Teru-tero, habits of, 133.
Tercero Rio, fossil remains, in banks of
146.
Terraces in valleys of Cordillera, 385.
of Coquimbo, 423.
———— of Paiagonia, how formed, 202.
Testudo Indicus, babits of, 462.
Theory of lagoon islands, 553.
Thistle beds, 138, 143, 172.
Tierra del Fuego, 227, 263.
—, climate and vegetation
eS
of, 268.
, geology of, 266.
, deep channels in, 267.
, zoology of, 300.
, entomology of, 302.
Tinamus rufescens, 51.
Tinochorus Eschscholtzii, 110.
‘Toad, habits of, 115.
—— not found in volcanic islands, 472.
eee eee
on
INDEX.
Tortoise, habits of, 462.
Torrents, effects of, in Cordillera, 385.
Toxodon, 180. .
—, teeth of, 146.
Transport of seeds, 541.
— of boulders, 280, to 292.
— of stones in roots of trees, 549.
—of fragments of rock on banks
of the St. Cruz river, 216.
Travertin with leaves of trees, Van
Diemen’s Land, 535.
Tree-ferns, southern limits of, 271.
Trees, absence of, in Pampas, 53.
, silicified, vertical, 406.
Tres Montes, 343.
Trigonocephalus, or Cophias, 114.
Trochilus gigas, 331.
Tropical scenery, 590.
Tubes, siliceous, formed by lightning,
69.
Tucutuco, habits of, 58.
Turkey buzzard, 68.
Tupungato, volcano of, 397.
Turtle, manner of catching, 547.
Types of organization in different eoun-
tries, constant, 209.
Uruguay, Rio, 171.
Uspallata range, 406.
Valdivia, 363.
—, forests of, 364, 368.
Valley of St. Cruz, how excavated,
217.
--, dry, at Copiapé, 438.
Valleys, excavation of, in Chile, 314, 438.
of Tahiti, 486.
in Cordillera, 385.
Valparaiso, 308.
Vampire bat, 25.
Van Diemen’s Land, 532.
Vanellus Cayanensis, 133.
Vanikoro, encircled island, 555.
Vegetation of St. Helena, 580, 582.
—, changes of, at ditto, 579.
of New South Wales, 517.
— on opposite sides of Cor-
dillera, 399.
—, luxuriant, not necessary to
support large animals, 99.
Ventana, Sierra, 125.
Villa Vicencio, 405.
Virgularia Patagonica, 117.
Volcanic phenomena, 380.
Volcanoes near Chiloe, 336.
, occur within the areas
elevation, 567.
Vultur aura, 68.
of
INDEX. 615
Waders, first colonists amongst birds of | Wellington, Mount, 536,
distant islands, 543. Wells at Iquique, 445.
Waimate, New Zealand, 507. Wells, ebbing and flowing, 543.
Walleechu tree, 79. Wigwams of Fuegians, 234.
Wasps preying on spiders, 40. Winds, cold on Cordillera, 440.
Water-hog, 57. ——— on Cordillera, 395.
Water, sold at Iquique, 442.
Waves, caused by fall of ice, 281.
— from earthquakes, 377. Zoological provinces of N. and S.
Weather-board, N.S. Wales, 522. America, 153.
Weeds, English, in New Zealand, 511. | Zoophytes, Falkland Islands, 258.
Weight of large quadrupeds, 101. Zorillo, or skunk, 94.
THE END.
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