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JOURNAL OF KESEAHCHES
NATURAL HISTORY AND GEOLOGY
COUNTRIES VISITED DURING THE VOYAGE OF
H. M. S. BEAGLE
ROUND THE WORLD,
UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPT. FITZ ROY, R.N.
BY CHARLES DARWIN, M.A., F.R.S.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
V O L. I.
N E W - Y O R K :
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
82 CLIFF STREET.
18 4 6.
'>
io^
ADVERTISEMENT
OF THE AMERICAN PUBLISHERS.
This work contains, in the form of a journal,
a history of the Voyage of the Beagle, underta-
ken for scientific objects, and performed at the
expense and under the direction of the British
government. In his preface to the English edi-
tion, Mr. Darwin, the author, states that he ac-
companied the vessel at the request of her com-
mander. Captain Fitz Roy, and with the special
sanction of the Lords of the Admiralty. He
published, after his return, a voluminous history
of the expedition, setting forth in detail its sci-
entific results. In this work he has given, be-
sides a narrative of the voyage, a sketch of his
observations in natural history and geology, pre-
sented in such a manner as to possess most in-
terest and value for the general reader, referring
those who look for scientific details to the larger
publications. In its present form, it seems ad-
mirably adapted to the purpose of popular in-
struction and entertainment, and has therefore
been included in the present series.
H. &B.
Neic-York, January, 1846.
CONTENTS
OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
CHAPTER I.
Porto Praya — Ribeira Grande — Atmospheric Dust with Infusorii
— Habits of a Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish— St. Paul's Rocks, non-
volcanic — Singular Incrustations — Insects the lirst Colonists of
Islands — Fernando Noronha— Bahia — Burnished Rocks— Hab-
its of a Diodon — Pelagic Confervas and Infusoria — Causes ol
discoloured Sea Page 1
CHAPTER 11.
Rio de Janeiro — Excursion North of Cape Frio— Great Evapora-
tion — Slavery — Botofogo Bay — Terrestrial Planariae — Clouds
on the Corcovado — Heavy Rain — Musical Frogs— Phosphores-
cent Insects — Elater, springing Powers of— Blue Haze — Noise
made by a Butterfly— Entomology— Ants— Wasp killing a Spi-
der — Parasitical Spider — Artifices of an Epeira— Gregarious
Spider— Spider with an unsymmetrical Web . . .23
CHAPTER HI.
Monte Video — Maldonado — Excursion to R. Polanco — Lazo and
Bolas — Partridges — Absence of Trees— Deer — Capybara, or
River Hog — Tucutuco — Molothrus, cuckoo-like habits — Ty-
rant Flycatcher— Mocking-bird — Carrion Hawks — Tubes form-
ed by Lightning — House struck 49
CHAPTER IV.
Rio Negro — Estancias attacked by the Indians — Salt Lakes —
Flamingoes — R. Negro to R. Colorado — Sacred Tree— Patago-
nian Hare — Indian Families — General Rosas — Proceed to Ba-
hia Blanca — Sand Dunes — Negro Lieutenant — Bahia Blanca —
Saline Incrustations— Punta Alta — Zorillo . . 80
CHAPTER V.
Bahia Blanca— Geology— Numerous gigantic extinct Quadrupeds
—Recent Extinction— Longevity of Species — Large Animals
1*
VI CONTENTS.
do not require a luxuriant Vegetation — Southern Africa — Sibe-
rian Fossils — Two Species of Ostrich — Habits of Oven-bird —
Armadilloes — Venomous Snake, Toad, Lizard — Hybernation of
Animals — Habits of Sea-Pen — Indian Wars and Massacres —
Arrow-head — Antiquarian Relic Page 103
CHAPTER VI.
Set out for Buenos Ayres— Rio Sauce— Sierra Ventana— Third
Posta — Driving Horses — Bolas — Partridges and Foxes — Fea-
tures of the Country— Long-legged Plover — Teru-tero — Hail-
storm — Natural Enclosures in the Sierra Tapalguen — Flesh of
Puma— Meat Diet— Guardia del Monte — Etfects of Cattle on
the Vegetation — Cardoon— Buenos Ayres — Corral where Cat-
tle are slaughtered 135
CHAPTER VII.
Excursion to St. F€ — Thistle-Beds — Habits of the Bizcacha —
Little Owl— Saline Streams— Level Plams— Mastodon— St. F6
— Change in Landscape— Geology — Tooth of extinct Horse —
Relation of the Fossil and recent Quadrupeds of North and
South America — Eft'ects of a great Drought — Parana — Habits
of the Jaguar — Scissor-beak — King-fisher, Parrot, and Scissor-
tail — Revolution — Buenos Ayres — State of Government . 156
CHAPTER VIII.
Excursion to Colonia del Sacramiento — Value of an Estancia —
Cattle, how counted — Singular Breed of Oxen — Perforated Peb-
bles — Shepherd Dogs — Horses broken-in, Gauchos riding —
Character of Inhabitants— Rio Plata— Flocks of Butterflies —
Aeronaut Spiders — Phosphorescence of the Sea — Port Desire
— Guanaco — Port St. Julian — Geology of Patagonia — Fossil
gigantic Animal — Types of Organization constant — Change in
the Zoology of America — Causes of Extinction . . 181
CHAPTER IX.
Santa Cruz— Expedition up the River— Indians— Immense Streams
of Basaltic Lava — Fragments not transported by the River — Ex-
cavation of the Valley— Condor, habits of— Cordillera — Erratic
Boulders of great size — Indian Relics — Return to the Ship —
Falkland Islands— W^ild Horses, Cattle, Rabbits— Wolf-like Fox
— 'Fire made of Bones — Manner of hunting wild Cattle — Geolo-
gy — Streams of Stones— Scenes of Violence — Penguin— Geese
— Eggs of Doris — Compound Animals .... 227
CONTENTS. VU
CHAPTER X.
Tierra del Fuego, first arrival — Good Success Bay — An Account
of the Fuegians on board — Interview with the Savages — Scen-
ery of the Forests — Cape Horn — Wigwam Cove — Miserable
Condition of the Savages — Famines — Cannibals — Matricide —
Religious Feelings — Great Gale — Beagle Channel — Ponsonby
Sound— Build Wigwams and settle the Fuegians — Bifurcation
of the Beagle Channel — Glaciers — Return to the Ship — Second
Visit in the Ship to the Settlement — Equality of Condition
amongst the Natives Page 262
CHAPTER XI.
Strait of Magellan — Port Famine — Ascent of Mount Tarn — For-
ests—Edible Fungus — Zoology- Great Sea-weed — Leave Tier-
ra del Fuego— Climate — Fruit-trees and Productions of the
southern Coasts — Height of Snow-line on the Cordillera — De-
scent of Glaciers to the Sea — Icebergs formed — Transportal of
Boulders — Climate and Productions of the Antarctic Islands —
Preservation of frozen Carcasses — Recapitulation . . 297
CHAPTER Xn.
Valparaiso — Excursion to the foot of the Andes — Structure of the
Land — Ascend the Bell of Quillota — Shattered Masses of Green-
stone— Immense Valleys — Mines — State of Miners — Santiago
^Hot Baths of Cauquenes — Gold-mines — Grindmg-mills — Per-
forated Stones— Habits of the Puma — El Turco and Tapacolo
—Humming-birds 325
JOURNAL.
CHAPTER I.
Porto Praya — Ribeira Grande— Atmospheric Dust with Infusoria
—Habits of a Sea-skig and Cuttle-fish— St. Paul's Rocks, non-
volcanic — Singular Incrustations — Insects the first Colonists of
Islands — Fernando Noronha— Bahia — Burnished Rocks— Hab-
its of a Diodon — Pelagic Confervse and Infusoria — Causes of
discoloured Sea.
ST. JAGO CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS.
After having been twice driven back by heavy
south-western gales, Her Majesty's ship Beagle, a
ten-gun brig, under the command of Captain Fitz
Roy, R.N., sailed from Devonport on the 27th of De-
cember, 1831. The object of the expedition was
to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del
Fuego, commenced under Captain King in 1826
to 1830 — to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and
of some islands in the Pacific — and to carry a chain
of chronometrical measurements round the World.
On the 6th of January we reached Tcneriffe, but
were prevented landing, by fears of our bringing
the cholera : the next morning we saw the sun rise
behind the rugged outline of the Grand Canary
island, and suddenly illumine the Peak of Tene-
riffe, whilst the lower paits were veiled in fleecy
clouds. This was the first of many delightful days
never to be forgotten. On the 16th of January,
1832, we anchored at Porto Praya, in St. Jago, the
chief island of the Cape de Verd archipelago.
The neighbourhood of Porto Praya, viewed
from the sea, wear-s a desolate aspect. The vol-
canic fires of a past age, and the scorching heat of
A
2 ST. JAGO CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS.
a tropical sun, have in most places rendered the
soil unfit for vegetation. The country rises in suc-
cessive steps of table-land, interspersed with some
truncate conical hills, and the horizon is bounded
by an iiTegular chain of more lofty mountains.
The scene, as beheld through the hazy atmosphere
of this climate, is one of great interest ; if, indeed,
a person, fresh from sea, and who has just walk-
ed, for the first time, in a grove of cocoa-nut trees,
can be a judge of anything 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 aspect of an utter-
ly sterile land possesses a gi'andeur which more
vegetation might spoil. A single green leaf can
scai'celybe discovered over wide tracts of the lava
plains ; yet flocks of goats, together with a few
cows, contrive to exist. It rains very seldom, but
during a short portion of the year heavy toiTents
fall, and immediately afterwards a light vegetation
springs out of every crevice. This soon withers ;
and upon such naturally-formed hay the animals
live. It had not now rained for an entire year.
When the island was discovered, the immediate
neighbourhood of Porto Praya was clothed with
trees,* the reckless destruction of which has caused
here, as at St. Helena, and at some of the Canary
islands, almost entire sterility. The broad, flat-
bottomed valleys, many of which serve during a
few days only in the season as watercourses, are
clothed with thickets of leafless bushes. Few liv-
ing creatures inhabit these valleys. The common-
est bird is a kingfisher (Dacelo lagoensis), which
tamely sits on the branches of the castor-oil plant,
and thence darts on grasshoppers and lizards. It
* I state this on the authority of Dr. E. Dieffenbach, in his
German translation of the first edition of this Journal.
UIHEIRA GRANDE. d
is brightly coloured, but not so beautiful as the
European species: in its flight, manners, and place
of habitation, which is generally in the dryest val-
ley, there is also a wide difference.
One day, two of the officers and myself rode to
Ribeira Grande?, a village a few miles eastward of
Porto Praya. Until we reached the valley of St.
Martin, the country presented its usual dull brown
appearance ; but here, a very small rill of water
produces a most i-efreshing 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. This little
town, before its harbour was filled up, was the prin-
cipal place in the island : it now presents a melan-
choly, but very picturesque appearance. Having
procured a black Padre for a guide, and a Span-
iard 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 tomb-
stones recorded dates of the sixteenth century.*
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, con-
taining about a dozen miserable-looking inmates.
We returned to the Venda to eat our dinners.
A considerable number of men, women, and chil-
dren, all as black as jet, collected to watch us. Our
companions were extremely meny ; and every-
thing we said or -did was followed by their hearty
* The Cape de Verd Islands were discovered in 1449. There
was a tombstone of a bishop with the date of 1571 ; and a crest of
a hand and dagger, dated 1497.
4 ST. JAGO CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS.
laughter. Before leaving the town we visited the
cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the small-
er church, but boasts of a little organ, which sent
forth singularly inharmonious cries. We present-
ed 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 dif-
ference. We then returned, as fast as the ponies
would go, to Porto Praya.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Do-
mingo, situated near the centre of the island. On
a small plain which we crossed, a few stunted aca-
cias were growing; their tops had been bent by the
steady trade-wind, in a singular manner — some of
them even at right angles to their trunks. The di-
rection of the branches was exactly N.E. by N.,
and S.W. by S., and these natural vanes must in-
dicate the prevailing direction of the force of the
trade-wind. The travelling had made so little im-
pression on the barren soil, that we here missed our
track, and took that to Fuentes. This we did not
find out till we an'ived there ; and we were after-
wards glad of our mistake. Fuentes is a pretty
village, with a small stream ; and everything ap-
peared to prosper well, excepting, indeed, that
which ought to do so most — its inhabitants. The
black children, completely 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 — probably fifty or sixty in number. They
were extremely wary, and could not be approach-
ed. They avoided us, like partridges on a rainy
day in September, running with their heads cock-
ed up ; and if pursued, they readily took to the
wing.
The scenery of St. Doiningo possesses a beauty
totally unexpected, from the prevalent gloomy char-
acter of the rest of the island. The village is sit-
uated at the bottom of a valley, hounded 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 lit-
tle stream of clear water. It happened to be a
grand feast-day, and the village was full of people.
On our return we overtook a party of about twen-
ty young black girls, dressed in excellent taste ;
their black skins and snow-white linen being set
off by coloured turbans and lai'ge shawls. As soon
as we approached near, they suddenly all turned
round, and covering the path with their shawls,
su.ng 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.
One morning the view was singularly clear ; the
distant mountains being projected with the sharp-
est outline, on a heavy bank of dark blue clouds.
Judging fi'om the appearance, and fi'om similar
cases in England, I supposed that the air was sat-
urated with moisture. The fact, however, turned
out quite the contrary. The hygrometer gave a
difference of 29-6 degrees, between the tempera-
ture of the air, and the point at which dew was
precipitated. This difference was nearly double
that which I had obsen^ed on the previous morn-
ings. This unusual degi'ee of atmospheric dryness
was accompanied by continual flashes of lightning.
Is it not an uncommon case, thus to find a remark-
able degree of aerial transparency with such a
state of weather?
Generally the atmosphere is hazy ; and this is
caused by the falling of impalpablv fine dust, which
A 2
b ST. JAGO CAPE UE VEKU ItiLAADS.
was found to have slightly injured the astronomical
instruments. The morning before we anchored at
Porto Praya, I collected a little jiacket of this
brown-coloured fine dust, which appeared to have
been filtered from the wind by the gauze of the
vane at the mast-head. Mr. Lyell has also given
me four packets of dust which fell on a vessel a few
hundred miles northward of these islands. Pro-
fessor Ehrenberg* finds that this dust consists in
great part of infusoria with siliceous shields, and
of the siliceous tissue of plants. In five little pack-
ets which I sent him, he has ascertained no less
than sixty-seven different organic forms ! The in-
fusoria, with the exception of two marine species,
are all inhabitants of fi-esh-water. I have found no
less than fifteen different accounts of dust having
fallen on vessels when far out in the Atlantic.
From the direction of the wind whenever it has
fallen, and from its having always fallen during
those months when the harmattan is known to raise
clouds of dust high into the atmosphere, we may
feel sure that it all comes from Africa. It is, how-
ever, a very singular fact, that, although Professor
Ehrenberg knows many species of infusoria pecu-
liar to Africa, he finds none of these in the dust
which I sent him : on the other hand, he finds in it
two species which hitherto he knows as living only
in South America. The dust falls in such quanti-
ties as to dirty everything on board, and to hurt
people's eyes; vessels even have run on shore ow-
ing to the obscurity of the atmosphere. It has oft-
en fallen on ships when several hundred, and even
more than a thousand miles from the coast of Afri-
* I must take this opportunity of acknowledging the great
kindness with which this illustrious naturalist has examined many
of my specimens. I have sent (June, 1845) a full account of the
falling of this dust to the Geological Societj%
Ci;oLUGV Ul' I'UKTU I'K.WA. 7
ca, and at points sixteen liundred miles distant in
a north and south direction. In some dust which
was collected on a vessel three hundred miles from
the land, I was much surprised to find particles of
stone above the thousandth of an inch square, mix-
ed with finer matter. After this fact one need not
be surprised at the diffusion of the far lighter and
smaller sporules of cryptogamic plants.
The geology of this island is the most interesting
part of its natural history. On entering the har-
bour, 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 mat-
ter, with numerous shells embedded, most or all of
which now exist on the neighbouring coast. It
rests on ancient volcanic rocks, and has been cov-
ered by a stream of basalt, which must have en-
tered 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, which in parts has been converted
into a crystalline limestone, and in other parts into
a compact spotted stone. Where the lime has
been caught up by the scoriaceous fragments of the
lower surface of the stream, it is 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 have originally pro-
ceeded. Within historical times, no signs of vol-
canic activity have, I believe, been manifested in
any part of St. Jago. Even the form of a crater
can but rarely be discovered on the summits of the
many red cindery hills ; yet the more recent streains
can be distinguished on the coast, forming lines of
8 ST. JAGO CAl'E DK VEKD ISLANDS.
cliffs of less heiglit, but stretching out in advance
of those belonging to an older series : the height
of the cliffs thus affording a rude measure of the age
of the streams.
During our stay, I observed the habits of some
marine animals. A large Aplysia is xevy common.
This sea-slug is about hve inches long ; and is of a
dirty yellowish colour, veined with purple. On
each side of the lower surface, or foot, there is a
broad membrane, which appears sometimes to act
as a ventilator, in causing a current of water to
flow over the dorsal branchiae or lungs. It feeds
on the delicate sea-weeds which grow among the
stones in muddy and shallow water ; and I found in
its stomach several small pebbles, as in the gizzard
of a bird. This slug, when disturbed, emits a very
fine purplish-red fluid, which stains the water for
the space of a foot around. .Besides this means of
defence, an acrid secretion, which is spread over its
body, causes a sharp, stinging sensation, similar to
that produced by the Physalia, or Portuguese man-
of-war.
I was much interested, on several occasions, by
watching the habits of an Octopus, or cuttle-fish.
Although common in the pools of water left by the
retiring tide, these animals were not easily caught.
By means of their long ai"ms and suckers, they
could drag their bodies into very narrow crevices ;
and when thus fixed, it required great force to re-
move them. At other times they darted tail first,
with the rapidity of an arrow, from one side of the
pool to the other, at the same instant discolouring
the water with a dark chestnut-brown ink. These
animals also escape detection by a very extraordi-
nary, chameleon-hke power of changing their col-
our. They appear to vary their tints according to
the nature of the ground over which they pass :
lIAHlTrf OF A CLTTLE-i'liSII. U
when in deep water, their general sliatle was brown-
ish purple, but when placed on the land, or in shal-
low water, this dark tint changed into one of a
yellowish green. The colour, examined more care-
fully, was a French grey, with numerous minute
spots of bright yellow : the former of these varied
in intensity; the latter entirely disappeared and
appeared again by turns. These changes were ef-
fected in such a manner, that clouds, varying in
tint between a hyacinth red and a chestnut brown,*
were continually passing over the body. Any j^art,
being subjected to a slight shock of galvanism, be-
came almost black : a similar effect, but in a less
degree, was jaroduced by scratching the skin with
a needle. These clouds, or blushes as they may
be called, are said to be produced by the alternate
expansion and contraction of minute vesicles con-
taining variously coloured fluids.t
This cuttle-fish displayed its chameleon-like pow-
er both during the act of swimming and whilst re-
maining stationary at the bottom. I was much
amused by the various arts to escape detection used
by one individual, which seemed fully aware that
I was watching it. Remaining i'or a time motion-
less, it would then stealthily advance an inch or
two, like a cat after a mouse ; sometimes changing
its colour : it thus proceeded, till having gained a
deeper part, it darted away, leaving a dusky train
of ink to hide the hole into which it had crawled.
While looking for marine animals, with my head
about two feet above the rocky shore, I was more
than once saluted by a jet of water, accompanied
by a slight gi-ating noise. At first I could not think
what it was, but afterwards I found out that it was
this cuttle-fish, which, though concealed in a hole,
* So named according to Patrick Symes's nomenclature,
t See Encyclop. of Anat. and Physiol, article Cephalopoda.
10 ST. Paul's rucks^,
thus often led me to its discovery. That it possess-
es the power of ejecting water there is no doubt,
and it appeared to me that it could certainly take
good aim by directing the tube or siphon on the
under side of its body. From the difficvilty which
these animals have in carrying their heads, they
cannot crawl with ease when placed on the ground.
I observed that one which I kept in the cabin was
slightly phosphorescent in the dark.
St. Paul's Rocks. — In crossing the Atlantic we
hove to, during the morning of February 16th, close
to the island of St. Paul's. This cluster of rocks is
situated in 0° 58' north latitude, and 29° 15' west
longitude. It is 540 miles distant from the coast
of America, and 350 from the island of Fernando
Noronha. The highest point is only fifty feet above
the level of the sea, and the entire circumference
is under three quarters of a mile. This small point
I'ises abruptly out of the depths of the ocean. Its
mineralogical constitution is not simple : in some
parts the rock is of a cherty, in others of a felspath-
ic nature, including thin veins of serpentine. It
is a remarkable fact, that all the many small islands,
lying far from any continent, in the Pacific, Indian,
and Atlantic Oceans, with the exception of the Sey-
chelles and this little point of rock, arc, I believe,
composed either of coral or of erupted matter.
The volcanic nature of these oceanic islands is ev-
idently an extension of that law, and the effect of
those sam.e causes, whether chemical or mechanical,
from which it results that a vast majority of the vol-
canoes now in action stand either near sea-coasts
or as islands in the midst of the sea.
The rocks of St. Paul appear from a distance of
a brilliantly white colour. This is partly owing to
the dung of a vast multitude of seafowl, and part-
.SINGL'LAU INCKUriTATlONri. 11
ly to a coating ot" a hard, glossy substance, with a
pearly lustre, which is intimately united to the sur-
face of the rocks. This, when examined with a
lens, is found to consist of numerous exceedingly
thin layers, its total thickness being about the tenth
of an inch. It contains much animal matter, and
its origin, no doubt, is due to the action of the rain
or spray on the birds' dung. Below some small
masses of guano at Ascension, and on the Abrolhos
Islets, I fovmd certain stalactitic branching liodics,
formed apparently in the same manner as the thin
white coating on these rocks. The branching bod-
ies so closely resembled in general appearance cer-
tain nuUiporae (a family of hard calcareous sea-
plants), that in lately looking hastily over my col-
lection I did not jierceive the difference. The glob-
ular exti'emities of the branches are of a pearly tex-
ture, like the enamel of teeth, but so hard as just
to scratch plate-glass. I may here mention, that
on a part of the coast of Ascension, where there
is a vast accumulation of shelly sand, an incrusta-
tion is deposited on the tidal rocks, by the water of
the sea, resembling certain cryptogamic plants
(Marchantia^) often seen on damp walls. The sur-
12 ST. Paul's rocks,
face of the fronds is beautifully glossy ; and those
parts formed where fully exposed to the light, are
of a jet black colour, but those shaded under ledges
are only gi'ey. I have shown specimens of this in-
crustation to several geologists, and they all thought
that they were of volcanic or igneous origin ! In
its hardness and translucency — in its jioli-h, equal
to that of the finest oliva-shell — in the bad smell
given out, and loss of colour under the blowpipe —
it shows a close similarity with living sea-shells.
Moreover, in sea-shells, it is known that the parts
habitually covered and shaded by the mantle of the
animal are of a paler colour than those fully ex-
posed to the light, just as is the case with this in-
crustation. When we remember that lime, either
as a phosphate or carbonate, enters into the compo-
sition of the hard parts, such as bones and shells,
of all living animals, it is an interesting physiolo-
gical fact* to find substances harder than the enam-
el of teeth, and coloured surfaces as well polished
as those of a fresh shell, reformed through inorgan-
ic means from dead organic matter — mocking, also,
in shape, some of the lower vegetable productions.
We found on St. Paul's only two kinds of birds
— the booby and the noddy. The former is a spe-
cies of gannet, and the latter a tern. Both are of
a tame and stuj)id disposition, and are so unaccus-
tomed to visitors, that I could have killed any num-
ber of them with my geological hammer. The
* Mr. Horner and Sir David Brewster have described (Philo-
sophical Transactions, 1836, p. 65) a singular " artificial substance
resembling shell." It is deposited in fine, transparent, highly pol-
ished, brown-coloured laminae, possessing peculiar optical prop-
erties, on the inside of a vessel, in which cloth, first prepared with
glue and then with lime, is made to revolve rapidly in water. It
is much softer, more transparent, and contains more animal mat-
ter, than the natural incrustation at Ascension ; but we here again
see the strong tendency which carbonate of lime and animal mat-
ter evince to form a solid substance allied to shell.
INSECTS TIIK FIRST COLONISTS OF ISLANDS. 13
booby lays her eggs on the bare rock ; but the tern
makes a very simple nest with seaweed. By the
side of many of these nests a small flying-fish was
placed; which, I suppose, had been brought by the
male bird for its partner. It was amusing to watch
how quickly a large and active crab (Graspus),
which inhabits the crevices of the rock, stole the
fish from the side of the nest, as soon as we had dis-
turbed the parent birds. Sir W. Symonds, one of
the few persons who have landed here, informs me
that he saw the crabs dragging even the young birds
out of their nests, and devouring them. Not a sin-
gle plant, not even a lichen, grows on this islet;
yet it is inhabited by several insects and spiders.
The following list completes, I believe, the terres-
trial fauna : a fly (Olfersia) living on the booby, and
a tick which must have come here as a parasite on
the birds ; a small brown moth, belonging to a ge-
nus that feeds on feathers ; a beetle (Q,uedius), and
a woodlouse froin beneath the dung ; and lastly,
numerous spiders, which I suppose prey on these
small attendants and scavengers of the waterfowl.
The often-repeated description of the stately palm
and other noble tropical plants, then birds, and lastly
man, taking possession of the coral islets as soon as
formed, in the Pacific, is probably not quite cor-
rect ; I fear it destroys the poetry of this story, that
feather and dirt-feeding and parasitic insects and
spiders should be the first inhabitants of newly-
formed oceanic land.
The smallest rock in the tropical seas, by giving
a foundation for the growth of innumerable kinds
of seaweed and compound animals, supports like-
wise a large number of fish. The sharks and the
seamen in the boats maintained a constant struggle
which should secure the greater share of the prey
caught by tlie fishing-lines. T have heard that a
14 FERNANDO NORONIIA.
rock near the Bermudas, lying many miles out at
sea, and at a considerable depth, was first discov-
ered by the circumstance of fish having been ob-
served in the neighbourhood.
Fernando Noronha, Feh. 20tJi. — As far as I
was enabled to observe, during the few hours wo
stayed at this place, the constitution of the island
is volcanic, but probably not of a recent date. The
most remarkable feature is a conical hill, about one
thousand feet high, the upper part of which is ex-
ceedingly steep, and on one side overhangs its base.
The rock is phonolite, and is divided into iiTegular
columns. On viewing one of these isolated masses,
at first one is inclined to believe that it has been
suddenly pushed up in a serai-fluid state. At St.
Helena, however, 1 ascertained that some pinnacles,
of a nearly similar figure and constitution, had been
formed by the injection of melted rock into yield-
ing strata, which thus had formed the moulds for
these gigantic obelisks. The whole island is cov-
ered ^vith wood ; but from the dryness of the cli-
mate there is no appearance of luxuriance. Half-
way up the mountain, some great masses of the
columnar rock, shaded by laurel-like trees, and or-
namented by others covered with fine pink flowers
but without a single leaf, gave a pleasing effect to
the nearer parts of the scenery.
Bahia, or San Salvador. Brazil, Feh. 29th. —
The day has passed delightfully. Delight itself,
however, is a weak term to express the feelings of
a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by
himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the
grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the
beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foli-
age, but, above all, the general luxuriance of the
vegetation, filled me with admiration. A most par-
TROPICAL RAINS. 15
adoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the
shady parts of the wood. The noise from the in-
sects is so loud, that it may he heard even in a ves-
sel anchored several hundred yards from the shore;
yet within the recesses of the forest a universal si-
lence appears to reign. To a person fond of nat-
ural history, such a day as this brings with it a
deeper pleasure than he can ever hope to experi-
ence again. After wandering about for some hours,
I returned to the landing-place; but, before reach-
ing it, I was overtaken by a tropical storm. I tried
to find shelter under a tree, which was so thick
that it would never have been penetrated by com-
mon English rain ; but here, in a couple of min-
utes, a little torrent flowed down the trunk. It is
to this violence of the rain that we must attribute
the verdure at the bottom of the thickest woods : if
the showers were like those of a colder climate,
the greater part would be absorbed or evaporated
before it reached the ground. I will not at pres-
ent attempt to describe the gaudy scenery of this
noble bay, becavise, in our homeward voyage, we
called here a second time, and I shall then have oc-
casion to remark on it.
Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of
at least 2000 miles, and certainly for a considera-
ble space inland, wherever solid rock occurs, it be-
longs to a granitic formation. The circumstance of
this enormous area being constituted of inaterials
which most geologists believe to have been crystal-
lized when heated under pressure, gives rise to
many curious reflections. Was this effect produced
beneath the depths of a profound ocean 1 or did a
covering of strata formerly extend over it, which
has since been removed 1 Can we believe that any
power, acting for a time short of infinity, could have
denuded the granite over so many thousand sauare
leaeiip?: ?
16 BAHIA BRAZIL.
On a point not far from the city, where a rivulet
entered the sea, I observed a fact connected with
a subject discussed by Humboldt* At the cata-
racts of the great rivers Orinoco, Nile, and Congo,
the syenitic rocks are coated by a black substance,
appearing as if they had been polished with plum-
bago. The layer is of extreme thinness ; and on
analysis by Berzelius it was found to consist of the
oxides of manganese and iron. In the Orinoco it
occurs on the rocks periodically washed by the
floods, and in those parts alone where the stream is
rapid ; or, as the Indians say, " the rocks are black
where the waters are white." Here the coating is
of a rich brown instead of a black colour, and seems
to be composed of ferruginous matter alone. Hand
specimens fail to give a just idea of these brown
burnished stones which glitter in the sun's rays.
They occur only within the limits of the tidal
waves ; and as the rivulet slowly trickles down, the
surf must supply the polishing power of the cata-
racts in the gi'eat rivers. In like manner, the rise
and fall of the tide probably answer to the period-
ical inundations; and thus the same effects are pro-
duced under apparently different but really similar
circumstances. The origin, however, of these coat-
ings of metallic oxides, which seem as if cemented
to the rocks, is not understood ; and no reason, I
believe, can be assigned for their thickness remain-
ing the same.
One day I was amused by watching the habits
of the Diodon antennatus, which was caught swim-
ming near the shore. This fish, with its flabby skin,
is well known to possess the singular power of dis-
tending itself into a nearly spherical form. After
having been taken out of water for a short time,
and then again immersed in it, a considerable quan-
* Pers. Narr,, vol. v , pt. i., p. 18.
HABITS UK A DIUDUX. 17
tity both of water and air is absorbed by the mouth,
and perhaps likewise by the branchial orifices.
This process is effected by two methods : the air is
swallowed, and is then f6rced into the cavity of the
body, its return being prevented by a muscular con-
traction which is externally visible : but the water
enters in a gentle stream through the mouth, which
is kept wide open and motionless ; this latter action
must, therefore, depend on suction. The skin about
the abdomen is much looser than that on the back;
hence, during the inflation, the lower surface be-
comes far moi'e distended than the upper; and the
fish, in consequence, floats with its back down-
wards. Cuvier doubts whether the Diodon in this
position is able to swim ; but not only can it thus
move forward in a straight line, bnt it can turn
round to either side. This latter movement is ef-
fected solely by the aid of the pectoral fins ; the
tail being collapsed, and not used. From the body
being buoyed up with so much air, the branchial
openings are out of water, but a stream drawn in
by the mouth constantly flows through them.
The fish, having remained in this distended state
for a short time, generally expelled the air and
water with considerable force from the branchial
apertures and mouth. It could emit, at will, a
certain portion of the water; and it appears, there-
fore, probable that this fluid is taken in partly for
the sake of regulating its specific gi'avity. This
Diodon possessed several means of defence. It
could give a severe bite, and could eject water from
its mouth to some distance, at the same time ma-
king a curious noise by the movement of its jaws.
By the inflation of its body, the paj^illce, with which
the skin is covered, become erect and pointed. But
the most curious circumstance is, that it secretes
from the skin of its bellv, when handled, a most
B 2
18 I'ELAUJC CONl'EKVyl': AMJ IiNFUSOUIA.
beautiful carmine-red fibrous matter, which stains
ivory and paper in so permanent a manner, that
the tint is retained with all its brightness to the
present day : I am quite ignorant of the nature and
use of this secretion. I have heard from Dr. Allan
of Forres, that he has frequently found a Diodon,
floating alive and distended, in the stomach of the
shark ; and that on several occasions he has known
it eat its way, not only through the coats of the
stomach, but through the sides of the monster,
which has thus been killed. Who would ever have
imagined that a little soft fish could have destroyed
the great and savage shark 1
March ISth. — We sailed from Bahia. A few
days afterwards, when not far distant from the
Abrolhos Islets, my attention was called to a red-
dish-brown appearance in the sea. The whole sur-
face of the water, as it appeared under a weak lens,
seemed as if covered by chopped bits of hay, with
their ends jagged. These are minute cylindrical
confervae, in bundles or rafts of from twenty to sixty
in each. Mr. Berkeley informs me that they are the
same species (Trichodesmium erythrasum) with that
found over large spaces in the Red Sea, and whence
its name of Red Sea is derived.* Their numbers
must be infinite : the ship passed through several
bands of them, one of which was about ten yards
wide, and, judging from the mud-like colour of the
water, at least two and a half miles long. In al-
most every long voyage some account is given of
these confervffi. They appear especially common
in the sea near Australia ; and off Cape Leeuwin
I found an allied, but smaller and apparently dif-
ferent species. Captain Cook, in his third voyage,
* M. Montagne, in Comptes Rendus, &c., Juillet, 18i-4 ; and
Annal. des Scienc. Nat., Dec, 1844.
PELAGIC CUM'EKVyK ANU INl'UriuKlA. It)
remarks, that the sailors gave to this appearance
the name of sea-sawdust.
Near KeeUng Atoll, in the Indian Ocean, I ob-
served many little masses of confervas a few inches
square, consisting of long cylindrical threads of
excessive thinness, so as to be barely visible to the
naked eye, mingled with other rather larger bodies,
finely conical at both ends.
Two of these are shown
in the woodcut united to-
gether. They vary in length from "04 to "06, and
even to -OS of an inch in length ; and in diameter
from -006 to -008 of an inch. Near one extremity
of the cylindrical part, a green septum, formed of
gi-anular matter, and thickest in the middle, may
generally be seen. This, I believe, is the bottom
of a most delicate, colourless sac, composed of a
pulpy substance, which lines the exterior case, but
does not extend within the extreme conical points.
In some specimens, small but perfect spheres of
brownish granular matter supplied the places of the
septa ; and I observed the curious process by which
they were produced. The pulpy matter of the in-
ternal coating suddenly gi'ouped itself into lines,
some of which assumed a form radiating from a
common centre ; it then continued, with an irregu-
lar and rapid movement, to conti'act itself, so that
in the course of a second the whole was united into
a perfect little sphere, which occupied the position
of the septum at one end of the now quite hollow
case. The formation of the gi'anular sphere was
hastened by any accidental injury. I may add,
that frequently a pair of these bodies were attach-
ed to each other, as represented above, cone beside
cone, at that end where the septum occurs.
I will here add a few other observations connect-
ed with the discoloration of the sea from organic
:;iO DISCOLOURED SEA.
causes. On the coast of Chile, a few leagues north
of Concepcion, the Beagle one day passed through
great bands of muddy water, exactly like that of a
swollen river; and again, a degree south of Valpa-
raiso, when fifty miles from the land, the same ap-
pearance was still more extensive. Some of the
water placed in a glass was of a pale reddish tint ;
and, examined under a microscope, was seen to
swarm with minute animalcula darting about, and
often exploding. Their shape is oval, and contract-
ed in the middle by a ring of vibrating curved
cilias. It was, however, very difficult to examine
them with care, for almost the instant motion ceas-
ed, even while crossing the field of vision, their
bodies burst. Sometimes both ends burst at once,
sometimes only one, and a quantity of coarse,
brownish, granular matter was ejected. The ani-
mal an instant before bursting expanded to half
again its natural size ; and the explosion took place
about fifteen seconds after the rapid progressive
motion had ceased : in a few cases it was preceded
for a short interval by a rotatory movement on the
longer axis. About two minutes after any number
were isolated in a drop of water, they thus perished.
The animals move with the naiTow apex forwards,
by the aid of their vibratory ciliae, and generally
by rapid starts. They are exceedingly minute,
and quite invisible to the naked eye, only covering
a space equal to the square of the thousandth of an
inch. Their numbers were infinite ; for the small-
est drop of water which I could remove contained
very many. In one day we passed through two
spaces of water thus stained, one of which alone
must have extended over several square miles.
What incalculable numbers of these microscopical
animals ! The colour of the water, as seen at some
distance, was Hke that of a river which has flowed
DISCOLOURED SEA. 21
through a red clay district; but under the shade
of the vessel's side it was quite as dark as choco-
late. The line where the red and blue water join-
ed was distinctly defined. The weather for some
days previously had been calm, and the ocean
abounded, to an unusual degree, with living crea-
tures,*
In the sea around Tierra del Fuego, and at no
great distance from the land, I have seen naiTow
lines of water of a bright red colour, from the num-
ber of Crustacea, which somewhat resemble in form
large prawns. The sealers call them whale-food.
Whether whales feed on them I do not know ; but
terns, cormorants, and immense herds of great un-
wieldy seals derive, on some parts of the coast,
their chief sustenance from these swimming crabs.
Seamen invariably attribute the discoloration of the
water to spawn ; but I found this to be the case
only on one occasion. At the distance of several
leagues from the Archipelago of the Galapagos, the
shij) sailed through three strips of a dark yellowish,
or mud-like water; these strips were some miles
long, but only a few yards wide, and they were
separated from the suiTounding water by a sinuous
yet distinct margin. The colour was caused by lit-
tle gelatinous balls, about the fifth of an inch in
diameter, in which numerous minute spherical
ovules were embedded : they were of two distinct
kinds, one being of a reddish colour and of a difter-
ent shape from the other. I cannot form a conjec-
* M. Lesson (Voyage de la Coquille, torn, i., p. 255) mentions
red water off Lima, apparently produced by the same cause.
Peron, the distinguished naturalist, in the Voyage aux Terres
Australes, gives no less than twelve references to voyagers who
have alluded to the discoloured waters of the sea (vol. n., p. 239).
To the references given by Peron may be added, Humboldt's Pers.
Xarr., vol, vi,, p. 804 ; Flinders' Voyage, vol. i., p. 92 ; Labillar-
diere, vol. i., p. 287 ; Ulloa's Voyage ; Voyage of the Astrolabe
and of the Coquille ; Captain King's Survey of Australia, &c.
r^-J DIS(;OLOURF.I) SEA.
ture as to what two kinds of animals these belong-
ed. Captain Colnett remarks, that this appearance
is very pommon among the Galapagos Islands, and
that the direction of the bands indicates that of the
currents ; in the described case, however, the line
was caused by the wind. The only other appear-
ance which I have to notice, is a thin oily coat on
the water which displays iridescent colours. I saw
a considerable tract of the ocean thus covered on
the coast of Brazil; the seamen attributed it to the
putrefying carcass ofsome whale, which probably
was floating at no great distance. I do not here
mention the minute gelatinous particles, hereafter
to be referred to, which are frequently dispersed
throughout the water, for they are not sufficiently
abundant to create any change of colour.
There are two circumstances in the above ac-
counts which appear remarkable : first, how do
the various bodies which form the bands with de-
fined edges keep together 1 In the case of the
prawn-like crabs, their movements were as coin-
stantaneous as in a regiment of soldiers ; but this
cannot happen from any thing like voluntary action
with the ovules, or the confei'VEe, nor is it probable
among the infusoria. Secondly, what causes the
length and narrowness of the bands 1 The appear-
ance so much resembles that which may be seen
in every toiTent, where the stream uncoils into long
streaks the froth collected in the eddies, that I must
attribute the effect to a similar action either of the
currents of the air or sea. Under this supposition
we must believe that the various organized bodies
are produced in certain favourable places, and are
thence removed by the set of either wind or water.
I confess, however, there is a very great difficulty
in imagining any one spot to be the birthplace of the
millions of millions of animalcula and confervee : for
RIO DE JANEIRO. 23
whence come the germs at such points? — the parent
bodies having been distributed by the winds and
waves over the immense ocean. But on no other
hypothesis can T understand their hnear grouping.
I may add that Scoresby remarks, that green water
abounding with pelagic animals is invariably found
in a certain part of the Arctic Sea.
CHAPTER II. . ■' , / '
Rio de Janeiro— Excursion north of Cape Frio — Great Evapora-
tion— Slavery— Botofogo Bay — Terrestrial PlanarJK — Clouds
on the Corcovado — Heavy Rain — Musical Frogs — Phosphores-
cent Insects— Elater, springing powers of— Blue Haze— Noise
made by a Butterfly — Entomology — Ants — Wasp killing a Spi-
der — Parasitical Spider — Artifices of an Epeira— Gregarious
Spider— Spider with an unsymmetrical Web.
RIO DE .TANEIRO.
Ajjril itk to July 5th, 1832. — A few days after
our ai-rival I became acquainted with an English-
man who was going to visit his estate, situated,
rather more than a hundred miles from the capital,
to the northward of Cape Frio. I gladly accepted
his kind offer of allowing me to accompany him.
April Sth. — Our party amounted to seven. The
first stage was very interesting. The day was
powerfully hot, and as we passed through the
woods, everything was motionless, excepting the
large and brilliant butterflies, which lazily fluttered
about. The view seen when crossing the hills be-
hind Praia Grande was most beautiful ; the colours
were intense, and the prevailing tint a dark blue ;
the sky and the calm waters of the bay vied with
each other in splendour. After passing through
some cultivated country, we entered a forest, which
in the grandeur of all its parts could not be exceed-
24 lUO DP, JAXEIRO.
ed. We arrived by midday at Itliacaia; this small
village is situated on a plain, and round the central
house are the huts of the negi'oes. These, from
theu' regular form and position, reminded me of
the drawings of the Hottentot habitations in South-
ern Africa. As the moon rose early, we deter-
mined to start the same evening for our sleeping-
place at the Lagoa Marica. As it was gi'owing
dark we passed under one of the massive, bare, and
steep hills of granite which are so common in this
country. This spot is notorious fi'om having been,
for a long time, the residence of some runaway
slaves, Avho, by cultivating a little ground near the
top, contrived to eke out a subsistence. At length
they were discovered, and a party of soldiers being
sent, the Avhole were seized, with the exception of
one old woman, who, sooner than again be led into
slavery, dashed herself to pieces from the summit
of the mountain. In a Roman matron, this Avould
have been called the noble love of fi-eedom : in a
poor negress it is mere brutal obstinacy. We con-
tinued riding for some hours. For the few last
miles the road was intricate, and it passed through
a desert waste of marshes and lagoons. The scene
by the dimmed light of the moon was most deso-
late. A few fireflies flitted by us ; and the solitary
snipe, as it rose, uttered its plaintive cry. The
distant and sullen roar of the sea scarcely broke
the stillness of the night.
April 9t7i. — We left our miserable sleeping-place
before sunrise. The road passed through a nar-
row sandy plain, lying between the sea and the
interior salt lagoons. The number of beautiful
fishing birds, such as egrets and cranes, and the
succulent plants assuming most fantastical forms,
gave to the scene an interest which it would not
otherwise have possessed. The few stunted trees
LIVING AT A VENDA. 25
were loaded with parasitical plants, among which
the beauty and delicious fragrance of some of the
orchidea? were most to be admired. As the sun
rose, the day became extremely hot, and the reflec-
tion of the light and heat from the white sand was
very distressing. We dined at Mandetiba; the
thermometer in the shade being 84^. The beau-
tiful view of the distant wooded hills, reflected in
the perfectly calm water of an extensive lagoon,
quite refreshed us. As the venda* here was a
very good one, and I have the pleasant, but rare
remembrance, of an excellent dinner, I will be
grateful and presently describe it, as the type of
its class. These houses are often large, and are
built of thick upright posts, with bouglis interwo-
ven, and afterwards plastered. They seldom have
floors, and never glazed windows ; but are gener-
ally pretty well roofed. Universally the fi'ont part
is open, forming a kind of verandah, in which tables
and benches ai'e placed. The bed-rooms join on
each side, and here the passenger may sleep as
comfortably as he can, on a wooden platform, cov-
ered by a thin straw mat. The venda stands in a
courtyard, where the horses are fed. On first ar-
riving, it was our custom to unsaddle the horses
and give them their Indian com ; then, with a low
bow, to ask the senhor to do us the favour to give
us something to eat. "Anything you choose, sir,"
was his usual answer. For the few first times,
vainly 1 thanked Providence for having guided us
to so good a man. The conversation proceeding,
the case universally became deplorable. " Any
fish can you do us the favour of giving ]" " Oh !
no, sir." "Any soup]" "No, sir." "Any bread*?"
"Oh! no, sir !" " Any dried meat]" "Oh! no,
Bir." If we were lucky, by waiting a couple of
* V6nda, tlie Portuguese name for an inn.
c
26 KIO DE JANEIRO.
hours, we obtained fowls, rice, and. farlnlia. It not
unfrequently happened that we were obliged to
kill, with stones, the poultry for our own supper.
When, thoroughly exhausted by fatigue and hun-
ger, we timorously hinted that we should be glad
of our meal, the pompous, and (though true) most
unsatlsfactoiy answer was, " It will be ready when
it Is ready." If we had dared to remonstrate any
farther, we should have been told to proceed on
our journey, as being too Impertinent. The hosts
are most ungracious and disagreeable in their man-
ners ; their houses and their persons are often
filthily dirty ; the want of the accommodation of
forks, knives, and spoons is common ; and I am
sure no cottage or hovel in England could be found
in a state so utterly destitute of every comfort.
At Campos Novos, however, we fared sumptuous-
ly ; having i-ice and fowls, biscuit, wine, and spirits,
for dinner ; coffee in the evening, and fish with
coffee for breakfast. All this, with good food for
the horses, only cost 2s. 6d. per head. Yet the
host of this venda, being asked if he knew anything
of a whip which one of the party had lost, gruffly
answered, " How should I know 1 why did you not
take care of it 1 — I suppose the dogs have eaten it."
Leaving Mandetiba, we continued to pass through
an intricate wilderness of lakes, in some of which
were fresh, in others salt water shells. Of the
former kind, I found a Limnse in gi'eat numbers in
a lake, into which the inhabitants assured me that
the sea enters once a year, and sometimes oftener,
and makes the water quite salt. I have no doubt
many interesting facts, in relation to marine and
fresh water animals, might be observed in this
chain of lagoons, which skirt the coast of Brazil.
M. Gay* has stated that he found in the nelghbour-
* Annales des Sciences Naturelles for 1833.
THE VAMPIRR BAT. 27
hood of Rio, shells of the marine genera solen and
mytilus, and fresh water ampullariae, living to-
gether in brackish water. I also frequently ob-
served in the lagoon near the Botanic Garden,
where the water is only a little less, salt than in the
sea, a species of hydrophilus, very similar to a wa-
ter-beetle common in the ditches of England : in
the same lake the only shell belonged to a genus
generally found in estuaries.
Leaving the coast for a time, we again entered
the forest. The trees were very lofty, and remark-
able, compared with those of Europe, from the
whiteness of their trunks. I see, by my note-book,
" wonderful and beautiful, flowering parasites," in-
variably struck me as the most novel object in these
grand scenes. Travelling onwai'ds, we passed
through tracts of pasturage, much injured by the
enormous conical ants' nests, which were nearly
twelve feet high. They gave to the plain exactly
the appearance of the mud volcanoes at Jorullo, as
figured by Humboldt. We arrived at Engenhodo
after it was dark, having been ten hours on horse-
back. I never ceased, during the whole journey,
to be surprised at the amount of labour which the
horses were capable of enduring ; they appeared
also to recover from any injury much sooner than
those of our English breed. The Vampire bat is
often the cause of much trouble, by biting the hor-
ses on their withers. The injury is generally not
so much owing to the loss of blood, as to the inflam-
mation which the pressure of the saddle afterwards
produces. The whole circumstance has lately
been doubted in England ; I was therefore fortu-
nate in being present when one (Desmodus d'or-
bignyi, Wat.) was actually caught on a horse's
back. We were bivouacking late one evening
near Coquimbo, in Chile, when my servant, noti'
28 KIO DE JANEIRO,
cing that one of the horses was very restive, v^^ent
to see what was the matter, and fancying he could
distinguish something, suddenly put his hand on
the beast's withers, and secured the vampire. In
the morning the spot where the bite had been in-
flicted was easily distinguished from being slightly
swollen and bloody. The third day afterwards we
rode the horse, without any ill effects.
Aj^ril 13th. — After three days' travelling we ar-
rived at Socego, the estate of Senhor Manuel Figui-
reda, a relation of one of our party. The house
was simple, and, though like a barn in form, was
well suited to the climate. In the sitting-room
gilded chairs and sofas were oddly contrasted with
the whitewashed walls, thatched roof, and windows
without glass. The house, together with the gran-
aries, the stables, and workshops for the blacks,
who had been taught various trades, formed a rude
kind of quadrangle ; in the centre of which a large
pile of coffee was drying. These buildings stand
on a little hill, overlooking the cultivated gi'ound,
and surrounded on every side by a wall of dark
green luxuriant forest. The chief produce of this
part of the country is coffee. Each tree is supposed
to yield annually, on an average, two pounds ; but
some give as much as eight. Mandioca or cassada
is likewise cultivated in gi-eat quantity. Every
part of this plant is useful : the leaves and stalks
are eaten by the horses, and the roots are ground
into a pulp, which, when pressed dry and baked,
forms the farinha, the principal article of sustenance
in the Brazils. It is a curious, though well-known
fact, that the juice of this most nutritious plant is
highly poisonous. A few years ago a cow died at
this Fazenda, in consequence of having drunk
some of it. Senhor Figuireda told me that he had
planted, the year before, one bag of feijao or beans,
ARRIVAL AT siOCKGu. 29
and three of rice ; the former of which produced
eighty, and the latter three hundred and twenty-
fold. The pasturage supports a fine stock of cattle,
and the woods are so full of game, that a deer had
been killed on each of the three previous days.
This profusion of food showed itself at dinner,
where, if the tables did not groan, the guests sure-
ly did : for each person is expected to eat of every
dish. One day, having, as I thought, nicely calcu-
lated so that nothing should go away untasted, to
my utter dismay a roast turkey and a pig appeared
in all their substantial reality. During the meals,
it was the employment of a man to drive out of the
room sundry old hounds, and dozens of little black
childi'en, which crawled in together, at every oppor-
tunity. As long as the idea of slavery could be
banished, there was something exceedingly fasci-
nating in this simple and patriarchal style of living:
it was such a perfect retirement and independence
from the rest of the world. As soon as any stran-
ger is seen arriving, a large bell is set tolling, and
generally some small cannon are fired. The event
is thus announced to the rocks and woods, but to
nothing else. One morning I walked out an hour
before daylight to admire the solemn stillness of
the scene ; at last, the silence was broken by the
morning hymn, raised on high by the whole body
of the blacks ; and in this manner their daily work
is generally begun. On such fazendas as these, I
have no doubt the slaves pass happy and contented
lives. On Saturday and Sunday they work for
themselves, and in this fertile climate the labour of
two days is sufficient to support a man and his
family for the whole week.
April lAth. — Leaving Socego, we rode to an-
other estate on the Rio Macae, which was the last
patch of cultivated ground in that direction. The
C 2
30 RIO DE JANEIRO.
estate was two and a half miles long, and the owner
had forgotten how many broad. Only a very small
piece had been cleared, yet almost every acre was
capable of yielding all the various rich productions
of a tropical land. Considering the enormous area
of Brazil, the proportion of cultivated ground can
scarcely be considered as any thing, compared to
that which is left in the state of nature : at some
future age, how vast a population it will support !
During the second day's journey we found the road
so shut up, that it was necessary that a man should
go ahead with a sword to cut away the creepers.
The forest abounded with beautiful objects, among
which the tree ferns, though not large, were, from
their bi'ight green foliage, and tlie elegant curva-
ture of their fronds, most worthy of admiration. In
the evening it rained very heavily, and although
the thermon:|eter stood at 65°, I felt very cold. As
soon as the rain ceased, it was curious to observe
the extraordinary evaporation Avhich commenced
over the whole extent of the forest. At the height
of a hundred feet the hills were buried in a dense
white vapour, which rose like columns of smoke
from the most thickly-wooded parts, and especially
from the valleys. I observed this phenomenon on
several occasions : I suppose it is owing to the
large surface of foliage, previously heated by the
sun's rays.
While staying at this estate, I was very nearly
being an eyewitness to one of those atrocious acts
which can only take place in a slave country. Ow-
ing to a quarrel and a law-suit, the owner was on
the point of taking all the women and children
from the male slaves, and selling them separately
at the public auction at Rio. Interest, and not any
feeling of compassion, prevented this act. Indeed,
I do not believe the inhumanity of separating thir-
Aia'KAKAiXCE UF THE FORES 1'b'. 31
ty families, who had lived together for many years,
even occurred to the owner. Yet I will pledge
myself, that in humanity and good feeling he was
superior to the common run of men. It may be
said there exists no limit to the blindness of inter-
est and selfish habit. I may mention one very tri-
fling anecdote, which at the time struck me more
forcibly than any story of cruelty. I was crossing
a ferry with a negro, who was uncommonly stupid.
In endeavouring to make him understand, I talked
loud, and made signs, in doing which I passed my
hand near his face. He, I suppose, thought I was
in a passion, and was going to strike him ; for in-
stantly, with a frightened look and half-shut eyes,
he dropped his hands. I shall never forget my feel-
ings of surprise, disgust, and shame, at seeing a
great powerful man afraid even to ward off a blow,
directed, as he thought, at his face. This man had
been trained to a degradation lower than the slave-
ry of the most helpless animal.
April ISt/i. — In returning we spent two days at
Socego, and I employed them in collecting insects
in the forest. The greater number of trees, al-
though so lofty, are not more than three or four
feet in circumference. There are, of course, a
few of much greater dimension. Senhor Manuel
was then making a canoe 70 feet in length from a
solid trunk, which had originally been 110 feet
long, and of great thickness. The contrast of
palm trees, gi-owing amidst the common branch-
ing kinds, never fails to give the scene an inter-
tropical character. Here the woods were orna-
mented by the Cabbage Palm — one of the most
beautiful of its family. With a stem so narrow
that it might be clasped with the two hands, it
waves its elegant head at the height of forty or
fifty feet above the ground. The woody creepers,
32 RIO DE JANEIKO.
themselves covered by other creepers, Avere of
great thickness : some which I measured were two
feet in circumference. Many of the older trees
presented a very curious appearance from the
tresses of a liana hanging from their boughs, and
resembling bundles of hay. If the eye was turned
from the world of foliage above to the gi'ound
beneath, it was attracted by the extreme elegance
of the leaves of the ferns and mimosas. The latter,
in some parts, covered the surface with a brush-
wood only a few inches high. In walking across
these thick beds of mimosEes, a broad track was
marked by the change of shade, produced by the
drooping of their sensitive petioles. It is easy
to specify the individual objects of admiration in
these grand scenes ; but it is not possible to give
an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder,
astonishment, and devotion, which fill and elevate
the mind.
April 19^A. — Leaving Socego, during the first two
days, we retraced our steps. It was very weari-
some work, as the road generally ran across a gla-
ring hot sandy plain, not far from the coast. I no-
ticed that each time the horse put its foot on the
fine silicio.us sand, a gentle chirping noise was pro-
duced. On the third day we took a different line,
and passed through the gay little village of Madre
de Deos. This is one of the principal lines of road
in Brazil ; yet it was in so bad a state that no wheel
vehicle, excepting the clumsy bullock-wagon, could
pass along. In our whole journey we did not cross
a single bridge built of stone ; and those made of
logs of wood were frequently so much out of re-
pair, that it was necessary to go on one side to
avoid them. All distances are inaccurately known.
The road is often marked by crosses, in the place
of milestones, to signify where human blood has
PLANARIiE. 33
been spilled. On the evening of the 23d we ar-
rived at Rio, having finished our pleasant little ex-
cursion.
During the remainder of my stay at Rio, I re-
sided in a cottage at Botofogo Bay. It was im-
possible to wish for anything more delightful than
thus to spend some weeks in so magnificent a coun-
try. In England any person fond of natural history
enjoys in his walks a great advantage, by always
having something to attract his attention ; but in
these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attrac-
tions are so numerous, that he is scarcely able to
walk at all.
The few observations which I was enabled to
make were almost exclusively confined to the in-
vertebrate animals. The existence of a division
of the genus Planaria, which inhabits the dryland,
interested me much. These animals are of so
simple a structure, that Cuvier has arranged them
with the intestinal worms, though never found
within the bodies of other animals. Numerous
species inhabit both salt and fresh water; but
those to which I allude were found, even in the
drier parts of the forest, beneath logs of rotten
wood, on which I believe they feed. In general
form they resemble little slugs, but are very much
narrower in proportion, and several of the species
are beautifully coloured with longitudinal stripes.
Their structure is very simple : near the middle of
the under or crawling surface there are two small
transverse slits, from the anterior one of which a
funnel-shaped and highly irritable mouth can be
protruded. For some time after the rest of the
animal was completely dead from the effects of
salt water or any other cause, this organ still re-
tained its vitality. ■.- - -
Vol. L 3
34 RIO DE JANEIRO.
I found no less than twelve different species of
terrestrial Planarias in different parts of the south-
ern hemisphere.* Some specimens which I ob-
tained at Van Diemen's Land, I kept alive for
nearly two months, feeding them on rotten wood.
Having cut one of them transversely into two near-
ly equal parts, in the course of a fortnight both had
the shape of perfect animals. I had, however, so
divided the body, that one of the halves contained
both the inferior orifices, and the other, in conse-
quence, none. In the course of twenty-five days
from the operation, the more perfect half could not
have been distinguished from any other specimen.
The other had increased much in size ; and to-
wards its posterior end, a clear space was formed
in the parenchymatous mass, in which a rudiment-
ary cup-shaped mouth could clearly be distinguish-
ed ; on the under surface, however, no correspond-
ing slit was yet open. If the increased heat of the
weather, as we approached the equator, had not
destroyed all the individuals, there can be no doubt
that this last step would have completed its struc-
ture. Although so well knowai an experiment, it
was interesting to watch the gi-adual production of
every essential organ, out of the simple extremity
of another animal. It is extremely difficult to pre-
serve these Planarice ; as soon as the cessation of
life allows the ordinary laws of change to act, their
entire bodies become soft and fluid, with a rapidity
which I have never seen equalled.
I first visited the forest in which these Planariae
were found in company with an old Portuguese
priest who took me out to hunt with him. The
sport consisted in turning into the cover a few dogs,
and then patiently waiting to fire at any animal
* I have described and named these species in the " Annals of
Nat. Hist.," vol. xiv., p. 241.
EARLY USE OF THE KNIFE IN BRAZIL. 35
which might appear. We were accompanied by
the son of a neighbouring farmer — a good speci-
men of a wiki BraziHan youth. He was dressed
in a tattered old shirt and trousers, and had his
head uncovered : he earned an old-fashioned gun
and a large knife. The habit of caiTying the
knife is universal ; and in traversing a thick wood
it is almost necessary, on account of the creeping
plants. The ft-equent occurrence of murder may
be partly attributed to this habit. The Brazilians
are so dexterous with the knife, that they can
throw it to some distance with precision, and with
sufficient force to cause a fatal wound. I have
seen a number of little boys practising this art as a
game of play, and from their skill in hitting an up-
right stick, they promised well for more earnest at-
tempts. My companion, the day before, had shot
two large bearded monkeys. These animals have
prehensile tails, the extremity of which, even after
death, can support the whole weight of the body.
One of them thus remained fast to a branch, and it
was necessary to cut down a large tree to procure
it. This was soon effected, and down came tree
and monkey with an awful crash. Our day's
sport, besides the monkey, was confined to sundry
siuall green pan-ots and a few toucans. I profited,
however, by my acquaintance with the Portuguese
padre, for on another occasion he gave me a fine
specimen of the Yagouaroundi cat.
Every one has heard of the beauty of the scen-
ery near Botofogo. The house in which I lived
was seated close beneath the well-known mountain
of the Corcovado. It has been remarked, with
much truth, that abruptly conical hills are charac-
teristic of the formation which Humboldt desig-
nates as gneiss-granite. Nothing can be more
striking than the effect of these huge rounded
30 RIO DE JANEIRO.
masses of naked rock rising out of the most lux-
uriant vegetation.
I was often interested by watching the clouds,
which, rolling in from seaward, formed a bank just
beneath the highest point of the Corcovado. This
mountain, like most others, when thus partly veil-
ed, appeared to rise to a far prouder elevation than
its real height of 2300 feet. Mr. Daniell has ob-
sei-ved, in his meteorological essays, that a cloud
sometimes appears fixed on a mountain summit,
while the wind continues to blow over it. The
same phenomenon here presented a slightly dif-
ferent appearance. In this case the cloud was
clearly seen to curl over, and rapidly pass by the
summit, and yet was neither diminished nor in-
creased in size. The sun was setting, and a gen-
tle southerly breeze, striking against the southern
side of the rock, mingled its current with the cold-
er air above ; and the vapour was thus condensed :
but as the light wreaths of cloud passed over the
ridge, and came within the influence of the warm-
er atmosphere of- the northern sloping bank, they
were immediately redissolved. .
The climate, during the months of May and June,
or the beginning of winter, was delightful. The
mean temperature, from observations taken at nine
o'clock, both morning and evening, was only 72°.
It often rained heavily, but the drying southerly
winds soon again rendered the walks pleasant. One
morning, in the course of six hours, 1-6 inches of
rain fell. As this storm passed over the forests
which surround the Corcovado, the sound pro-
duced by the drops pattering on the countless mul-
titude of leaves was very remarkable ; it could be
heard at the distance of a quarter of a mile, and
was like the rushing of a great body of water.
After the hotter days, it was delicious to sit quietly
rnOSPHOUESCENT INSECTS. 37
in the garden and watch the evening pass into
night. Nature, in these climes, chooses her vocal-
ists from more humble performers than in Europe.
A smaU frog, of the genus Hyla, sits on a blade of
grass about an inch above the surface of the water,
and sends forth a pleasing chirp : when several are
together, they sing in harmony on different notes.
I had some difficulty in catching a specimen of this
frog. The genus Hyla has its toes terminated by
small suckers ; and I found this animal could crawl
up a pane of glass, when placed absolutely perpen-
dicular. Various cicadas and crickets, at the same
time, keep up a ceaseless shrill cry, but which,
softened by the distance, is not unpleasant. Every
evening after dark this gi-eat concert commenced ;
and often have I sat listening to it, until my atten-
tion has been drawn away by some curious passing
insect.
At these times the fireflies are seen flitting about
from hedge to hedge. On a dark night the light
can be seen at about two hundred paces distant.
It is remarkable that in all the different kinds of
glowworms, shining elaters, and various marine
animals (such as the crustacea, medusae, nereidte,
a coralline of the genus Clytia, and Pyi'osoma),
which I have observed, the light has been of a
well-marked green colour. All the fireflies which
I caught here belonged to the Lampyridae (in
which family the English glowworm is included),
and the greater number of specimens were of Lam-
pyris occidentalis.* I found that this insect emit-
ted the most brilliant flashes when irritated : in
the intervals, the abdominal rings were obscured.
The flash was almost coinstantaneous in the two
* I am greatly indebted to Mr. Waterhouse for his kindness in
naming for me this and many other insects, and in giving me much
valuable assistance.
D
38 RIO DE JANEIRO.
rings, but it was just perceptible first in the anterior
one. The shining matter was fluid and very ad-
hesive : little spots, where the skin had been torn,
continued bright with a slight scintillation, whilst
the uninjured parts were obscured. When the
insect was decapitated the rings remained uninter-
ruptedly bright, but not so brilliant as before : local
irritation with a needle always increased the vivid-
ness of the light. The rings in one instance retain-
ed their luminous property nearly twenty-four hours
after the death of the insect. From these facts it
would appear probable that the animal has only
the power of concealing or extinguishing the light
for short intervals, and that at other times the dis-
play is involuntary. On the muddy and wet grav-
el-walks I found the larvae of this lampyris in great
numbers : they resembled in general form the fe-
male of the English glowworm. These lai-vae
possessed but feeble luminous powers ; very differ-
ently from their parents, on the slightest touch they
feigned death, and ceased to shine ; nor did irrita-
tion excite any fresh display. I kejDt several of
them alive for some time : their tails are very sin-
gular organs, for they act, by a well-fitted conti-i-
vance, as suckers or organs of attachment, and
likewise as reservoirs for saliva, or some such fluid.
I repeatedly fed them on raw meat ; and I invari-
ably observed, that every now and then the ex-
tremity of the tail was ajiplied to the mouth, and a
drop of fluid exuded on the meat which was then
in the act of being consumed. The tail, notwith-
standing so much practice, does not seem to be
able to find its way to the mouth ; at least the neck
was always touched first, and apparently as a guide.
When we were at Bahia, an elater or beetle
(Pyrophorus luminosus, IHig.) seemed the most
common luminous insect. The liffht in this case
BOTANIC GARDEN. 39
was also rendered more brilliant by iriitation. I
amused myself one day by observing the springintr
powei-s of this insect, which have not, as it appears
to me, been properly described.* The elater,
when placed on its back and. preparing to spring,
moved its head and thorax backwards, so that the
pectoral spine was drawn out, and rested on the
edge of its sheath. The same backward, move-
ment being continued, the spine, by the full action
of the muscles, was bent like a spring ; and. tlio
insect at this moment rested on the extremity of its
head, and wing-cases. The effort being suddenly
relaxed, the head and thorax flew up, and. in con-
sequence, the base of the wing-cases struck the
supporting surface with such force, that the insect
by the reaction was jerked upwards to the height
of one or two inches. The projecting points of
the thorax, and the sheath of the spine, served, to
steady the whole body dui-ing the spring. In the
descriptions which I have read, sufficient stress
does not appear to have been laid on the elasticity
of the spine : so sudden a spring could not be the
result of simple muscular contraction, without the
aid of some mechanical contrivance.
On several occasions I enjoyed some short but
most pleasant excursions in the neighbouring coun-
try. One day I went to the Botanic Garden, where
many plants, well knowm for their great utility,
might be seen gi'owing. The leaves of the cam-
phor, pepper, cinnamon, and clove trees were de-
lightfully aromatic ; and the bread-fruit, the jaca,
and the mango, vied with each other in the mag-
nificence of their foliage. The landscape in the
neighbourhood of Bahia almost takes its character
from the two latter trees. Befox-e seeing them, I
* Kirby's Entomology, vol. ii., p. 317.
40 EIO BE JANEIRO.
had no idea that any trees could cast so black a
shade on the ground. Both of them bear to the
evergreen vegetation of these climates the same
kind of relation which laurels and hollies in Eng-
land do to the lighter green of the deciduous trees.
It may be observed, that the houses within the
tropics are surrounded by the most beautiful forms
of vegetation, because many of them are at the
same time most useful to man. Who can doubt
that these qualities are united in the banana, the
cocoa-nut, the many kinds of palm, the orange, and
the bread-fruit tree ]
During this day I was particularly sti-uck with
a remark of Humboldt's, who often alludes to " the
thin vapour which, without changing the transpa-
rency of the air, renders its tints more harmonious,
and softens its effects." This is an appearance
which I have never observed in the temperate
zones. The atmosphere, seen through a short space
of half or three quarters of a mile, was perfectly
lucid, but at a gi'eater distance all colours were
blended into a most beautiful haze, of a pale
French grey, mingled with a little blue. The con-
dition of the atmosphere between the morning and
about noon, when the effect was most evident, had
undergone little change, excepting in its dryness.
In the inten^al, the difference between the dew
point and temperature had increased from 7°-5 to
17°.
On another occasion I started early and walked
to the Gavia, or topsail mountain. The air was
delightfully cool and fragrant ; and the drops of
dew still glittered on the leaves of the lai'ge lilia-
ceous plants, which shaded the streamlets of clear
water. Sitting down on a block of granite, it was
delightful to watch the various insects and birds as
they flew past. The humming-bird seems particu-
CURIOUS FUNGUS. 41
larly fond of such shady retired spots. Whenever
I saw these little creatures buzzing round a flower,
with their wings vibrating so rapidly as to be
scarcely visible, I was reminded of the sphinx
moths : their movements and habits are indeed in
many respects very similar.
Following a pathway I entered a noble forest,
and from a height of five or six hundred feet, one
of those splendid views was presented, which are
so common on every side of Rio. At this eleva-
tion the landscape attains its most brilliant tint ;
and every form, every shade, so completely sur-
passes in magnificence all that the European has
ever beheld in his own country, that he knows not
how to express his feelings. The general effect
fi-equently recalled to my mind the gayest scenery
of the Opera-house or the great theatres. I never
returned from these . excursions empty handed.
This day I found a specimen of a curious fungus,
called Hymenophallus. Most people know the
English Phallus, which in autumn taints the air
with its odious smell : this, however, as the ento-
mologist is aware, is to some of our beetles a de-
lightful fragrance. So was it here ; for a Strongy-
lus, attracted by the odour, alighted on the fungus
as I cari'ied it in my hand. We here see in two
distant countries a similar relation between plants
and insects of the same families, though the species
of both are different. When man is the agent in
introducing into a country a new species, this rela-
tion is often broken : as one instance of this I may
mention, that the leaves of the cabbages and let-
tuces, which in England afford food to such a mul-
titude of slugs and caterpillars, in the gardens near
Rio are untouched.
During our stay at Brazil I made a large collec-
tion of insects. A few general observations on the
D2
42 RIO DE JANEIRO.
comparative importance of the different orders may
be interesting to the EngUsh entomologist. The
large and brilliantly-coloured Lepidoptera bespeak
the zone they inhabit, far more plainly than any
other race of animals. I allude only to the butter-
flies ; for the moths, contrary to what might Imve
been expected from the rankness of the vegetation,
certainly appeared in much fewer numbers than in
our own temperate regions. I was much surprised
at the habits of Papilio feronia. This butterfly is
not uncommon, and generally frequents the orange-
groves. Although a high flier, yet it very frequent-
ly alights on the trunks of trees. On these occa-
sions its head is invariably placed downwards ; and
its wings are expanded in a horizontal plane, instead
of being folded vertically, as is commonly the case.
This is the only butterfly which I have ever seen
that uses its legs for running. Not being aware of
this fact, the insect, more than once, as I cautious-
ly approached with my forceps, shuffled on one side
just as the instrument was on the point of closing,
and thus escaped. But a far more singular fact is
the power which this species possesses of making
a noise.* Several times when a pair, probably
male and female, were chasing each other in an ir-
regular course, they passed within a few yards of
me ; and I distinctly heard a clicking noise, simi-
lar to that produced by a toothed wheel passing
under a spring catch. The noise was continued at
* Mr. Doubleday has lately described (before the Entomologi-
cal Society, March 3d, 1845) a peculiar structure in the wings of
this butterfly, which seems to be the means of its making its noise.
He says, " It is remarkable for having a sort of drum at the base
of the fore wings, between the costal nervure and the subcostal.
These two nervures, moreover, have a peculiar screw-like dia-
phragm or vessel in the interior." I find in Langsdorff' s travels
(in the years 1803-7, p. 74) it is said, that in the island of St. Cath-
erine's, on the coast of Brazil, a butterfly, called Februa Hoffman-
seggi, makes a noise, when flying away, like a rattle.
ENTOMOLOGY. 43
short intervals, and could be distinguished at about
twenty yards' distance : I am certain there is no
error in the observation.
I was disappointed in the general aspect of the
Coleoptera. The number of minute and obscure-
ly-coloured beetles is exceedingly great.* The
cabinets of Europe can, as yet, boast only of the
larger species from tropical climates. It is suffi-
cient to disturb the composure of an entomologist's
mind, to look forward to the future dimensions of a
complete catalogue. The carnivorous beetles, or
Carabidae, appear in extremely few numbers with-
in the tropics : this is the more remarkable when
compared to the case of the carnivorous quadru-
peds, which are so abundant in hot countries. I was
struck with this observation both on entering Bra-
zil, and when I saw the many elegant and active
forms of the Harpalidee re-appearing on the tem-
perate plains of La Plata. Do the very numerous
spiders and rapacious Hymenoptera supply the
place of the carnivorous beetles'? The camon-
feeders and Brachelytera are very uncommon ; on
the other hand, the Rhyncophora and Chrysomeli-
dce, all of which depend on the vegetable world
for subsistence, are present in astonishing numbers.
I do not here refer to the number of ditterent spe-
cies, but to that of the individual insects ; for on
this itjis that the most striking character in the en-
tomology of different countries depends. The or-
ders Orthoptera and Hemiptera are particularly
numerous ; as likewise is the stinging division of
* I may mention, as a common instance of one day's (June 23d)
collecting, when I was not attending particularly to the Coleop-
tera, that I caught sixty-eight species of that order. Among
these, there were only two of the Carabidse, four Brachelytra,
fifteen Rhyncophora, and fourteen of the Chrysomelidae. Thir-
ty-seven species of Arachnids, which I brought home, will be
sufficient to prove that I was not paying overmuch attention to
the generally favoured order of Coleoptera.
44 RIO DE JANEIRO.
the Hymenoptera; the bees, perhaps, being ex-
cepted. A person, on first entermg a tropical for-
est, is astonished at the labours of the ants : well-
beaten paths branch off in every direction, on which
an army of never-failing foragers inay be seen, some
going forth, and others returning, burdened with
pieces of green leaf, often larger than their own
bodies.
A small dark-coloured ant sometimes migrates
in countless numbers. One day, at Bahia, my at-
tention was drawn by observing many spiders,
cockroaches, and other insects, and some lizards,
rushing in the gi'eatest agitation across a bare piece
of ground. A little way behind, every stalk and
leaf was blackened by a small ant. The swarm
having crossed the bare space, divided itself, and
descended an old wall. 13y this means luany in-
sects were faii'ly enclosed ; and the efforts which
the poor little creatures made to extricate them-
selves from such a death were wonderful. "When
the ants came to the road they changed their
course, and in narrow files reascended the wall.
Having placed a small stone so as to intercept one
of the lines, the whole body attacked it, and then
iminediately retired. Shortly afterwards another
body came to the charge, and again having failed
to make any impression, this line of march was
entirely given up. By going an inch round, the
file might have avoided the stone, and this doubt-
less would have happened, if it had been originally
there : but having been attacked, the lion-hearted
little warriors scorned the idea of yielding.
Certain wasp-like insects, which consti'uct in tho
corners of the verandahs clay cells for their larvas,
are very numerous in the neighbourhood of Hio.
These cells they stuff full of half-dead spiders and
caterpillars, which they seem wonderfully to know
SPIDERS. 45
how to Sting to that degree as to leave them par-
alysed but alive, until their eggs are hatched ; and
the larvae feed on the horrid mass of powerless,
half-killed victims — a sight which has been de-
scribed by an enthusiastic naturalist* as curious
and pleasing ! I was much interested one day by
watching a deadly contest between a Pepsis and a
large spider of the genus Lycosa. The wasp made
a sudden dash at its prey, and then flew away :
the spider was evidently wounded, for, trying to
escape, it rolled down a little slope, but had still
strength sufficient to crawl into a thick tuft of grass.
The wasp soon returned, and seemed surprised at
not immediately finding its victim. It then com-
menced as regular a hunt as ever hound did after
fox ; making short semicircular casts, and all the
time rapidly vibrating its wings and antennae. The
spider, though well concealed, was soon discov-
ered ; and the wasp, evidently still afraid of its ad-
versary's jaws, after much manoeuvring, inflicted
two stings on the under side of its thorax. At last,
carefully examining with its antennEe the now mo-
tionless spider, it proceeded to drag away the
body. But I stopped both tyrant and prey.f
The number of spiders, in proportion to other
insects, is here, compared with England, very much
larger ; perhaps more so than with any other di-
vision of the articulate animals. The variety of
* In a MS. in the British Museum by Mr. Abbott, who made
his observations in Georgia ; see Mr. A. White's paper in the
"Annals of Nat. Hist.," vol. vii., p. 472. Lieut. Hutton has de-
scribed a sphex with similar habits in India, in the " Journal of
the Asiatic Society," vol. i., p. 555.
t Don Felix Azara (vol. i., p. 175), mentioning a hymenopterous
insect, probably of the same genus, says, he saw jt dragging a
dead spider through tall grass, in a straight line to its nest, which
was one hundred and sLxty-three paces distant. He adds that
the wasp, in order to find the road, every now and then made
" demi-tours d'environ trois palmes."
46 RIO DE JANEIRO.
species among the jumping spiders appears almost
infinite. The genus, or rather family of Epeira, is
here characterized by many singular forms ; some
species have pointed coriaceous shells, others en-
larged and spiny tibise. Every jiath in the forest
is barricaded with the strong yellow web of a
species, belonging to the same division with the
Epeira clavipes of Fabricius, which was formerly
said by Sloane to make, in the West Indies, webs
so strong as to catch birds. A small and pretty
kind of spider, with very long fore-legs, and which
appears to belong to an undescribed genus, lives as
a parasite on almost every one of these webs. I
suppose it is too insignificant to be noticed by the
great Epeira, and is therefore allowed to prey on
the minute insects, which, adhenng to the lines,
would otherwise be wasted. When frightened,
this little spider either feigns death by extending
its front legs, or suddenly drops from the web. A
large Epeira of the same division with Epeira tu-
berculata and conica is extremely cominon, espe-
cially in dry situations. Its web, which is generally
placed among the great leaves of the common
agave, is sometimes strengthened near the centre
by a pair or even four zigzag ribands, which con-
nect two adjoining rays. When any large insect,
as a grasshopper or wasp, is caught, the spider, by
a dexterous movement, makes it revolve very rap-
idly, and at the same time emitting a band of
threads from its spinners, soon envelojDS its prey
in a case like the cocoon of a silkworm. The spi-
der now examines the powerless victim, and gives
the fatal bite on the hinder part of its thorax ;
then retreating, patiently waits till the poison
has taken effect. The virulence of this poison
may be judged of from the fact that in half a min-
ute I opened the mesh, and found a large wasp
SPIDERS. 47
quite lifeless. This Epeira always stands with its
head downwards near the centre of the web.
When disturbed, it acts differently according to
circumstances : if there is a thicket below, it sud-
denly falls down ; and I have distinctly seen the
thread from the spinners lengthened by the animal
while yet stationary, as preparatory to its fall. If
the ground is clear beneath, the Epeira seldom
falls, but moves quickly through a central passage
from one to the other side. When still further
disturbed, it practises a most curious manoeuvre :
standing in the middle, it violently jerks the web,
which is attached to elastic twigs, till at last the
whole acquires such a rapid vibratory movement,
that even the outline of the spider's body becomes
indistinct.
It is well known that most of the British spiders,
when a large insect is caught in their webs, en-
deavour to cut the lines and liberate their prey, to
save their nets from being entirely spoiled. I once,
however, saw in a hot-house in Shropshire a large
female wasp caught in the iiTegular web of a quite
small spider ; and this spider, instead of cutting the
web, most perseveringly continued to entangle the
body, and especially the wings, of its prey. The
wasp at first aimed in vain repeated thrusts with
its sting at its little antagonist. Pitying the wasp,
after allowing it to struggle for more than an hour,
I killed it and put it back into the web. The spi-
der soon returned ; and an hour afterwards I was
much surprised to find it with its jaws buried in the
orifice, through which the sting is protruded by the
living wasp. I drove the spider away two or three
times, but for the next twenty-four hours I always
found it again sucking at the same place. The
spider became much distended by the juices of its
prey, which was many times larger than itself.
48 RIO DE JANEIRO.
I may here just mention, that I found, near St. F^
Bajada, many large black spiders, with ruby-col-
oured marks on their backs, having gregarious
habits. The webs were placed vertically, as is in-
vai'iably the case with the genus Epeira: they were
separated from each other by a space of about two
feet, but were all attached to certain common lines,
which were of great length, and extended to all
parts of the community. In this manner the tops
of some large bvishes were encompassed by the
united nets. Azara* has described a gregarious
spider in Paraguay, which Walckenaer thinks must
be a Theridion, but probably it is an Epeira, and
perhaps even the same species with mine. I can-
not, however, recollect seeing a central nest as large
as a hat, in which, during autumn, when the spiders
die, Azara says the eggs are deposited. As all the
spiders which I saw were of the same size, they
must have been nearly of the same age. This gre-
garious habit, in so typical a genus as Epeira,
among insects, which are so bloodthirsty and soli-
tary that even the two sexes attack each other, is a
very singular fact.
In a lofty valley of the Cordillera, near Mendo-
za, I found another spider with a singularly-formed
web. Strong lines radiated in a vertical plane
from a common centre, where the insect had its
station ; but only two of the rays were connected
by a symmetrical mesh-work; so that the net, in-
stead of being, as is generally the case, circular,
consisted of a wedge-shaped segment. All the
webs were similarly constructed.
* Azara's Voyage, vol. i., p. 213,
ESTUARY OF THE PLATA. 49
CHAPTER HI.
Monte Video— Maldonado — Excursion to R. Polanco — Lazo and
Belas — Partridges — Absence of Trees— Deer — Capybara, or
River Hog — Tucutuco — Molothrus, cuckoo-lilie habits — Ty-
rant-flycatcher — Mocking-bird — Carrion Hawks — Tubes form-
ed by Lightning — House struck.
MALDONADO.
Juli/ 5t7i, 1832. — In the morning we got under
way, and stood out of the splendid harbour of Rio
de Janeiro. In our passage to the Plata, we saw
nothing particular, excepting on one day a gi-eat
shoal of porpoises, many hundreds in number. The
whole sea was in places furrowed by them ; and a
most extraordinary spectacle was presented, as
hundreds, proceeding together by jumps, in which
their whole bodies were exposed, thus cut the wa-
ter. When the ship was running nine knots an
hour, these animals could cross and recross the
bows with the greatest ease, and then dash away
right ahead. As soon as we entered the estuary
of the Plata, the weather was very unsettled. One
dark night we were surrounded by numerous seals
and penguins, which made such strange noises, that
the officer on watch reported he could hear the
cattle bellowing on shore. On a second night we
witnessed a splendid scene of natural fireworks;
the mast-head and yard-arm-ends shone with St.
Elmo's light ; and the form of the vane could al-
most be traced, as if it had been rubbed with phos-
phoiiis. The sea was so highly luminous, that the
tracl^jS of the penguins were marked by a fiery
wake, and the darkness of the sky was momentari-
ly illuminated by the most vivid lightning.
Vol. L— 4 E
50 MALDONADO.
When witliin the mouth of the river, I was inter-
ested by observing how slowly the waters of the
sea and river mixed. The latter, muddy and dis-
coloured, from its less specific gravity, floated on
the surface of the salt water. This was curiously
exhibited in the wake of the vessel, where a line of
blue water was seen mingling in little eddies, with
the adjoining fluid.
July 2Qtli. — We anchored at Monte Video. The
Beagle was employed in sui^veying the extreme
southern and eastern coasts of Ainerica, south of
the Plata, during the two succeeding years. To
prevent useless repetitions, I will extract those
parts of my journal which refer to the same dis-
tricts, without always attending to the order in
which we visited them.
Maldonado is situated on the northern bank of
the Plata, and not very far from the mouth of the
estuary. It is a most quiet, forlorn little town ;
built, as is universally the case in these countries,
with the streets running at right angles to each oth-
er, and having in the middle a large plaza or square,
which, from its size, renders the scantiness of the
population more evident. It possesses scarcely any
trade ; the exports being confined to a few hides
and living cattle. The inhabitants are chiefly land-
owners, together with a few shopkeepers and the
necessary tradesmen, such as blacksmiths and car-
penters, who do nearly all the business for a circuit
of fifty miles round. The town is separated from
the river by a band of sand-hillocks, about a mile
broad : it is surrounded on all other sides by an
open, slightly-undulating country, covered by one
uniform layer of fine green turi", on which count-
less herds of cattle, sheep, and horses graze. There
is very little land cultivated even close to the town.
A few hedges, made of cacti and atyave, mark out
EXCURSION TO RIO POLANCO, 51
where some wheat or Indian com has been planted.
The features of the country are very similar along
the whole northern bank of the Plata. The only
difference is, that here the granitic hills are a little
bolder. The scenery is very uninteresting ; there
is scarcely a house, an enclosed piece of gTound, or
even a tree, to give it an air of cheerfulness. Yet,
after being imprisoned for some time in a ship,
there is a charm in the unconfined feeling of walk-
ing over boundless plains of turf. Moreover, if
your view is limited to a small space, many objects
possess beauty. Some of the smaller birds are
brilliantly coloured ; and the bright green sward,
browsed short by the cattle, is ornamented by dwarf
flowers, among which a plant, looking like a daisy,
claimed the place of an old friend. What would a
florist say to whole tracts so thickly covered by the
Verbena melindres, as, even at a distance, to ap-
pear of the most gaudy scarlet ?
I stayed ten weeks as Maldonado, in which time a
nearly perfect collection of the animals, birds, and
reptiles was procured. Before making any obser-
vations respecting them, I will give an account of
a little excursion I made as far as the river Polan
CO, which is about seventy miles distant, in a nor-
therly direction. I may mention, as a proof how
cheap everything is in this country, that I paid only
two dollars a day, or eight shillings, for two men,
together with a troop of about a dozen riding-hor-
ses. My companions were well anned with pistols
and sabres ; a precaution which I thought rather
unnecessary; but the first piece of news we heard
was, that, the day before, a traveller from Monte
Video had been found dead on the road, with his
throat cut. This happened close to a cross, the
record of a former murder.
On the first night we slept at a retired little
52 MALDONADO.
country-house ; and tliere I soon found out that I
possessed two or three articles, especially a pocket
compass, which created unbounded astonishment.
In every house I was asked to show the compass,
and by its aid, together with a map, to point out
the direction of various places. It excited the
liveliest admiration that I, a perfect stranger,
should know the road (for direction and road are
synonymous in this open country) to places where
I had never been. At one house a young woman,
who was ill in bed, sent to entreat me to come and
show her the compass. If their surprise was great,
mine was gi'eater, to find such ignorance among
people who possessed their thousands of cattle, and
" estancias" of great extent. It can only be ac-
counted for by the circumstance that this retired
part of the country is seldom visited by foreigners,
I was asked whether the earth or sun moved ;
whether it was hotter or colder to the north ; where
Spain was, and many other such questions. The
greater number of the inhabitants had an indistinct
idea that England, London, and North America
were different names for the same place ; but the
better informed well knew that London and North
America were separate countries close together,
and that England was a large town in London ! I
carried with me some promethean matches, which
I ignited by biting ; it was thought so wonderful
that a man should strike fire with his teeth, that it
was usual to collect the whole family to see it : I
was once offered a dollar for a single one. Wash-
ing my face in the morning caused much specula-
tion at the village of Las Minas ; a superior trades-
man closely cross-questioned me about so singular
a practice ; and likewise why on board we wore
our beards ; for he had heard from my guide that
we did so. He eyed me with much suspicion ;
LAS MINAS. 53
perhaps lie had heard, of ablutions in the Moham-
medan religion, and knowing me to be a heretic,
probably he came to the conclusion that all here-
tics were Turks. It is the general custom in this
country to ask for a night's lodging at the first con-
venient house. The astonishment at the compass,
and my other feats in jugglery, was to a certain
degree advantageous, as with that, and the long
stories my guides told of my breaking stones, know-
ing venomous from harmless snakes, collecting in-
sects, &c., I repaid them for their hospitality. I
am wi'iting as if I had been among the inhabitants
of central Africa : Banda Oriental would not be
flattered by the comparison ; but such were my
feelings at the time.
The next day we rode to the village of Las Mi-
nas. The country was rather more hilly, but oth-
erwise continued the same ; an inhabitant of the
Pampas no doubt would have considered it as truly
Alpine. The country is so thinly inhabited, that
during the whole day we scarcely met a single
person. Las Minas is much smaller even than
Maldonado. It is seated on a little plain, and is
surrounded by low rocky mountains. It is of the
usual symmetrical form ; and with its whitewashed
church standing in the centre, had rather a pretty
appearance. The outskiiting houses rose out of
the plain like isolated beings, without the accom-
paniment of gardens or courtyards. This is gen-
erally the case in the country, and all the houses
have, in consequence, an uncomfortable aspect. At
night we stopped at a pulperia, or drinking-shop.
During the evening a great number of Gauchos
came in to drink spirits and sinoke cigars : their
appearance is very striking ; they are generally
tall and handsome, but with a proud and dissolute
expression of countenance. They frequently wear
E2
64 MALDONADO.
their moustaches, and. long hlack hair curling down
their backs. With their brightly-coloured gar-
ments, great spurs clanking about their heels, and
knives stuck as daggers (and often so used) at their
waists, they look a very different race of men from
what might be expected from their name of Gau-
chos, or simple countrymen. Their j^oliteness is
excessive ; they never diink their spirits without
expecting you to taste it ; but whilst making their
exceedingly graceful bow, they seem quite as ready,
if occasion otiered, to cut your throat.
On the third day we pursued rather an irregular
course, as I was employed in examining some beds
of marble. On the fine plains of turf we saw many
ostriches (Sti'uthio rhea). Some of the flocks con-
tained as many as twenty or thirty birds. These,
when standing on any little eminence, and seen
against the clear sky, presented a very noble ap-
pearance. I never inet with such tame ostriches in
any other part of the country : it was easy to gallop
up within a short distance of them ; but then, ex-
panding their wings, they made all sail right before
the wind, and soon left the horse astern.
At night we came to the house of Don Juan Fu-
entes, a rich landed proprietor, but not personally
known to either of my companions. On approach-
ing the house of a stranger, it is usual to follow
several little points of etiquette : riding up slowly
to the door, the salutation of Ave Maria is given,
and until somebody comes out and asks you to
alight, it is not customary even to get off your
horse : the formal answer of the ov^mer is, " Sin
pecado concebida" — that is, conceived without sin.
Having entered the house, some general conversa-
tion is kept up for a few minutes, till permission is
asked to pass the night there. This is granted as
a matter of course. The stranger then takes his
A don'3 establishment. 55
meals with the family, and a room is assigned him,
where, with the horsecloths belonging to his recaclo
or saddle of the Pampas), he makes his bed. It is
curious how similar circumstances produce such
similar results in manners. At the Cape of Grood
Hope the same hospitality, and very nearly the
same points of etiquette, ai'e universally observed.
The difference, however, between the character of
the Spaniard and that of the Dutch boor is shown,
by the foi-mer never asking his guest a single ques-
tion beyond the strictest rule of politeness, while
the honest Dutchman demands where he has been,
where he is going, what is his business, and even
how many brothers, sisters, or children he may hap-
pen to have.
Shortly after our arrival at Don Juan's, one of
the large herds of cattle was driven in towards the
house, and three beasts were picked out to be
slaughtered for the supply of the establishment.
These half-wild cattle are very active ; and know-
ing full well the fatal lazo, they led the horses a
long and laborious chase. After witnessing the
rude wealth displayed in the number of cattle,
men, and horses, Don Juan's miserable house was
quite curious. The floor consisted of hardened
mud, and the windows were without glass ; the sit-
ting-room boasted only of a few of the roughest
chairs and stools, with a couple of tables. The
supper, although several strangers were present,
consisted of two huge piles, one of roast beef, the
other of boiled, with some pieces of pumpkin: be-
sides this latter, there was no other vegetable, and
not even a morsel of bread. For drinking, a large
earthenware jug of water served the whole party.
Yet this man was the owner of several square
miles of land, of which nearly every acre would
produce corn and, with a little trouble, all the com-
56 MALDONADO.
mon vegetables. The evening was spent in smo-
king, with a little impromptu singing, accompanied
by the guitar. The signoritas all sat together in
one corner of the room, and did not sup with the
men.
So many works have been written about these
countries, that it is almost superfluous to describe
either the lazo or the bolas. The lazo consists of
a very strong, but thin, well-plaited rope, made of
raw hide. One end is attached to the broad sur-
cingle, which fastens together the complicated gear
of the recado, or saddle used in the Pampas ; the
other is terminated by a small ring of iron or brass,
by which a noose can be formed. The Gaucho,
when he is going to use the lazo, keeps a small
coil in his bridle-hand, and in the other holds the
running noose, which is made very large, general-
ly having a diameter of about eight feet. This he
whirls round his head, and by the dexterous move-
ment of his wrist keeps the noose open ; then,
throwing it, he causes it to fall on any particular
spot he chooses. The lazo, when not used, is tied
up in a small coil to the after part of the recado.
The bolas, or balls, are of two kinds : the simplest,
which is chiefly used for catching ostriches, consists
of two round stones, covered with leather, and uni-
ted by a thin plaited thong, about eight feet long.
The other kind differs only in having three balls
united by the thongs to a common centre. The
Gaucho holds the smallest of the three in his hand,
and whirls the other two round and round his head;
then, taking aim, sends them like chain-shot re-
volving through the air. The balls no sooner strike
any object, than, winding round it, they cross each
other, and become firmly hitched. The size and
weight of the balls vary, according to the purpose
for which they are made : when of stone, although
THROWING THE BOLAS. 57
not larger than an apple, they are sent with such
force as sometimes to break the leg even of a horse.
I have seen the balls made of wood, and as large
as a turnip, for the sake of catching these animals
without injuring them. The balls are sometimes
made of iron, and these can be hurled to the great-
est distance. The main difficulty in using either
lazo or bolas is to ride so well as to be able at full
speed, and while suddenly turning about, to whirl
them so steadily round the head as to take aim :
on foot any person would soon leana the art. One
day, as I was amusing myself by galloping and
whirling the balls round my head, by accident the
free one struck a bush ; and its revolving motion
being thus destroyed, it immediately fell to the
ground, and like magic caught one hind leg of my
horse; the other ball was then jerked out of my
hand, and the horse fairly secured by the bolas.
Luckily, he was an old practised animal, and knew
what it meant ; otherwise he would probably have
kicked till he had thrown himself down. The
Gauchos roared with laughter ; they cried out that
they had seen every sort of animal caught, but had
never before seen a man caught by himself.
During the two succeeding days, T reached the far-
thest point which I was anxious to examine. The
country wore the same aspect, till at last the fine
green turf became more wearisome than a dusty
turnpike road. We everywhere saw gi-eat num-
bers of partridges (Nothura major). These birds
do not go in coveys, nor do they conceal themselves
like the English kind. It appears a very silly bird.
A nian on horseback, by riding round and round in
a circle, or rather in a spire, so as to approach
closer each time, may knock on the head as many
as he pleases. The more common method is to
catch them with a running noose, or little lazo,
58 MALDONADO.
made of the stem of an ostrich's feather, fastened
to the end of a long stick. A boy on a quiet old
horse v/ill frequently thus catch thirty or forty in a
day. In Arctic Noith America* the Indians catch
the Varying Hare by walking spirally round and
round it, when on its form : the middle of the day
is reckoned the best time, when the sun is high,
and the shadow of the hunter not very long.
On our return to Maldonado, we followed rather
a different lino of road. Near Pan de Azucar, a
landmark well known to all those who have sailed
up the Plata, I stayed a day at the house of a most
hospitable old Spaniard. Early in the inonaing we
ascended the Sien-a de las Animas. By the aid of
the rising sun the scenery was almost picturesque.
To the westward the view extended over an im-
mense level plain as far as the Mount, at Monte
Video, and to the eastward, over the mammillated
country of" Maldonado. On the summit of the
mountain there were several small heaps of stones,
which evidently had lain there for many years. My
companion assured me that they were the work of
the Indians in the old time. The heaps were sim-
ilar, but on a much smaller scale, to those so com-
monly found on the mountains of Wales. The
desire to signalize any event, on the highest point
of' the neighbouring land, seeins a universal pas-
sion with mankind. At the present day, not a sin-
gle Indian, either civilized or wild, exists in this
part of the province ; nor am I aware that the for-
mer inhabitants have left behind them any more
permanent records than these insignificant piles on
the summit of the SieiTa de las Animas.
The general, and almost entire absence of trees
in Banda Oriental is remarkable. Some of the
* Hearne's Journey, p. 383.
CLIMATE AND VEGETATION. 50
rocky hills are partly covered by tliickets, and on
the banks of the larger streams, especially to the
north of Las Minas, willow-trees are not uncom-
mon. Near the Arroyo Tapes I heard of a v/ood
of palms ; and one of these trees, of considerable
size, I saw near the Pan de Azucar, in lat. 35°.
These, and the trees planted by the Spaniards, offer
the only exceptions to the general scarcity of wood.
Among the introduced kinds may be enumerated
poplars, olives, peach, and other fruit trees : the
peaches succeed so well, that they aftbrd the main
suj)ply of firewood to the city of Buenos Ayres.
Extremely level countries, such as the Pampas,
seldom appear favourable to the growth of trees.
This may possibly be attributed either to the forco
of the winds, or the kind of drainage. In the na-
ture of the land, however, around Maldonado, no
such reason is apparent ; the rocky mountains af-
ford protected situations, enjoying various kinds of
soil ♦ streamlets of water are common at the bot-
toms of nearly every valley ; and the clayey nature
of the earth seems adapted to retain moisture. It
has been inferred with much probability, that the
presence of woodland is generally determined* by
the annual amount of moisture ; yet in this prov-
ince abundant and heavy rain falls during the win-
ter ; and the summer, though dry, is not so in any
excessive degree.t We see nearly the whole of
Australia covered by lofty trees, yet that country
possesses a far more arid climate. Hence we must
look to some other and unknown cause.
Confining our view to South America, we should
certainly be tempted to believe that trees flourished
only under a very humid climate ; for the limit of
* Maclaren, art. " America," Encyclop. Britann.
+ Azara says, " Je crois que la quantite annuelle des pluies est,
dans toutes ces contrees, plus considerable qu'en Espagne." — Vol.
i., p. 30.
H
60 MALDONADO.
the forest-land follows, in a most remarkable man-
ner, that of tlie clamp winds. In the southern part
of the continent, where the western gales, charged
with moisture from the Pacific, prevail, every
island on the broken west coast, from lat. 38° to
the extreme point of Tierra del Fuego, is densely
covered by impenetrable forests. On the eastern
side of the Cordillera, over the same extent of lati-
tude, where a blue sky and a fine climate prove
that the atmosphere has been deprived of its moist-
ure by passing over the mountains, the arid plains
of Patagonia support a most scanty vegetation. In
the more northern parts of the continent, within the
limits of the constant south-eastern trade- wind, the
eastern side is ornamented by magnificent forests ;
whilst the western coast, from lat. 4° S. to lat. 32°
S., may be described as a desert : on this western
coast, northward of lat. 4° S., where the trade-wind
loses its regularity, and heavy toiTents of rain fall
periodically, the shores of the Pacific, so utterly
desert in Peru, assume near Cape Blanco the char-
acter of luxuriance so celebrated at Guyaquil and
Panama, Hence, in the southern and northern
parts of the continent, the forest and desert lands
occupy reversed positions with respect to the Cor-
dillera, and these positions are apparently deter-
mined by the direction of the prevalent winds. In
the middle of the continent there is a broad inter-
mediate band, including central Chile and the prov-
inces of La Plata, where the rain-bringing winds
have not to pass over lofty mountains, and where
the land is neither a desert nor covered by forests.
But even the rule, if confined to South America,
of trees flourishing only in a climate rendered hu-
mid by rain-bearing winds, has a strongly marked
exception in the case of the Falkland Islands.
These islands, situated in the same latitude with
NATURAL HISTORY. 61
TieiTa del Fuego, and only between two and three
hundred miles distant from it, having a nearly
similar climate, with a geological fonnation almost
identical, with favourable situations and the same
kind of peaty soil, yet can boast of few plants de-
serving even the title of bushes ; whilst in TieiTa
del Fuego it is impossible to find an acre of land
not covered by the densest forest. In this case,
both the direction of the heavy gales of wind and
of the currents of the sea are favourable to the
transport of seeds from Tierra del Fuego, as is
shown by the canoes and trunks of trees drifted
from that country, and frequently thrown on the
shores of the Western Falkland. Hence perhaps
it is that there are many plants in common to the
two countries : but with respect to the ti'ees of
TieiTa del Fuego, even attempts made to trans-
plant them have failed.
During our stay at Maldonado I collected sev-
eral quadrupeds, eighty kinds of birds, and many
reptiles, including nine species of snakes. Of the
indigenous mammalia, the only one now left of any
size, which is common, is the Cervus campestris.
This deer is exceedingly abundant, often in small
herds, throughout the countries bordering the Plata
and in Northera Patagonia. If a person crawling
close along the ground, slowly advances towards a
herd, the deer frequently, out of curiosity, approach
to reconnoitre him. I have by this means killed,
fi"om one spot, three out of the same herd. Al-
though so tame and inquisitive, yet when ap-
proached on horseback they are exceedingly wary.
In this country nobody goes on foot, and the deer
knows man as its enemy only when he is mounted
and armed with the bolas. At Bahia Blanca, a
recent establishment in Northern Patagonia, I was
surprised to find how little the deer cared for the
F
62 MALDONADO.
noise of a gun : one day I fired ten times from
within eighty yards at one animal; and it was much
more startled at the ball cutting up the gi'ound than
at the report of the rifle. My powder being ex-
hausted, I was obliged to get up (to my shame as
a sportsman be it spoken, though well able to kill
birds on the wing) and halloo till the deer ran away.
The most curious fact with respect to this an-
imal is the overpoweringly strong and offensive
odour which proceeds from the buck. It is quite
indescribable : several times whilst skinning the
specimen which is now mounted at the Zoological
Museum, I was almost overcome by nausea. I
tied up the skin in a silk pocket-handkerchief, and
so caiTied it home : this handkerchief, after being
well washed, I continually used, and it was of
course as repeatedly washed; yet every time, for
a space of one year and seven months, when first
unfolded, I distinctly perceived the odom*. This
appears an astonishing instance of the permanence
of some matter, which nevertheless in its nature
must be most subtile and volatile. Frequently,
when passing at the distance of half a mile to lee-
ward of a herd, I have perceived the whole air
tainted with the effluvium. I believe the smell
from the buck is most powerful at the period when
its horns are perfect, or free from the hairy skin.
When in this state, the meat is, of course, quite
uneatable ; but the Gauchos assert, that if buried
for some time in fresh eaith, the taint is removed.
I have somewhere read that the islanders in the
north of Scotland treat the rank carcasses of the
fish-eating birds in the same manner.
The order Rodentia is here very numerous in
species : of- mice alone I obtained no less than
eight kinds.* The largest gnawing animal in the
* In South America I collected altogether twenty-seven species
THE CAPYBARA OR WATER-IIOG. G3
world, the Hydrochcerus capybara (the water-hog),
is here also common. One which I shot at Monte
Video weighed ninety-eight pounds : its length,
from the end of the snout to the stump-like tail,
was three feet two inches, and its girth three feet
eight. These great llodents occasionally frequent
the islands in the mouth of the Plata, where the
water is quite salt, but are far more abundant on
the borders of fresh-water lakes and rivers. Near
Maldonado three or four generally live together.
In the daytime they either lie among the aquatic
plants, or openly feed on the turf plain.* When
viewed at a distance, from their manner of walk-
ing and colour they resemble pigs ; but when
seated on their haunches, and attentively watching
any object with one eye, they reassume the ap-
pearance of their congeners, cavies and rabbits.
Both the fi-ont and side view of their head has
quite a ludicrous aspect, from the great depth of
their jaw. These animals, at Blaldonado, were
very tame ; by cautiously walking, I approached
within three yards of four old ones. This tame-
ness may probably be accounted for by the Jaguar
having been banished for some years, and by the
Gauche not thinking it worth his while to hunt
them. As I approached nearer and nearer, they
of mice ; and thirteen more are known from the works of Azara
and other authors. Those collected by myself have been named
and described by Mr. Waterhouse at the meetings of the Zoolo-
gical Society. I must be allowed to take this opportunity of re-
turning my cordial thanks to Mr. Waterhouse, and to the other
gentlemen attached to that Society, for their kind and most liberal
assistance on all occasions.
* In the stomach and duodenum of a capybara which I opened,
1 found a very large quantity of a thin yellowish fluid, in which
scarcely a fibre could be distinguished. Mr. Owen informs me
that a part of the oesophagus is so constructed that nothing much
larger than a crowquill can be passed down. Certainly the broad
teeth and strong jaws of this animal are well fitted to grind into
pulp the aquatic plants en which it feeds. "^
64 RIALDONADO.
frequently made their peculiar noise, which is a
low abrujDt gi'unt, not having much actual sound,
but rather arising from the sudden expulsion of
air : the only noise I know at all like it, is the first
hoarse bark of a large dog. Having watched the
four from almost within arm's length (and they
me) for several minutes, tliey rushed into the
water at full gallop with the gi-eatest impetuosity,
and emitted at the same time their bark. After
diving a short distance they came again to the
surface, but only just showed the upper part of
their heads. When the female is swimming in the
water, and has young ones, they are said to sit on
her back. These animals are easily killed in
numbers ; but their skins are of trifling value, and
the meat is very indifferent. On the islands in the
Rio Parana they are exceedingly abundant, and
afford the ordinary prey to the Jaguar.
The Tucutuco (Ctenomys Brasiliensis) is a cu-
rious small animal, which may be briefly described
as a Gnawer, with the habits of a mole. It is
extremely numerous in some parts of the countiy,
but is difhcult to be procured, and never, I believe,
comes out of the ground. It throws up at the
mouth of its burrows hillocks of earth like those
of the mole, but smaller. Considerable tracts of
country are so completely undermined by these
animals, that horses, in passing over, sink above
their fetlocks. The tucutucos appear, to a certain
degree, to be gi'egarious : the man who procured
the specimens for me had caught six together, and
he said this was a common occuiTence. They are
nocturnal in their habits ; and their principal food
is the roots of plants, which are the object of their
extensive and superficial burrows. This animal
is universally known by a very peculiar noise
which it makes when beneath the ground. A
THE TUCUTUCO. 65
person, the first time he hears it, is much sur-
prised ; for it is not easy to tell whence it comes,
nor is it possible to guess what kind of creature
utters it. The noise consists in a short, but not
rough, nasal grunt, which is monotonously repeated
about four times in quick succession :* the name ',
Tucutuco is given in imitation of the sound. '
Where this animal is abundant, it may be heard at
all times of the day, and sometimes directly be-
neath one's feet. When kept in a room, the tucu-
tucos move both slowly and clumsily, which ap-
pears owing to the outward action of their hind
legs ; and they are quite incapable, from the socket
of the thigh-bone not having a certain ligament, of
jumping even the smallest vertical height. They
are very stupid in making any attempt to escape ;
when angiy or frightened they uttered the tucu-
tuco. Of those I kept alive, several, even the first
day, became quite tame, not attempting to bite or
to run away ; others were a little wilder.
The man who caught them asserted that very
many are invariably found blind. A specimen which
I preserved in spirits v/as in this state ; Mr. Reid
considers it to be the effect of inflammation in the
nictitating membrane. When the animal was alive
I placed my finger within half an inch of its head,
and not the slightest notice was taken : it made its
way, however, about the room nearly as well as
the others. Considering the strictly subterranean
habits of the tucutuco, the blindness, though so
common, cannot be a very serious evil ; yet it ap-
* At the Rio Negro, in Northern Patagonia, there is an animal
of the same habits, and probably a closely allied species, but
which I never saw. Its noise is different from that of the Mal-
donado kind ; it is repeated only twice instead of three or four
times, and is more distinct and sonorous : when heard from a
distance, it so closely resembles the sound made in cutting down
a small tree with an axe, that I have sometimes remained in
doubt concerning it.
Vol. I~5 F 2
66 MALDONADO.
pears sti'ange tliat any animal should possess an
organ frequently subject to be injured. Lamarck
would have been delighted with this fact, had
he known it, when speculating* (probably with
more truth than usual with him) on the gradually-
acquired blindness of the Aspalax, a Gnawer living
under ground, and of the Proteus, a reptile living
in dark caverns filled with water ; in both of which
animals the eye is in an almost rudimentary state,
and is covered by a tendinous membrane and skin.
In the common mole the eye is extraordinarily
small but perfect, though luany anatomists doubt
whether it is connected with the true ojjtic nerve ;
its vision must certainly be imperfect, though prob-
ably useful to the animal when it leaves its bur-
row. In the tucutuco, wliirh I believe never comes
to the surface of the gi-ound, the eye is rather larger,
but often rendered blind and useless, though with-
out apjDarently causing any inconvenience to the
aniinal : no doubt Lamarck would have said that
the tucutuco is now passing into the state of the
Aspalax and Proteus.
Birds of many kinds are extremely abundant on
the undulating grassy plains around Maldonado.
There are several species of a family allied in
structure and manners to our Starling : one of
these (Molothrus niger) is remarkable from its
habits. Several may often be seen standing to-
gether on the back of a cow or horse ; and while
perched on a hedge, pluming themselves in the
sun, they sometimes attempt to sing, or rather to
hiss ; the noise being very peculiar, resembling
that of bubbles of air passing rapidly from a small
orifice under water, so as to produce an acute
sound. According to Azara, this bird, like the cuc-
koo, deposits its eggs in other birds' nests. I was
* Philosoph. Zoolog., torn, i., p. 242,
HABITS OF THE CUCKOO. G7
several times told by the country people that there
certainly is some bird having this habit ; and my
assistant in collecting-, who is a very accurate per-
son, found a nest of the sparrow of this country
(Zonotrichia matutina), with one egg in it larger
than the others, and of a different colour and shape.
In North America there is another species of Mo-
lothrus (M. pecoris), which has a similar cuckoo-
like habit, and which is most closely allied in every
respect to the species from the Plata, even in such
ti-ifling peculiarities as standing on the backs of
cattle ; it differs only in being a little smaller, and
in its plumage and eggs being of a slightly different
shade of colour. This close agi'eement in struc-
ture and habits, in representative species coming
from opposite quarters of a gi-eat continent, always
strikes one as interesting, though of common oc-
currence.
Mr. Swainson has well remarked,* that with the
exception of the Molothrus pecoris, to which must
be added the M. Niger, the cuckoos are the only
birds which can be called truly parasitical ; name-
ly, such as " fasten themselves, as it were, on an-
other living animal, whose animal heat brings their
young into life, whose food they live upon, and
whose death would cause theirs during the period
of infancy." It is remarkable that some of the
species, but not all, both of the Cuckoo and Mo-
lothrus, should agree in this one strange habit of
their parasitical propagation, whilst opposed to
each other in almost every other habit : the molo-
thrus, like our starling, is eminently sociable, and
lives on the open plains without art or disguise : the
cuckoo, as every one knows, is a singularly shy
bird ; it frequents the most retired thickets, and
feeds on fruit and catei-pillars. In sti'ucture also
* Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. i., p. 217.
G8 MALDONADO.
these two genera are witlely removed from each
other. Many theories, even phrenological theo-
ries, have been advanced to exjilain the origin of
the cuckoo laying its eggs in other birds' nests.
M. Prevost alone, I think, has thrown light by his
observations* on this puzzle : he finds that the fe-
male cuckoo, which, according to most observers,
lays at least fi-om four to six eggs, must pair with
the male each time after laying only one or two
eggs. Now, if the cuckoo was obliged to sit on
her own eggs, she would either have to sit on all
together, and therefore leave those first laid so
long that they probably would become addled, or
she would have to hatch separately each egg or
two eggs as soon as laid : but as the cuckoo stays
a shorter tiine in this country than any other mi-
gratory bird, she certainly would not have time
enough for the successive hatchings. Hence we
can perceive in the fact of the cuckoo pairing sev-
eral times, and laying her eggs at intervals, the
cause of her depositing her eggs in other birds'
nests, and leaving them to the care of foster-pa-
rents. I am strongly inclined to believe that this
view is con-ect, from having been independently
led (as we shall hereafter see) to an analogous con-
clusion with regard to the South American ostrich,
the females of which are parasitical, if I may so
express it, on each other ; each female laying sev-
eral eggs in the nests of several other feinales, and
the male ostrich undertaking all the cares of incu-
bation, like the strange foster-parents with the
cuckoo.
I will mention only two other birds, which are
very common, and render themselves prominent
from their habits. The Saurophagus sulphuratus
* Read before the Academy of Sciences in Paris. L'Institut,
1834, p. 418.
FLY-CATCHERS MOCKING-BIRDS. G9
is typical of the great American tribe of tyrant-fly-
catchers. In its structure it closely approaches the
true shrikes, but in its habits may be compared to
many birds. I have freqiiently observed it, hunt-
ing a field, hovering over one spot like a hawk,
and then proceeding on to another. When seen
thus suspended in the air, it might very readily, at
a short distance, be mistaken for one of the Rapa-
cious order : its stoop, how^ever, is very inferior in
force and rapidity to that of a hawk. At other
times the Saurophagiis haunts the neighbourhood
of water, and there, like a kingfisher, remaining
stationary, it catches any small fish which may
come near the margin. These birds are not un-
frequently kept either in cages or in courtyards,
with their wings cut. They soon become tame,
and are very amusing from their cunning odd man-
ners, which were desci'ibed to me as being similar
to those of the common magpie. Their flight is
undulatory, for the weight of the head and bill ap-
pear too great for the body. In the evening the
Saurophagus takes its stand on a bush, often by the
roadside, and continually repeats without change
a shrill and rather agreeable cry, which somewhat
resembles articulate words : the Spaniards say it
is like the words " Bien te veo" (I see you well),
and accordingly have given it this name.
A mocking-bird (jNIimus orpheus), called by the
inhabitants Calandria, is remarkable, from possess-
ing a song far superior to that of any other bird in
the country : indeed, it is nearly the only bird in
South America which I have observed to take its
stand for the purpose of singing. The song may
be compared to that of the Sedge warbler, but is
more powerful ; some harsh notes and some very
high ones being mingled with a pleasant warbling.
It is heard only during the spring. At other times
70 MALDONADO.
its ci-y is harsh and far from harmonious. Near
Maklonado these birds were tame and bold; they
constantly attended the country houses in num-
bers, to pick the meat which was hung ujd on the
posts or walls : if any other small bird joined the
feast, the Calandria soon chased it away. On the
wide uninhabited plains of Patagonia another close-
ly allied species, O. Patagonica of d'Orbigny, which
frequents the valleys clothed with spiny bushes, is
a wilder bird, and has a slightly different tone of
voice. It appears to me a curious circumstance,
showing the fine shades of difference in habits, that,
judging from this latter respect alone, when I first
saw this second species, I thought it was different
from the Maldonado kind. Having afterwards
procured a specimen, and comparing the two with-
out particular care, they appeared so very similar,
that I changed my opinion ; but now Mr. Gould
says that they are certainly distinct ; a conclusion
in conformity with the trifling difference of habit,
of which, however, he was not aware.
The number, tameness, and disgusting habits of
the carrion-feeding hawks of South America make
them pre-eminently striking to any one accustom-
ed only to the birds of Northern Europe. In this
list may be included four species of the Caracara
or Polyboi'us, the Turkey buzzard, the Gallinazo,
and the Condor. The Caracaras are, from their
structure, placed among the eagles : we shall soon
see how ill they become so high a rank. In their
habits they well supply the place of our carrion-
crows, magpies, and ravens ; a tribe of birds wide-
ly distributed over the rest of the world, but entire-
ly absent in South America. To begin with the
Polyborus Brasiliensis : this is a common bird, and
has a wide geogi'aphical range ; it is most numerous
on the grassy savamiahs of La Plata (where it goes
CARRION HAWKS. 71
by the name of Can'ancha), and is far from unfre-
quent throughout the sterile plains of Patagonia.
In the desert between the rivers Negro and Colo-
rado, numbers constantly attend the line of road
to devour the carcasses of the exhausted animals
which chance to perish from fatigue and thirst.
Although thus common in these dry and open
countries, and likewise on the arid shores of the
Pacific, it is nevertheless found inhabiting the damp
impervious forests of West Patagonia and Tien-a
del Fuego. The CaiTanchas, together with the
Chimango, constantly attend in numbers the estan-
cias and slaughtering-houses. If an animal dies
on the plain, the Gallinazo commences the feast,
and then the two sjiecies of Polyborus pick the
bones clean. These birds, although thus common-
ly feeding together, are far from being friends.
"When the Carrancha is quietly seated on the
branch of a tree or on the ground, the Chimango
often continues for a long time flying backwards
and forwards, up and down, in a semicircle, trying
each time at the bottom of the curve to strike its
larger relative. The Carrancha takes little notice,
except by bobbing its head. Although the Car-
ranchas frequently assemble in numbers, they are
not gregarious ; for in desert places they may be
seen solitaiy, or more commonly by pairs.
The CaiTanchas are said to be very crafty, and
to steal great numbers of eggs. They attempt,
also, together with the Chimango, to pick off the
scabs from the sore backs of horses and mules.
The poor animal on the one hand, with its ears
down and its back arched; and, on the other, the
hovering bird, eyeing at the distance of a yard
the disgusting morsel, form a picture, which has
been described by Captain Head with his own.
peculiar spirit and accuracy. These false eagles
72 MALDONADO.
most rarely kill any living bird or animal; and
their vulture-like, necrophagous habits are very
evident to any one, who has fallen asleep on the
desolate plains of Patagonia, for when he wakes,
he will see, on each surrounding hillock, one of
these birds patiently watching him with an evil
eye : it is a feature in the landscape of these coun-
tries, which will be recognised by every one who
has wandered over them. If a party of men go
out hunting with dogs and horses, they will be ac-
companied, during the day, by several of these at-
tendants. After feeding, the uncovered craw pro-
trudes ; at such times, and indeed generally, the
Carrancha is an inactive, tame, and cowardly bird.
Its flight is heavy and slow, like that of an Eng-
lish rook. It seldom soars ; but I have twice seen
one at a gi'eat height gliding through the air with
much ease. It rans (in contradistinction to hop-
ping), but not quite so quickly as some of its con-
geners. At times the Carrancha is noisy, but is
not generally so : its cry is loud, very harsh and
peculiar, and may be likened to the sound, of the
Spanish guttural g, followed by a rough double
r ; when uttering this cry it elevates its head high-
er and higher, till at last, with its beak wide open,
the crown almost touches the lower part of the
back. This fact, which has been doubted, is quite
true ; I have seen them several times with their
heads backwards in a completely inverted position.
To these observations I may add, on the high au-
thority of Azara, that the Carrancha feeds on
worms, shells, slugs, grasshoppers, and frogs ; that
it destroys young lambs by tearing the umbilical
cord; and that it pursues the Gallinazo, till that
bird is compelled to vomit up the carrion it may
have recently gorged. Lastly, Azara states that
several Carranchas, five or six together, will unite
CARRION HAWKS. 73
in cliase of large birds, even such as herons. All
these facts show that it is a bird of very versatile
habits and considerable ingenuity.
The Polyborus Chimango is considerably small-
er than the last species. It is truly omnivorous,
and will eat even bread ; and I was assured that
it materially injures the potato crops in Chiloc, by
stocking up the roots when first planted. Of all
the carrion-feeders it is generally the last which
leaves the skeleton of a dead, animal ; and may oft-
en be seen within the ribs of a cow or horse, like
a bird, in a cage. Another species is the Polybo-
rus Novaj Zelandia3, which is exceedingly common
in the Falkland Islands. These birds in many re-
spects resemble in their habits the CaiTanchas.
They live on the flesh of dead animals and. on ma-
rine productions ; and on the Ramirez rocks their
whole sustenance must depend on the sea. They
are extraordinarily tame and. fearless, and haunt
the neighbourhood, of houses for offal. If a hunt-
ing party kills an animal, a number soon collect and
patiently await, standing on the gi'ound on all sides.
After eating, their uncovered, craws are largely
protruded, giving them a disgusting appearance.
They readily attack wounded birds : a connorant
in this state having taken to the shore, was imme-
diately seized on by several, and its death hasten-
ed by their blows. The Beagle was at the Falk-
lands only during the summer, but the officers of
the Adventure, who were there in the winter, men-
tion many extraordinary instances of the boldness
and rapacity of these birds. They actually pounced
on a dog that was lying fast asleep close by one
of the party ; and the sportsmen had difficulty in
preventing the wounded geese from being seized
before their eyes. It is said that several togeth-
er (in this respect resembling the Carranchas) wait
G
74 ftlALDONADO.
at the mouth of a rabbit-hole, and together seize
on the animal when it comes out. They were con-
stantly flying on board the vessel when in the har-
bour ; and it was necessary to keep a good look-out
to prevent the leather being torn from the rigging,
and the meat or game from the stem. These birds
are very mischievous and inquisitive ; they will
pick up almost anything from the gi'ound ; a large
black glazed hat was carried nearly a mile, as was
a pair of the heavy balls used in catching cattle.
Mr. Usborne experienced during the sui'vey a more
severe loss, in their stealing a small Kater's com-
pass in a red morocco leather case, which was
never recovered. These birds are, moreover, quar-
relsome and very jaassionate ; tearing up the grass
with their bills from rage. They are not truly gre-
garious ; they do not soar, and their flight is heavy
and clumsy; on the ground they run extremely fast,
very much like pheasants. They are noisy, utter-
ing several harsh cries, one of which is like that
of the English rook; hence the sealers always call
them rooks. It is a curious circumstance that,
when crying out, they throw their heads upwards
and backwards, after the same manner as the Car-
rancha. They build in the rocky cliffs of the sea-
coast, but only on the small adjoining islets, and
not on the two main islands : this is a singular pre-
caution in so tame and fearless a bird. The seal-
ers say that the flesh of these birds, when cooked,
is quite white, and very good eating ; but bold
must the man be who attempts such a meal.
We have now only to mention the turkey-buz-
zard (Vultur aura) and the Gallinazo. The for-
mer is found wherever the country is moderately
damp, from Cape Horn to North America. Differ-
ently from the Polyborus Brasiliensis and Chiman-
go, it has found its way to the Falkland Islands,
TURKEY-BUZZARD AND GALLINAZO. 75
The turkey-buzzard Is a solitary bird, or at most
goes in pairs. It may at once be recognised from
a long distance by its lofty, soaring, and most ele-
gant flight. It is well known to be a true carrion-
feeder. On the west coast of Patagonia, among
the thickly-wooded islets and broken land, it lives
exclusively on what the sea throws up, and on the
carcasses of dead seals. Wherever these animals
are congregated on the rocks, there the vultures
may be seen. The Gallinazo (Cathaites atratus)
has a different range from the last species, as it
never occurs southward of lat. 41°. Azara states
that there exists a tradition that these birds, at the
time of the Conquest, were not found near Monte
Video, but that they subsequently followed the
inhabitants from more northern districts. At the
present day they are numerous in the valley of the
Colorado, which is three hundred miles due south
of Monte Video. It seems probable that this ad-
ditional migration has happened since the time of
Azara. The Gi-allinazo generally prefers a humid
climate, or rather the neighbourhood of fresh wa-
ter ; hence it is extremely abundant in Brazil and
La Plata, while it is never found on the desert and
arid plains of Northern Patagonia, excepting near
some stream. These birds frequent the whole
Pampas to the foot of the Cordillera, but I never
saw or heard of one in Chile : in Peru they are
preserved as scavengers. These vultures certain-
ly may be called gregarious, for they seem to have
pleasure in society, and are not solely brought to-
gether by the attraction of a common prey. On a
fine day a flock may often be obsei'\'ed at a great
height, each bird wheeling rovmd and round with-
out closing its wings, in the most gi'aceful evolu-
tions. This is clearly performed for the mere pleas-
ure of the exercise, or perhaps is connected with
\heir matrimonial alliances.
76 MALDONABO.
I have now mentioned all the carrion-feeders,
excepting the condor, an account of which will be
more appropriately introduced when we visit a
country more congenial to its habits than the plains
of La Plata.
In a broad band of sand-hillocks which separate
the Laguna del Potrero from the shores of the
Plata, at the distance of a few miles from Maldo-
nado, I found a group of those vitrified, siliceous
tubes, which are formed by lightning entering loose
sand. These tubes resemble in every particular
those from Drigg in Cumberland, described in the
Geological Transactions.* The sand-hillocks of
Maldonado, not being protected by vegetation, are
constantly changing their position. From this
cause the tubes projected above the surface ; and
numerous fragments lying near, showed that they
had formerly been buried to a greater depth.
Four sets entered the sand perpendicularly : by
working with my hands I traced one of them two
feet deep ; and some fragments which evidently had
belonged to the same tube, when added to the other
part, measured five feet three inches. The diam-
eter of the whole tube was nearly equal, and there-
fore we must suppose that originally it extended
to a much greater depth. These dimensions are,
however, small, compared to those of the tubes from
Drigg, one of which was traced to a depth of not
less than thirty feet.
The internal surface is completely vitrified,
glossy, and smooth. A small fragment examined
under the microscope appeared, from the number
* Geolog. Transact., vol. ii., p. 528. In the Philosoph. Transact.
(1790, p. 294) Dr. Priestley has described some imperfect siliceous
tubes and a melted pebble of quartz, found in digging into the
ground, under a tree, where a man had been killed by lightning.
TUBES FORMED BY LIGHTNING, 77
of minute entangled air or perhaps steam bubbles,
like an assay fused before the blowpipe. The sand
is entirely, or in gi-eater part, siliceous ; but some
points are of a black colour, and from their glossy
surface possess a metallic lustre. The thickness
of the wall of the tube varies from a thirtieth to a
twentieth of an inch, and occasionally even equals
a tenth. On the outside the grains of sand are
rounded, and have a slightly glazed appearance : I
could not distinguish any signs of crystallization.
In a similar manner to that described in the Geo-
logical Transactions, the tubes are generally com-
pressed, and have deep longitudinal fuiTows, so as
closely to resemble a shrivelled vegetable stalk, or
the bark of the elm or cork tree. Their circum-
ference is about two inches, but in some fragments,
which are cylindrical and without any furrows, it
is as much as foui inches. The com2:)ression from
the surrounding loose sand, acting while the tube
was still softened from the effects of the intense
heat, has evidently caused the creases or furrows.
Judging fi-om the uncompressed fragments, the
measure or bore of the lightning (if such a teiTn
may be used) must have been about one inch and
a quarter. At Paris, M. Hachette and M. Beu-
dant* succeeded in making tubes, in most respects
similar to these fulgurites, by passing very strong
shocks of galvanism through finely-powdered glass :
when salt was added, so as to increase its fusibili-
ty, the tubes were larger in every dimension. They
failed both with powdered felspar and quartz. One
tube, formed with pounded glass, was very nearly
an inch long, namely, "982, and had an internal di-
ameter of -OlO of an inch. "When we hear that the
strongest battery in Paris was used, and that its
power on a substance of such easy fusibility as
♦ Annales de Chimie et de Physique, torn, xxxvii., p. 319.
G2
78 MALDONADO.
glass was to form tubes so diminutive, we must
feel greatly astonished at the force of a shock of
lightning, which, striking the sand in several places,
has formed cylinders, in one instance of at least
thirty feet long, and having an internal bore, where
not compressed, of full an inch and a half; and
this in a material so extraordinarily refractory as
quartz !
The tubes, as I have already remarked, enter
the sand nearly in a vertical direction. One, how-
ever, which was less regular than the others, devi-
ated from a right line, at the most considerable
bend, to the amount of thirty-three degrees. From
this same tube, two small branches, about a foot
apart, were sent off; one pointed downwards, and
the other upwards. This latter case is remarka-
ble, as the electric fluid must have turned back at
the acute angle of 26°, to the line of its main
course. Besides the four tubes which I found vei*-
tical, and traced beneath the surface, there were
several other groups of fragments, the original sites
of which without doubt were near. All occurred
in a level area of shifting sand, sixty yards by
twenty, situated among some high sand-hillocks,
and at the distance of about half a mile from a
chain of hills four or five hundred feet in height.
The most remarkable circumstance, as it appears
to me, in this case as well as in that of Drigg, and
in one described by M. Ribbentrop in Germany, is
the number of tubes found within such limited
spaces. At Drigg, within an area of fifteen yards,
three were observed, and the same number occur-
red in Germany. In the case which I have de-
scribed, certainly more than four existed within the
space of the sixty by twenty yards. As it does not
appear probable that the tubes are produced by
successive distinct shocks, we must believe that the
ELECTRIC PHENOMENA. 79
lightning, shortly before entering the gi'ound, di-
vides itself into separate branches.
The neighbourhood of the Rio Plata seems pe-
culiarly subject to electric phenomena. In the
year 1793,* one of the most destructive thunder-
storms perhaps on record happened at Buenos
Ayres : thirty-seven jilaces within the city were
struck by lightning, and nineteen people killed.
From facts stated in several books of travels, I am
inclined to suspect that thunder-stonns are very
common near the mouths of great rivers. Is it not
possible that the mixture of large bodies of fresh
and salt water may disturb the electrical equilibri-
um ? Even during our occasional visits to this
part of South America, we heard of a ship, two
churches, and a house, having been struck. Both
the church and the house I saw shortly aftei^wai'ds:
the house belonged to Mr. Hood, the consul-gen-
eral at Monte Video. Some of the effects were
curious : the paper, for nearly a foot on each side
of the line where the bell-wires had I'un, was black-
ened. The metal had been fused, and although
the room was about fifteen feet high, the globules,
dropping on the chairs and furniture, had drilled
in them a chain of minute holes. A part of the
wall was shattered as if by gunjiowder, and the
fragments had been blown off with force sufficient
to dent the wall on the opposite side of the room.
The frame of a looking-glass was blackened, and
the gilding must have been volatilized, for a smell-
ing-bottle, which stood on the chimney-piece, was
coated with bright metallic particles, which ad-
hex'ed as firmly as if they had been enamelled.
* Azara's Voyage, vol. i., p. 36.
80 ARRIVE AT RIO NEGRO.
CHAPTER IV.
Rio Negro — Estancias attacked by the Indians — Salt Lakes —
Flamingoes — R. Negro to R. Colorado — Sacred Tree — Patago-
nian Hare — Indian Families — General Rosas — Proceed to Ba-
hiaBlanca — Sand Dunes — Negro Lieutenant — Bahia Blanca —
Saline Incrustations — Punta Alta — Zorillo.
RIO NEGRO TO BAHIA BLANCA.
July 2it7i, 1833. — The Beagle sailed from Mal-
donado, and on August tlie 3d slie amved off the
mouth of the Rio Negro. This is the principal
river on the whole line of coast between the Strait
of Magellan and the Plata. It enters the sea about
three hundred miles south of the estuary of the
Plata. About fifty years ago, under the old Span-
ish government, a small colony was established
here ; and it is still the most southern position (lat.
41°) on this eastern coast of America, inhabited by
civilized man.
The cou.ntry near the mouth of the river is wretch-
ed in the extreme : on the south side a long line of
perpendicular cliffs commences, which exposes a
section of the geological nature of the country.
The strata are of sandstone, and one layer was re-
markable from being composed of a firmly-cement-
ed conglomerate of pumice pebbles, which must
have travelled more than four hundred miles, from
the Andes. The surface is everywhere covered
up by a thick bed of gravel, which extends far and
wide over the open plain. Water is extremely
scarce, and, where found, is almost invariably
brackish. The vegetation is scanty ; and although
there are bushes of many kinds, all are armed with
formidable thonis, which seem to warn the stranger
not to enter on these inhospitable regions.
ESTANCIAS ATTACKED BY THE INDIANS. 81
The settlement is situated eighteen miles up the
river. The road follows the foot of the sloping
cliff, which forms the northern boundary of the
great valley in which the Rio Negi'O flows. On.
tlie way we passed the ruins of some fine " estan-
cias," which a few years since had been destroyed
by the Indians. They withstood several attacks.
A man present at one gave me a very lively de-
scription of what took place. The inhabitants had
sufficient notice to drive all the cattle and horses
into the " coiTal"* which surrounded the house,
and likewise to mount some small cannon. The
Indians were Araucanians from the south of Chile;
several hundreds in number, and highly disciplined.
They first appeared in two bodies on a neighbour-
ing hill ; having there dismounted, and taken off
their fur mantles, they advanced naked to the
charge. The only weapon of an Indian is a very
long bamboo or chuzo, ornamented with ostrich
feathers, and pointed by a sharp spear-head. My
informer seemed to remember with the great-
est horror the quivering of these chuzos as they
approached near. When close, the cacique Pin-
cheira hailed the besieged to give up their arms,
or he v/ould cut all their throats. As this would
probably have been the result of their entrance
under any circumstances, the answer was given by
a volley of musketry. The Indians, with great
steadiness, came to the very fence of the corral; but,
to their sui-prise, they found the posts fastened to-
gether by iron nails instead of leather thongs, and,
of course, in vain attempted to cut them with their
knives. This saved the lives of the Christians :
many of the wounded Indians were can-ied away
by their companions ; and at last one of the under
* The corral is an enclosure made of tall and strong stakes.
Every estancia, or farming estate, has one attached to it.
Vol. I— G
82 RIO NEGRO. -'■'-,
caciques being wounded, the bugle sounded a re-
treat. Tliey retired to their horses, and seemed
to hold a council of war. This was an awful pause
for the Spaniards, as all their ammunition, with the
exception of a few cartridges, was expended. In
an instant the Indians mounted their horses, and
galloped out of sight. Another attack was still
more quickly repulsed. A cool Frenchman man-
aged the gim ; he stopped till the Indians approach-
ed close, and then raked their line with gi-ape-shot :
he thus laid thirty-nine of them on the ground ;
and, of course, such a blow immediately routed the
whole party.
The town is indifferently called El Carmen or
Patagones. It is built on the face of a cliff which
fronts on the river, and many of the houses are ex-
cavated even in the sandstone. The river is about
two or three hundred yards wide, and is deep and
rapid. The many islands, with their willow-trees,
and tlie flat headlands, seen one behind the other
on the northern boundary of the broad green val-
ley, forms, by the aid of a bright sun, a view al-
most picturesque. The number of inhabitants does
not exceed a few hundreds. These Spanish col-
onies do not, like our British ones, carry within
themselves the elements of growth. Many Indians
of pure blood reside here : the tribe of the Cacique
Lucanee constantly have their Toldos* on the out-
skirts of the town. The local government partly
supplies them with provisions, by giving them all
the old worn-out horses, and they earn a little by
making horse-rugs and other articles of riding-gear.
These Indians are considered civilized ; but what
their character may have gained by a lesser degree
of ferocity, is almost counterbalanced by their en-
tire immorality. Some of the younger men are,
* Tlie hovels of the Indians are thus called.
SALT-LAKES OR SALINAS, 83
however, improving; they are willing to labour,
and a short time since a party went on a sealing
voyage, and behaved very well. They were now
enjoying the fruits of their labour, by being dress-
ed in very gay, clean clothes, and by being very
idle. The taste they showed in their dress was
admirable ; if you could have turned one of these
young Indians into a statue of bronze, his drapery
would have been perfectly graceful.
One day I rode to a large salt-lake, or Salina,
which is distant fifteen miles from the town. Du-
ring the winter it consists of a shallow lake of brine,
which in summer is converted into a field of snow-
white salt. The laj'er near the margin is from
four to five inches thick, but towards the centi'e its
thickness increases. This lake was two and a half
miles long, and one broad. Others occur in the
neighbourhood many times larger, and with a floor
of salt two and three feet in thickness, even when
under water during the winter. One of these brill-
iantly-white and level expanses, in the midst of the
brown and desolate plain, offers an extraordinary
spectacle. A large quantity of salt is annually
drawn from the salina ; and great piles, some hun-
dred tons in weight, were lying ready for exporta-
tion. The season for working the salinas forms
the harvest of Patagones, for on it the prosperity
of the place depends. Nearly the whole popula-
tion encamps on the bank of the river, and the peo-
ple are emjiloyed in drawing out the salt in bullock-
wagons. This salt is crystallized in great cubes,
and is remarkably pure : INIr, Trenham Reeks has
kindly analyzed some for me, and he finds in it only
0*26 of gypsum and 0-22 of earthy matter. It is a
singidar fact that it does not sei-ve so well for pre-
serving meat as sea-salt from the Cape de Verd
islands ; and a merchant at Buenos Ayres told me
84 RIO NEGRO.
tliat he considered it as fifty per cent, less valuable.
Hence the Cape de Verd salt is constantly import-
ed, and is mixed with that from these salinas. The
purity of the Patagonian salt, or absence from it of
those other saline bodies found in all sea-water, is
the only assignable cause for this inferiority : a
conclusion which no one, I think, would have sus-
pected, but which is supported by the fact lately
asceitained,* that those salts answer best for pre-
serving cheese which contain most of the deliques-
cent chlorides.
The border of the lake is formed of mud : and
in this numerous large crystals of gypsum, some of
which are three inches long, lie embedded ; whilst
on the surface others of sulphate of soda lie scatter-
ed about. The Gauchos call the former the " Padre
del sal," and the latter the " Madre ;" they state
that these progenitive salts always occur on the
borders of the salinas, when the water begins to
evaporate. The mud is black, and has a fetid
odour. I could not at first imagine the cause of
this, but I afterwards perceived that the froth which
the wind drifted on shore was coloured green, as
if by confervEe : I attempted to cany home some
of this green matter, but from an accident failed.
Parts of the lake seen from a short distance ap-
peared of a reddish colour, and this perhaps was
owing to some infusorial animalcula. The mud in
many places was thrown up by numbers of some
kind of worm, or annelidous animal. How sur-
prising it is that any creatures should be able to
exist in brine, and that they should be crawling
among crystals of sulphate of soda and liine ! And
what becomes of these worms when, during the
long summer, the surface is hardened into a solid
* Report of the Agricult. Chem. Assoc, in the Agricult. Gazette,
1845, p. 93.
SALT-LAKES OR SALINAS. 85
layer of salt ? Flamingoes in considerable num-
bers inhabit this lake, and breed here ; throughout
Patagonia, in Northern Chile, and at the Galapa-
gos Islands, I met with these birds wherever there
were lakes of brine. I saw them here wading
about in search of food — probably for the worms
which burrow in the mud ; and these latter prob-
ably feed on infusoria or confervas. Thus we have
a little living world within itself, adapted to these
inland lakes of brine. A minute crustaceous ani-
mal (Cancer salinus) is said* to live in countless
numbers in the brine-pans at Lymington ; but only
in those in which the fluid has attained, from evap-
oration, considerable strength — namely, about a
quarter of a pound of salt to a pint of water. Well
may we affirm that eveiy part of the world is hab-
itable ! Whether lakes of brine, or those subter-
ranean ones hidden beneath volcanic mountains
— warm mineral springs — the wide expanse and
depths of the ocean — the upper regions of the at-
mosphere, and even the surface of perpetual snow,
all support organic beings.
To the northward of the Rio Negro, between it
and the inhabited country near Buenos Ayres, the
Spaniards have only one small settlement, recently
* Linnaean Trans., vol. xi., p. 205. It is remarkable how all
the circumstances connected with the salt-lakes in Siberia and
Patagonia are similar. Siberia, like Patagonia, appears to have
been recently elevated above the waters of the sea. In both
countries the salt-lakes occupy shallow depressions in the plains ;
in both the mud on the borders is black and fetid ; beneath the
crust of common salt, sulphate of soda or of magnesia occurs,
imperfectly crystallized ; and in both, the muddy sand is mixed
with lentils of gypsum. The Siberian salt-lakes are inhabited by
small crustaceous animals ; and flamingoes (Edin. New Philos.
Jour., Jan., 1830) likewise frequent them. As these circumstan-
ces, apparently so trifling, occur in two distant continents, we may-
feel sure that thev are the necessary results of common causes, —
See Fallas's Travels, 1793 to 1794, p. 129-134.
H
86 RIO NEGRO TO RIO COLORADO.
established at Baliia Blanca. The distance in a
straight line to Buenos Ayres is very nearly five
hundred British miles. The wandering tribes of
horse Indians, w^hich have always occupied the
greater part of this country, having of late much
harassed the outlying estancias, the government at
Buenos Ayres equipped some time since an army
under the command of General Rosas for the pur-
pose of exterminating them. The troops were now
encamj)ed on the banks of the Colorado, a river
lying about eighty miles northward of the Rio Ne-
gro. When General Rosas left Buenos Ayres he
struck in a direct line across the unexplored plains :
and as the counti'y was thus pretty well cleared of
Indians, he left behind him, at wide intervals, a small
party of soldiers with a troop of horses (a jiosta),
so as to be enabled to keep uj) a comniunication
with the capital. As the Beagle intended to call
at Bahia Blanca, I determined to proceed there by
land ; and ultimately I extended my plan to travel
the whole way by the postas to Buenos Ayres.
August Will. — Mr. Harris, an Englishman resi-
ding at Patagones, a guide, and five Gauchos, who
were proceeding to the army on business, were my
companions on the journey. The Colorado, as I
have already said, is nearly eighty miles distant ;
and as we travelled slowly, we were two days and
a half on the road. The whole line of country de-
serves scarcely a better name than that of a desert.
Water is found only in two small wells : it is called
fi'esh; but even at this time of the year, during the
rainy season, it was quite brackish. In the sum-
mer this must be a distressing passage, for now it
was sufficiently desolate. The valley of the Rio
Negro, broad as it is, has merely been excavated
out of the sandstone plain ; for immediately above
the bank on which the town stands, a level country
SACRED TREE. 87
commences, which is interrupted only by a few
trifling valleys and dejjrcssions. Everywhere the
landscape wears the same sterile aspect ; a dry
gravelly soil supports tufts of brown withered grass,
iand low scattered bushes, armed with thorns.
Shortly after passing the first spring we came in
sight of a famous ti'ec, which the Indians reverence
as the altar of Walleechu. It is situated on a high
part of the plain, and hence is a landmark visible
at a great distance. As soon as a tribe of Indians
come in sight of it, they offer their adorations by
loud shouts. The ti-ee itself is low, much branched,
and thorny : just above the root it has a diameter
of about three feet. It stands by itself without any
neighbour, and was indeed the first tree we saw ;
afterwards we met with a few others of the same
kind, but they were far from common. Being win-
ter, the tree had no leaves, but in their place num-
berless threads, by which the various offerings, such
as cigars, bread, meat, pieces of cloth, &c. had
been suspended. Poor Indians, not having any-
thing better, only pull a thread out of their ponchos,
and fasten it to the tree. Richer Indians are ac-
customed to pour spirits and inate into a certain
hole, and likewise to smoke upwai'ds, thinking thus
to afford all possible gi-atifieation to Walleechu.
To complete the scene, the tree was suiTounded
by the bleached bones of horses which had been
slaughtered as sacrifices. All Indians of every age
and sex make their offerings : they then think that
their horses will not tire, and that they themselves
shall be prosperous. The CTaucho who told me
this, said that in the time of peace he had witnessed
this scene, and that he and others used to wait till
the Indians had passed by, for the sake of stealing
from Walleechu the offerings.
The Gauchos think that the Indians consider the
88 RIO NEGRO TO RIO COLORADO.
tree as the god itself; but it seems far more prob-
able that they regard it as the altar. The only-
cause which I can imagine for this choice is its
being a landmark in a dangerous passage. The
Sierra de la Ventana is visible at an immense dis-
tance ; and a Gaucho told me that he was once
riding with an Indian a few miles to the north of
the Rio Colorado, when the Indian commenced
making the same loud noise, which is usual at the
first sight of the distant tree ; putting his hand to
his head, and then pointing in the direction of the
Sien-a. Upon being asked the reason of this, the
Indian said, in broken Spanish, " First see the Si-
erra." About two leagues beyond this curious tree
we halted for the night ; at this instant an unfor-
tunate cow was sj^ied by the lynx-eyed Gauchos,
who set off in full chase, and in a few minutes
dragged her in with their lazos, and slaughtered her.
We here had the four necessaries of life " en el
campo" — pasture for the horses, water (only a mud-
dy puddle), meat, and firewood. The Gauchos
were in high spirits at finding all these luxuries,
and we soon set to work at the poor cow. This
was the first night which I passed under the open
sky, with the gear of the recado for my bed. There
is high enjoyment in the independence of the Gau-
cho life — to be able at any moinent to pull up your
horse, and say, " Here we will pass the night,"
The death-like stillness of the plain, the dogs keep-
ing watch, the gipsy group of Gauchos making
their beds round the fire, have left in my mind a
strongly-mai'ked picture of this first night, which
will never be forgotten.
The next day the country continued similar to
that above described. It is inhabited by few birds
or animals of any kind. Occasionally a deer, oi
a Guanaco (wild Llama) may be seen ; but the
THE AGOUTI. Oy
Agouti (Cavia Patagomca) is the commonest quacl-
rupetl. This animal here represents our hares.
It differs, however, from that genus in many essen-
tial respects ; for instance, it has only three toes
behind. It is also nearly twice the size, weighing
from twenty to twenty-five pounds. The Agouti
is a true friend of the desert ; it is a common feature
in the landscape to sec two or three hopping quickly
one after the other in a straight lino across these
wild plains. They are found as far north as the
SieiTa Tapalguen (lat. 37° 30') where the plain
rather suddenly becomes greener and more humid;
and their southern limit is between Port Desire
and St. Julian, where there is no change in the
nature of the country. It is a singular fact, that
although the Agouti is not now found as far south as
Port St. Julian, yet that Captain Wood, in his voy-
age in 1670, talks of them as being numerous there.
What cause can have altered, in a wide, uninhab-
ited, and rarely- visited countiy, the range of an
animal like this 1 It appears also fi-om the number
shot by Captain Wood in one day at Port Desire,
that they must have been considerably more abun-
dant there formerly than at present. Where the
Bizcacha lives and makes its buiTows, the Agouti
uses them ; but where, as at Bahia Blanca, the
Bizcacha is not found, the Agouti buiTows for itself.
The same thing occurs with the little owl of the
Pampas (Athene cunicularia), which has so often
been described as standing like a sentinel at the
mouth of the buiTows ; for in Banda Oriental, owing
to the absence of the Bizcacha, it is obliged to hol-
low out its own habitation.
The next morning, as we approached the Rio
Colorado, the appearance of the country changed ;
we soon came on a plain covered with turf, which,
from its flowers, tall clover, and little owls, resem-
90 ' RIO COLORADO.
bled the Pampas. We passed also a muddy swamp
of considerable extent, which in summer dries, and
becomes incrusted with various salts, and hence is
called a salitral. It was covei'ed by low succulent
plants, of the same kind with those growing on the
sea-shore. The Colorado, at the pass where we
crossed it, is only about sixty yards wide ; gener-
ally it must be nearly double that width. Its
course is very tortuous, being marked by willow-
trees and beds of reeds : in a direct line the distance
to the mouth of the river is said to be nine leagues,
but by water twenty-five. We were delayed cross-
ing in the canoe by some immense troops of mares,
which were swimming the river in order to follow
a division of troops into the interior. A more lu-
dicrous spectacle I never beheld than the hundreds
and hundreds of heads, all directed one way, with
pointed ears and distended snorting nostrils, ap-
pearing just above the water like a great shoal of
some amphibious animal. Mare's flesh is the only
food which the soldiers have when on an expedi-
tion. This gives them a great facility of movement;
for the distance to which horses can be driven over
these plains is quite sui-prising : I have been as-
sured that an unloaded horse can travel a hundi'ed
miles a day for many days successively.
The encampment of General Rosas was close to
the river. It consisted of a square formed by wag-
ons, artillery, straw huts, &c. The soldiers were
nearly all cavalry ; and I should think such a vil-
lanous, banditti-like army was never before col-
lected together. The gi-eater number of men were
of a mixed breed, between Negi'o, Indian, and
Spaniard. I know not the reason, but men of such
origin seldom have a good expression of counte-
nance. I called on the Secretary to show my pass-
port. He began to cross-question me in the most
PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF INDIANS. 91
dignified and mysterious manner. By good luck, I
had a letter of recommendation from the govern-
ment of Buenos Ayres* to the commandant of Pat-
agones. This was taken to General Rosas, who
sent me a very obliging message ; and the Secre-
tary returned all smiles and graciousness. We
took up our residence in the rancho, or hovel, of a
curious old Spaniard, who had served with Napo-
leon in the expedition against Russia.
We stayed two days at the Colorado; I had lit-
tle to do, for the suiTOunding country was a swamp,
which in summer (December), when the snow melts
on the Cordillera, is overflowed by the river. My
chief amusement was watching the Indian families
as they came to buy little articles at the rancho
where we stayed. It was supposed that General
Rosas had about six hundred Indian allies. The
men were a tall, fine race, yet it was afterward
easy to see in the Fuegian savage the same coun-
tenance rendered hideous by cold, want of food,
and less civilization. Some authors, in defining
the primary races of mankind, have separated these
Indians into two classes ; but this is certainly in-
correct. Among the young women, or chinas, some
deserve to be called even beautiful. Their hair
was coarse, but bright and black ; and they wore
it in two plaits hanging down to the waist. They
had a high colour, and eyes that glistened with
brilliancy ; their legs, feet, and arms were small
and elegantly formed ; their ankles, and sometimes
their waists, were ornamented by broad bracelets
of blue beads. Nothing could be more interesting
than some of the family groups. A mother with
* I am bound to express, in the strongest terms, my obligation
to the Government of Buenos Ayres for the obliging manner in
which passports to all parts of the country were given me, as nat-
uralist of the Beagle.
92 RIO COLORADO.
one or two daughters would often come to our ran-
cho, mounted on the same horse. They ride like
men, but with their knees tucked up much higher.
This habit perhaps arises from their being accus-
tomed, when travelling, to ride the loaded horses.
The duty of the women is to load and unload the
horses ; to make the tents for the night ; in short,
to be, like the wives of all savages, useful slaves.
The men fight, hunt, take care of the horses, and
make the riding gear. One of their chief indoor
occupations is to knock two stones together till
they become rovmd, in order to make the bolas.
With this important weapon the Indian catches his
game, and also his horse, which roams free over
the plain. In fighting, his first attempt is to throw
down the horse of his adversary with the bolas,
and when entangled by the fall to kill him with the
chuzo. If the balls only catch the neck or body
of an animal, they are often carried away and lost.
As the making the stones round is the labour of
two days, the manufacture of the balls is a very
common employment. Several of the men and
women had their faces painted red, but I never
saw the horizontal bands which are so common
among the Fuegians. Their chief pride consists
in having everything made of silver ; I have seen
a cacique with his spurs, stiiTups, handle of his
knife, and bridle made of this metal : the head-
stall and reins being of wire, were not thicker
than whipcord ; and to see a fiery steed wheeling
about under the command of so light a chain, gave
to the horsemanship a remarkable character of el-
egance.
General Rosas intimated a wish to see me ; a
circumstance which I was afterwards very glad of.
He is a man of an extraordinary character, and has
a most predominant influence in the country, which
GENERAL ROSAS. \)'3
it seems probable he will use to its prosperity and
advancement.* He is said to be the owner of sev^
enty-four square leagues of land, and to have about
three hundred thousand head of cattle. His es-
tates are admirably managed, and are far more pro-
ductive of corn than those of others. He first gain-
ed his celebrity by his laws for his own estancias,
and by disciplining several hundred men, so as to
resist with success the attacks of the Indians. There
are many stories current about the rigid manner in
which his laws were enforced. One of these was,
that no man, on penalty of being put into the
stocks, should carry his knife on a Sunday : this
being the principal day for gambling and drink-
ing, many quarrels arose, which, from the general
manner of fighting with the knife, often proved fa-
tal. One Sunday the Governor came in great form
to pay the estancia a visit, and General Rosas, in
his hurry, walked out to receive him with his knife,
as usual, stuck in his belt. The steward touched
his arm, and reminded him of the law ; upon which,
turning to the Governor, he said he was extreme-
ly sorry, but that he must go into the stocks, and
that, till let out, he possessed no power even in his
own house. After a little time the steward was
persuaded to open the stocks and to let him out,
but no sooner was this done, than he turned to the
steward and said, "You now have broken the laws,
so you must take my place in the stocks." Such
actions as these delighted the Gauchos, who all
possess high notions of their own equality and
dignity.
General Rosas is also a perfect horseman — an
accomplishment of no small consequence in a coun-
try where an assembled army elected its general
* This prophecy has turned out entirely and miserably wiong.
1845.
94 RIO COLORADO.
by the following trial : A ti'oop of unbroken horses
being driven into a coiTal, were let out through a
gateway, above which was a cross-bar : it was
agreed whoever should drop from the bar on one
of these wild animals, as it rushed out, and should
be able, without saddle or bridle, not only to ride
it, but also to bring it back to the door of the cor-
ral, should be their general. The person who suc-
ceeded was accordingly elected, and doubtless
made a general lit for such an army. This extraor-
dinary feat has also been performed by Rosas.
By these ineans, and by conforming to the dress
and habits of the Gauchos, he has obtained an un-
bounded popularity in the country, and in conse-
quence a despotic power. I was assured by an
English merchant, that a man who had murdered
another, when arrested and questioned concernino"
his motive, answered, "He spoke disrespectfully
of General Rosas, so I killed him." At the end
of a week the murderer was at liberty. This
doubtless was the act of the general's party, and
not of the general himself.
In conversation he is enthusiastic, sensible, and
very grave. His gi-avity is carried to a high pitch:
I heard one of his mad buffoons (for he keeps two,
like the barons of old) relate the following anec-
dote : " I wanted very much to hear a certain piece
of music, so I went to the General two or three
times to ask him ; he said to me, ' Go about your
business, for I am engaged.' I went a second time ;
he said, ' If you come again I will punish you.' A
third time I asked, and he laughed. I rushed out
of the tent, but it was too late ; he ordered two
soldiers to catch and stake me. I begged by all
the saints in heaven he would let me off, but it
would not do; when the general laughs he spares
neither madman nor sound." The poor flighty
LOCAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL PECULIARITIES. 95
gentleman looketl quite dolorous at the very recol-
lection of the staking. This is a very severe pun-
ishment : four posts are driven into the ground,
and the man is extended by his arms and legs hor-
izontally, and there left to stretch for several hours.
The idea is evidently taken from the usual method
of drying hides. My interview passed away with-
out a smile, and I obtained a passport and order
for the government post-horses, and these he gave
me in the most obliging and ready manner.
In the morning we started for Bahia Blanca,
which we reached in two days. Leaving the reg-
ular encampment, we passed by the toldos of the
Indians. These are round like ovens, and covered
with hides ; by the inouth of each, a tapering chuzo
was stuck in the gi'ound. The toldos were divided
into separate gi'oups, which belonged to the differ-
ent caciques' tribes, and the groups were again di-
vided into smaller ones, according to the relation-
ship of the owners. For several miles we travel-
led along the valley of the Colorado. The alluvial
plains on the side appeared fertile, and it is sup-
posed that they are well adapted to the gi'ovnh of
corn. Turning northward from the river, we soon
entered on a country differing from the plains south
of the river. The land still continued dry and
sterile, but it supported many different kinds of
plants ; and the grass, though brown and withered,
was more abundant, as the thomy bushes were less
so. These latter in a short space entirely disap-
peared, and the plains were left without a thicket
to cover their nakedness. This change in the vege-
tation marks the commencement of the grand cal-
careo-argillaceous deposit, which forms the wide
extent of the Pampas, and covers the granitic rocks
of Banda Oriental. From the Strait of Magellan
to the Colorado, a distance of about eight hundi-ed
96 RIO COLORADO.
miles, the face of the country is everywhere com-
posed, of shingle : the pebbles are chiefly of por-
phyry, and probably owe their origin to the rocks
of the Cordillera. North of the Colorado this bed
thins out, and the pebbles become exceedingly
small, and here the characteristic vegetation of
Patagonia ceases.
Having ridden about twenty-five miles, we came
to a broad belt of sand-dunes, which stretches, as
far as the eye can reach, to the east and west. The
sand-hillocks, resting on the clay, allow small pools
of water to collect, and thus afford in this dry coun-
try an invaluable supply of fresh water. The great
advantage arising from depressions and elevations
of the soil is not often brought home to the mind.
The two miserable springs in the long passage be-
tween the Rio Negro and Colorado were caused.
by trifling inequalities in the plain ; without them
not a drop of water would have been found. The
belt of sand-dunes is about eight miles wide ; at
some former period it probably formed the margin
of a grand estuary, where the C olorado now flows.
In this district, where absolute proofs of the recent
elevation of the land occur, such speculations can
hardly be neglected by any one, although merely
considering the physical geogi'aphy of the country.
Having crossed the sandy tract, we arrived in the
evening at one of the post-houses ; and, as the fresh
horses were grazing at a distance, we determined
to pass the night there.
The house was situated at the base of a ridge,
between one and two hundred feet high — a most
remarkable feature in this country. This posta
was commanded by a negro lieutenant, born in Af-
rica : to his credit be it said, there was not a rancho
between the Colorado and Buenos Ayres in nearly
such neat order as his. He had a little room for
A SOUSE IN THE MIRE. 97
Strangers, and a small corral for the horses, all
made of sticks and reeds ; he had also dug a ditch
round his house, as a defence in case of being at-
tacked. This would, however, have been of little
avail if the Indians had come ; but his chief com-
fort seemed to rest in the thought of selling his life
dearly. A short time before, a body of Indians had
travelled past in the night ; if they had been aware
of the posta, our black friend and his four soldiers
would assuredly have been slaughtered. I did not
any where meet a more civil and obliging man than
this negro ; it was therefore the more painful to
see that he would not sit down and eat with us.
In the morning we sent for the horses very early,
and started for another exhilarating gallop. We
passed the Cabeza del Buey, an old name given to
the head of a lai-ge marsh, which extends from
Bahia Blanca. Here we changed horses, and pass-
ed thi'ough some leagues of swamps and saline
marshes. Changing horses for the last time, we
again began wading through the mud. My animal
fell, and I was well soused in black mire — a very
disagreeable accident, when one does not possess a
change of clothes. Some miles from the fort we
met a man, who told us that a great gun had been
fired, which is a signal that Indians are near. We
immediately left the road, and followed the edge
of a marsh, which, when cliased, offers the best mode
of escape. We were glad to arrive within the
walls, when we found all the alarm was about noth-
ing, for the Indians turned out to be friendly ones,
who wished to join General Rosas.
Bahia Blanca scarcely desei'ves the name of a
village. A few houses and the barracks for the
troops are enclosed by a deep ditch and fortified
wall. The settlement is only of recent standing
(since 182S), antl its growth has been one of trou-
VOL.I— 7 I
lHIA blanca.
ble. The govenament of Buenos Ayres unjustly-
occupied it by force, instead of following the wise
example of the Spanish Viceroys, who purchased
the land near the older settlement of the Rio Ne-
gro from the Indians. Hence the need of the
fortifications ; hence the few houses and little cul-
tivated land without the limits of the walls : even
the cattle are not safe from the attacks of the In-
dians beyond the boundaries of the plain on which
the fortress stands.
The part of the harbour where the Beagle in-
tended to anchor being distant twenty-five miles, I
obtained from the Commandant a guide and hor-
ses, to take me to see whether she had arrived.
Leaving the plain of green turf, which extended
along the course of a little brook, we soon entered
on a wide level waste, consisting either of sand, sa-
line marshes, or bare mud. Some parts were
clothed by low thickets, and others by those suc-
culent plants, which luxuriate only where salt
abounds. Bad as the country was, osti'iches, deer,
agoutis, and armadilloes were abundant. My guide
told me, that two months before he had a most nar-
row escape of his life : he was out hunting with
two other men, at no great distance from this part
of the country, when they were suddenly met by a
paity of Indians, who giving chase, soon overtook
and killed his two friends. His own horse's legs
were also caught by the bolas ; but he jumped off,
and with his knife cut them free : while doing this
he was obliged to dodge round his horse, and re-
ceived two severe wounds from their chuzos.
Springing on the saddle, he managed, by a most
wonderful exertion, just to keep ahead of the long
spears of his pursuers, who followed him to within
sight of the fort. From that time there was an
order that no one should stray far from the settle-
SUFFERINGS FROM WANT OF WATER. 99
ment. I did not know of this when I started, and
■was sui-jnised to observe how earnestly my guide
watched a deer, which appeared to have been
frightened from a distant quarter.
We found the Beagle had not an'ived, and con-
sequently set out on our return, but the horses
soon tiring, we were obliged to bivouac on the
plain. In the morning we had caught an armadillo,
which, although a most excellent dish when roasted
in its shell, did not make a very substantial break-
fast and dinner for two hungry men. The gi'ound,
at the place where we stopjjed for the night, was
incrusted with a layer of sulphate of soda, and
hence, of course, was without water. Yet many
of the smaller rodents managed to exist even here,
and the tucutuco was making its odd little gi'unt
beneath my head during half the night. Our hoi--
ses were very poor ones, and in the morning they
were soon exhausted from not having had anything
to drink, so that we were obliged to walk. About
noon the dogs killed a kid, which we roasted. I
ate some of it, but it made me intolerably thirsty.
This was the more distressing, as the road, from
some recent rain, was full of little puddles of clear
water, yet not a drop was drinkable. I had scarce-
ly been twenty hours without water, and only part
of the time under a hot sun, yet the thirst rendered
me very weak. How people survive two or three
days under such circumstances, I cannot imagine:
at the same time, I must confess that my guide did
not suffer at all, and was astonished that one day's
deprivation should be so troublesome to me.
I have several times alluded to the surface of the
ground being incrusted with salt. This phenome-
non is quite different from that of the salinas, and
more extraordinary. In many parts of South
America, wherever the climate is moderately dry,
100 BAIIIA BLANCA.
these incrustations occur ; but I have nowhere
seen them so abundant as near Bahia Blanca. The
salt here, and. in other parts of Patagonia, consists
chiefly of sulphate of soda with some common salt.
As long as the ground remains moist in these sali-
trales (as the Spaniards improperly call them, mis-
taking this substance for saltpetre), nothing is to be
seen but an extensive plain composed of a black,
muddy soil, su^^porting scattered tufts of succulent
plants. On returning through one of these tracts,
after a week's hot weather, one is sui'jii'ised to see
square miles of the plain white, as if from a slight
fall of snow, here and there heaped up by the wind
into little drifts. This latter ajapearance is chiefly
caused by the salts being drawn up during the
slow evaporation of the moisture, round blades of
dead grass, stumps of wood, and pieces of broken
earth, instead of being crystallized at the bottoms
of the puddles of water. The salitrales occur ei-
ther on level tracts elevated only a few feet above
the level of the sea, or on alluvial land bordering
rivers. M. Parchappe* found that the saline in-
crustation on the plain, at the distance of some
miles from the sea, consisted chiefly of sulphate of
soda, with only seven per cent, of common salt ;
whilst nearer to the coast, the common salt increas-
ed to 37 parts in a hundred. This circumstance
would tempt one to believe that the sulphate of soda
is generated in the soil, from the muriate, left on
the surface during the slow and recent elevation of
this dry country. The whole phenomenon is well
worthy the attention of naturalists. Have the suc-
culent, salt-loving plants, which are well known to
contain much soda, the power of decomposing the
muriate 1 Does the black fetid mud, abounding
* Voyage dans TAni^rique Merid., par M. A. d'Orbigny. Part.
Hist., torn, i., p, 664.
AN ADVENTURE. 101
witli organic matter, yield the sulphur and ultimate-
ly the sulphuric acid ?
Two days afterwards I again rode to the har-
bour : when not far from our destination, my com-
panion, the same man as before, spied tlu'ee people
hunting on horseback. He immediately dismount-
ed, and watching them intently, said, " They don't
ride like Christians, and nobody can leave the
fort." The three hunters joined company, and like-
wise dismounted from their horses. At last one
mounted again and rode over the hill out of sight.
My companion said, " We must now get on our
horses : load your pistol ;" and he looked to his
own sword. I asked, " Are they Indians V —
" Q,uien sabe ] (who knows ?) if there are no more
than three, it does not signify." It then struck me
that the one man had gone over the hill to fetch
the rest of his tribe. I suggested this, but all the
answer I could extort was, " Quien sabe V His
head and eye never for a minute ceased scanning
slowly the distant horizon. I thought his uncom-
mon coolness too good a joke, and asked him why
he did not return home. I was startled when he
answered, " We are returning, but in a line so as
to pass near a swamp, into which we can gallop
the horses as far as they can go, and then trust to
our own legs ; so that there is no danger." I did
not feel quite so confident of this, and wanted to
increase our pace. He said, "No, not until they
do." Wlien any little inequality concealed us, we
galloped; but when in sight, continued walking.
At last we reached a valley, and turning to the
left, galloped quickly to the foot of a hill ; he gave
me his horse to hold, made the dogs lie down, and
then crawled on his hands and knees to reconnoi-
tre. He remained in this position for some time,
102 BAIIIA BLANCA.
and at last, bursting out in laughter, exclaimed,
" Mugeres !" (women !) He knew them to be the
wife and sister-in-law of the major's son, hunting
for ostrich's eggs. I have described this man's
conduct, because he acted under the full impres-
sion that they were Indians. As soon, however, as
the absurd mistake was found out, he gave me a
hundred reasons why they could not have been In-
dians ; but all these were forgotten at the time.
We then rode on in peace and quietness to a low
point called Punta Alta, whence we could see
nearly the whole of the great harbour of Bahia
Blanca.
The wide expanse of water is choked up by
immerous great mud-banks, which the inhabitants
call Cangrejales, or crabberies, from the number of
small crabs. The mud is so soft that it is impossi-
ble to walk over them, even for the shortest dis-
tance. Many of the banks have their surfaces
covered with long rushes, the tops of which alone
ai-e visible at high water. On one occasion, when
in a boat, we were so entangled by these shal-
lows that we could hardly find our way. Nothing
was visible but the flat beds of mud : the day was
not very clear, and there was much refraction, or,
as the sailors expressed it, " things loomed high."
The only object within our view which was not
level was the horizon ; rushes looked like bushes
unsupported in the air, and water like mud-banks,
and inud-banks like water.
We passed the night in Punta Alta, and I em-
|;,loyed myself in searching for fossil bones ; this
point being a perfect catacomb for monsters of ex-
tinct races. The evening was perfectly calm and
clear; the extreme monotony of the view gave it
an interest even in the midst of mud-banks and
gulls, sand-hillocks and solitary vultures. In riding
BAHIA BLANCA. 103
back in the morning we came aci'oss a very fresh
track of a Puma, but did not succeed in finding it.
We saw also a couple of Zorillos, or skunks —
odious animals, which are far from uncommon.
In general appearance the Zorillo resembles a pole-
cat, but it is rather larger, and much thicker in pro-
portion. Conscious of its power, it roams by day
about the open plain, and fears neither dog nor
man. If a dog is urged to the attack, its courage
is instantly checked by a few drops of the fetid oil,
which brings on violent sickness and running at
the nose. Whatever is once polluted by it is for-
ever useless. Azara says the smell can be per-
ceived at a league distant ; more than once, when
entering the harbour of Monte Video, the wind be-
ing offshore, we have perceived the odour on board
the Beagle. Certain it is, that every animal most
willingly makes room for the Zorillo.
CHAPTER V.
Bahia Blanca — Geology — Numerous gigantic extinct Quadru-
peds — Recent Extinction — Longevity of Species — Large Ani-
mals do not require a luxuriant vegetation — Southern Africa —
Siberian Fossils — Two Species of Ostrich — Habits of Oven-
bird— Armadilloes — Venomous Snake, Toad, Lizard — Hyber-
nation of Animals — Habits of Sea-Pen — Indian Wars and
Massacres — Arrow-head, antiquarian Relic.
BAHIA BLANCA.
The Beagle arrived here on the 24th of August,
and a week afterwards sailed for the Plata. With
Captain Fitz Roy's consent I was left behind, to
travel by land to Buenos Ayres. I will here add
some observations, which were made during this
visit and on a previous occasion, when the Beagle
was employed in surveying the harbour.
104 13A1IIA BLANCA.
The plain, at the clistance of a few miles from
the coast, belongs to the great Pampean formation,
which consists in part of a reddish clay, and in
part of a highly calcareous marly rock. Nearer
the coast there are some plains formed from the
wreck of the uj^per plain, and from mud, gi'avel,
and sand thrown up by the sea during the slow el-
evation of the land, of which elevation we have
evidence in upraised beds of recent shells, and in
rounded pebbles of pumice scattered over the coun-
tiy. At Punta Aha we have a section of one of
these later-formed little plains, which is highly in-
teresting fi-om the number and extraordinary char-
acter of the remains of gigantic land-animals em-
bedded in it. These have been fully described by
Professor Owen, in the Zoology of the voyage of
the Beagle, and are deposited in the College of
Surgeons. I will here give only a brief outline of
their nature.
First, parts of three heads and other bones of
the Megatherium, the huge dimensions of which
are expressed by its name. Secondly, the Mega-
lonyx, a great allied animal. Thirdly, the Sceli-
dotherium, also an allied animal, of which I obtain-
ed a nearly perfect skeleton. It must have been
as large as a rhinoceros : in the structure of its
head it comes, according to Mr. Owen, nearest to
the Cape Ant-eater, but in some other respects it
approaches to the armadilloes. Fourthly, the My-
lodon Dai'winii, a closely related genus of little in-
ferior size. Fifthly, another gigantic edental quad-
ruped. Sixthly, a large animal, with an osseous
coat in compartments, very like that of an aiTnadil-
lo. Seventhly, an extinct kind of hoi-se, to which
I shall have again to refer. Eighthly, a tooth of a
Pachydermatous animal, probably the same with
the Macrauchenia, a huge beast with a long neck
EXTINCT aUADRUrEDri. 105
like a camel, wliicli I shall also refer to again. Last-
ly, the Toxodon, perhaps one of the strangest an-
imals ever discovered : in size it equalled an ele-
phant or megatherium, but the structure of its teeth,
as Mr. Owen states, proves indisputably that it was
intimately related, to the Gnawers, the order which,
at the present day, includes most of the smallest
quadrupeds : in many details it is allied to the Pa-
chydermata: judging from the position of its eyes,
ears, and. nostrils, it was probably aquatic, like the
Dugong and Manatee, to which it is also allied.
How wonderfully are the ditierent Orders, at the
present time so well separated, blended together
in different points of the structure of the Toxodon !
The remains of these nine great quadrupeds,
and many detached bones, were found embedded
on the beach, within the space of about 200 yards
square. It is a remarkable circumstance that so
many different species should be found together;
and it proves how numerous in kind the ancient in-
habitants of this country must have been. At the
distance of about thirty miles from P. Alta, in a
cliff of red earth, I found several fragments of
bones, some of lai-ge size. Among them were the
teeth of a gnawer, equalling in size and closely re-
sembling those of the Capybara, whose habits have
been described ; and therefore, probably, an aquat-
ic animal. There was also part of the head of a
Ctenomys ; the species being difterent from the
Tucutuco, but with a close general resemblance.
The red earth, like that of the Pampas, in which
these remains were embedded, contains, according
to Professor Ehrenbei'g, eight fresh- water and one
salt-water infusorial animalcule ; therefore, proba-
bly, it was an estuary deposit.
The remains at Punta Alta were embedded in
Btratified gravel and reddish mud, just such as the
106 BAIIIA BLANCA.
sea might now wasli up on a shallow bank. They
were associated with twenty-three species of shells,
of which thiiteen are recent and four others very
closely related to recent forms ; whether the re-
maining ones are extinct or simply unknown, must
be doubtful, as few collections of shells have been
made on this coast. As, however, the recent spe-
cies were embedded in nearly the same propor-
tional numbers with those now living in the bay, I
think there can be little doubt that this accumu-
lation belongs to a very late tertiary period. From
the bones of the Scelidotherium, including even the
knee-cap, being intombed in their proper relative
positions, and from the osseous armour of the great
armadillo-like animal being so well preserved, to-
gether with the bones of one of its legs, we may
feel assured that these remains were fresh and uni-
ted by their ligaments when deposited in the grav-
el together with the shells. Hence we have good
evidence that the above enumerated gigantic quad-
rupeds, more different from those of the present
day than the oldest of the tertiary quadrupeds of
Europe, lived whilst the sea was peopled with
most of its present inhabitants ; and we have con-
firmed that remarkable law so often insisted on by
Mr. Lyell, namely, that the "longevity of the spe-
cies in the mammalia is, upon the whole, inferior to
that of the testacea."*
The great size of the bones of the Megatheroid
animals, including the IMegatherium, Megalonyx,
Scelidotherium, and Mylodon, is truly wonderful.
The habits of life of these animals were a complete
puzzle to naturalists, until Professor Owenf lately
solved the problem with remarkable ingenuity.
* Principles of Geology, vol. iv., p. 40.
t This theory was first developed in the Zoology of the Voyage
of the Beagle, and subsequently in Professor Owen's Memoir on
Mylodon robustus.
EXTINCT QUADRUPEDS. 107
The teeth indicate, by their simple structure, that
these Megatheroid animals lived on vegetable food,
and probably on the leaves and small twigs of
trees ; their ponderous forms, and gi-eat, strong-
curved claws seem so little adapted for locomotion,
that some eminent naturalists have actually be-
lieved that, like the sloths, to which they are inti-
mately related, they subsisted by climbing back
downwards on trees, and feeding on the leaves. It
was a bold, not to say preposterous, idea to con-
ceive even antediluvian trees with branches strong
enough to bear animals as large as elephants. Pro-
fessor Owen, with far more probability, believes
that, instead of climbing on the trees, they pulled
the branches down to them, and tore up the small-
er ones by the roots, and so fed on the leaves.
The colossal breadth and weight of their hinder
quarters, which can hardly be iinagined without
having been seen, become, on this view, of obvious
service, instead of being an incumbrance : their ap-
parent clumsiness disappears. With their great
tails and their huge heels firmly fixed like a tripod
on the ground, they could freely exert the full force
of their most powerful arms and great claws.
Strongly I'ooted, indeed, must that tree have been
which could have resisted such force ! The My-
lodon, moreover, was furnished with a long exten-
sile tongue like that of the giraffe, which, by one
of those beautiful provisions of nature, thus reaches,
with the aid of its long neck, its leafy food. I may
remark, that in Abyssinia the elephant, according
to Bruce, when it cannot reach with its proboscis
the branches, deeply scores with its tusks the trunk
of the tree, up and down and all around, till it is
sufficiently weakened to be broken down.
The beds including the above fossil remains
stand only from fifteen to twenty feet above the
108 BAIIIA BLANCA.
level of higli-water ; and lience the elevation of the
land has been small (without there has been an in-
tercalated period of subsidence, of which we have
no evidence) since the great quadrupeds wandered
over the surrounding plains ; and the external fea-
tures of the country must then have been very
nearly the same as now. What, it may natural-
ly be asked, was the character of the vegetation at
that period ; was the country as wretchedly sterile
as it now is 1 As so many of the co-embedded
shells are the same with those now living in the
bay, I was at first inclined to think that the former
vegetation was probably similar to the existing one ;
but this would have been an eiToneous inference,
for some of these same shells live on the luxuriant
coast of Brazil ; and generally, the character of the
inhabitants of the sea are useless as guides to judge
of those on the land. Nevertheless, from the fol-
lowing considerations, I do not believe that the
simple fact of many gigantic quadnipeds having
lived on the plains round Bahia Blanca is any sure
guide that they formerly were clothed with a luxvi-
riant vegetation : I have no doubt that the sterile
countiy a little southward, near the Rio Negro,
with its scattered thomy trees, would support many
and large quadrupeds.
That large animals require a luxuriant vegeta-
tion, has been a general assumption which has
passed from one work to another; but I do not
hesitate to say that it is completely false, and that
it has vitiated the reasoning of geologists on some
points of great interest in the ancient history of the
world. The prejudice has probably been derived
from India and the Indian islands, where troops
of elephants, noble forests, and impenetrable jun-
gles are associated together in every one's mind.
FOOD OF LARGE aUADRUPEDS. 109
If, however, we refer to any work of travels tliroiigli
the southern parts of Africa, we shall find allusions
in almost every page either to the desert character
of the country, or to the numbers of large animals
inhabiting it. The same thing is rendei'ed evident
by the many engravings which have been publish-
ed of various parts of the interior. When the
Beagle was at Cape Town, I made an excursion
of some days' length into the country, which at least
was sufficient to render that which I had read more
fully intelligible.
Dr. Andrew Smith, who, at the head of his ad-
venturous party, has lately succeeded in passing
the Tropic of Capricorn, informs me that, taking
into consideration the whole of the southern j^art
of Africa, there can be no doubt of its being a ster-
ile country. On the southern and south-eastern
coasts there are some fine forests, but with these ex-
ceptions, the traveller may pass for days together
through open plains, covered by a poor and scanty
vegetation. It is difficult to convey any accurate
idea of degrees of comparative fertility ; but it may
be safely said that the amount of vegetation sup-
ported at any one time* by Great Britain, exceeds,
perhaps even tenfold, the quantity on an equal area
in the interior parts of Southern Africa. The fact
that bullock-wagons can ti-avel in any direction,
excepting near the coast, without more than occa-
sionally half an hour's delay in cutting down bush-
es, gives, perhaps, a more definite notion of the
scantiness of the vegetation. Now, if we look to the
animals inhabiting these wide plains, we shall find
their numbers extraordinarily great, and their bulk
immense. We must enumerate the elephant, three
species of rhinoceros, and probably, according to
* I mean by this to exclude the total amount, which may have
been successively produced and consumed during a given period.
K
110 BAHIA BLANCA.
Dr. Smith, two others, the hippopotamus, the giraffe,
the bos caffer, as large as a fall-gx-ovvn bull, and
the elan but little less, two zebras, and the quac-
cha, two gnus, and several antelopes even larger
than these latter animals. It may be supposed that
although the species are numerous, the individuals
of each kind are few. By the kindness of Dr.
Smith, I am enabled to show that the case is very
different. He informs me, that in lat. 24^^, in one
day's march with the bullock-wagons, he saw,
without wandering to any gi'eat distance on either
side, between one hundred and one hundred and
fifty rhinoceroses, which belonged to three species :
the same day he saw several herds of giraffes,
amounting together to nearly a hundred ; and that,
although no elephant was observed, yet they are
found in this district. At the distance of a little
more than one hour's march from their place of en-
cainpment on the previous night, his party actually
killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses, and saw
many more. In this same river there were like-
wise crocodiles. Of course it was a case quite ex-
traordinary to see so many great animals crowd-
ed together, but it evidently proves that they must
exist in great nuinbers. Dr. Smith describes the
country passed through that day as " being thinly
covered with grass, and bushes about four feet high,
and still more thinly with mimosa-trees." The
wagons were not prevented travelling in a nearly
straight line.
Besides these largo animals, every one the least
acquainted with the natural history of the Cape
has read of the herds of antelopes, which can be
compared only with the flocks of migratory birds.
The numbers indeed of the lion, panther, and hy-
aena, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly
speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds :
FOOD OF LARGE dUADRUPED.?, Ill
one evening seven lions were counted at the same
time prowling round Dr. Smith's encampment.
As this able naturalist remarked to me, the carnage
each day in Southern Africa must indeed be ter-
rific ! I confess it is truly surprising how such a
number of animals can find support in a country
producing so little food. The larger quadrupeds
no doubt roam over wide tracks in search of it ;
and their food chiefly consists of underwood, which
probably contains much nutriment in a small bulk.
Dr. Smith also informs me that the vegetation has
a rapid growth; no sooner is a part consumed,
than its place is supplied by a fresh stock. There
can be no doubt, however, that our ideas respect-
ing the apparent amount of food necessary for the
support of large quadrupeds are much exaggerated:
it should have been remembered that the camel,
an animal of no mean bulk, has always been con-
sidered as the emblem of the desert.
The belief that where large quadrupeds exist,
the vegetation must necessarily be luxuriant, is the
more remarkable, because the converse is far from
true. Mr. Biu'chell observed to me that, when en-
tering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly
than the splendour of the South American vege-
tation contrasted with that of South Africa, to-
gether with the absence of all large quadrupeds.
In his Travels,* he has suggested that the com-
parison of the respective weights (if there were
sufficient data) of an equal number of the largest
herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would be
extremely curious. If we take, on the one side,
the elephant,t hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer,
* Travels in the interior of South Africa, vol. ii., p. 207.
t The elephant which was killed at Exeter Change was esti-
mated (being partly weighed) at five tons and a half. The ele-
phant actress, as 1 was informed, weighed one ton less ; so that
112 BAIIIA BLANCA.
elan, certainly three, and probably five species of
rhinoceros ; and on the American side, two tapirs,
the guanaco, three deer, the vicuna, peccari, capy-
bara (after which we must choose from the mon-
keys to comjilete the number), and then place these
two gi-oujDS alongside each other, it is not easy to
conceive ranks more disproportionate in size.
After the above facts, we are compelled to con-
clude, against anterior probability,* that among the
maminalia their exists no close relation between
the hulk of the species, and the quantity of the ve-
getation, in the countries which they inhabit.
With regard to the number of large quadrupeds,
there certainly exists no quarter of the globe which
will bear comparison with South Africa. After the
different statements which have been given, the
extremely desert character of that region will not
be disputed. In the European division of the
world, we must look back to the tertiary epochs
to find a condition of things among the mammalia
resembling that now existing at the Cape of Good
Hope. Those tertiary epochs, which we are apt
we may take five as the average of a full-grown elephant. I was
told at the Surrey Gardens that a hippopotamus which was sent
to England cut up into pieces was estimated at three tons and a
half: we will call it three. From these premises we may give
three tons and a half to each of the five rhinoceroses, perhaps a
ton to the giraffe, and half to the bos caffer as well as to the elan
(a large ox weighs from 1200 to 1500 pounds). This will give an
average (from the above estimates) of 2-7 of a ton for the ten
largest herbivorous animals of Southern Africa. In South Amer-
ica, allowing 1200 pounds for the two tapirs together, 550 for the
guanaco and vicuna, 500 for three deer, 300 for the capybara, pec-
cari, and a monkey, we shall have an average of 250 pounds,
which I believe is overstating the result. The ratio will there-
fore be as CO-IS to 250, or 24 to 1, for the ten largest animals from
the two continents.
* If we suppose the case of the discovery of a skeleton of a
Greenland whale in a fossil state, not a single cetaceous animal
being known to exist, what naturalist would have ventured con-
jecture on the possibility of a carcass so gigantic being supported
on the minute Crustacea and mollusca living in the frozen seas of
the extreme North ?
TERTIARY REMAINS. 113
to consider as abouRcling to an astonishing degi-ee
with large animals, because we find the remains of
many ages accumulated at certain spots, could
hardly boast of more large quadrupeds than South-
ern Africa does at present. If we speculate on the
condition of the vegetation during those epochs,
we are at least bound so far to consider existing
analogies as not to urge as absolutely necessary a
luxuriant vegetation, when we see a state of things
so totally different at the Cape of Good Hope.
We know* that the extreme regions of North
America, many degi'ees beyond the limit where
the ground at the depth of a few feet remains per-
petually congealed, are covered by forests of large
and tall trees. In a like manner, in Siberia, we
have woods of birch, fir, aspen, and larch, growing
in a latitudet (64°) where the mean temperature
of the air falls below the freezing point, and where
the earth is so completely frozen that the car-
cass of an animal embedded in it is perfectly pre-
served. With these facts we must gi'ant, as far as
quantity alone of vegetation is concerned, that the
great quadrupeds of the later tertiary epochs might,
in most parts of Northern Europe and Asia, have
lived on the spots whex'e their remains are now
found. I do not here speak of the liind of vegeta-
tion necessary for their support ; because, as there
is evidence of physical changes, and as the animals
* See Zoological Remarks to Capt. Back's Expedition, by Dr.
Richardson. He says, " The subsoil north of latitude 56° is per-
petually frozen, the thaw on the coast not penetrating above three
feet, and at Bear Lake, in latitude 64°, not more than twenty
inches. The frozen substratum does not of itself destroy vegeta-
tion, for forests flourish on the surface, at a distance from the
coast."
+ See Humboldt, Fragmens Asiatiques, p. 386 ; Barton's Geog-
raphy of Plants; and Malte Brun. In the latter work it is said
that the limit of the growth of trees in Siberia may be drawn
under the parallel of TO^.
VoL.I— S K 2
114 BAIIIA BLANCA,
have become extinct, so may we suppose that the
species of plants have likewise been changed.
These remarks, I may be permitted to add, di-
rectly bear on the case of the Siberian animals
preserved in ice. The firm conviction of the ne-
cessity of a vegetation possessing a character of
tropical luxuriance, to support such large animals,
and the impossibility of reconciling this with the
proximity of perpetual congelation, was one chief
cause of the several theories of sudden revolutions
of climate, and of overwhelming catastrophes,
which were invented to account for their entomb-
ment. I am far from supposing that the climate
has not changed since the period when those ani-
mals lived, which now lie buried in the ice. At
present I only wish to show, that as far as quantity
of food alone is concerned, the ancient rhinoceros-
es might have roamed over the steppes of central
Siberia (the northern parts probably being under
water) even in their pi'esent condition, as well as
the living rhinoceroses and elephants over the
Karros of Southern Africa.
I will now give an account of the habits of some
of the more interesting birds which are common on
the wild plains of Noithern Patagonia ; and first
for the largest, or South American ostrich. The
ordinary habits of the ostrich are familiar to every
one. They live on vegetable matter, such as roots
and grass ; but at Bahia Blanca I have repeatedly
seen three or four come down at low water to the
extensive mud-banks which are then diy, for the
sake, as the Gauchos say, of feeding on small fish.
Although the ostrich in its habits is so shy, wary,
and solitary, and although so fleet in its pace, it is
caught without much difficulty by the Indian or
Gaucho armed with the bolas. When several
IIADITS OF THE OSTIUCM. 115
horsemen appear in a semicircle, it becomes con-
founded, and does not know which way to escape.
They generally prefer running against the wind ;
yet at the first start they expand their wings, and,
like a vessel, make all sail. On one fine hot day I
saw several ostriches enter a bed of tall rushes,
where they squatted concealed till quite closely
approached. It is not generally known that os-
triches readily take to the water. Mr. King in-
forms me that at the Bay of San Bias, and at Port
Valdes in Patagonia, he saw these birds swimming
several times from island to island. They ran into
the water both when driven down to a point, and
likewise of their own accord when not fiightened :
the distance crossed was about two hundred yards.
When swimming, very little of their bodies appear
above water ; their necks are extended a little for-
ward, and then- progi-ess is slow. On two occa-
sions I saw some ostriches swimming across the
Santa Cruz river, where its course was about four
hundred yards wide, and the stream rapid. Cap-
tain Sturt,* when descending the Murrumbidgee,
in Australia, saw two emus in the act of swimming.
The inhabitants of the country readily distin-
guish, even at a distance, the cock bird from the
hen. The former is larger and darker-coloured,t
and has a bigger head. The ostrich, I believe the
cock, emits a singular, deep-toned, hissing note :
when first I heard it, standing in the midst of some
sand-hillocks, I thought it was made by some wild
beast, for it is a sound that one cannot tell whence
it comes, or from how far distant. When we were
at Bahia Blanca in the months of September and
October, the eggs, in extraordinary numbers, were
* Sturt's Travels, vol. ii., p. 74.
t A Gaucho assured me that he had once seen a snow-white or
Albino variety, and that it was a most beautiful bird.
116 BAHIA BLANCA.
found all over the country. They lie either scat-
tered and single, in which case they are never
hatched, and are called by the Spaniards huachos;
or they are collected together into a shallow exca-
vation, which forms the nest. Out of the four
nests which I saw three contained twenty-two eggs
each, and the fourth twenty-seven. In one day^s
hunting on horseback sixty-four eggs were found ;
forty-four of these were in two nests, and the re-
maining twenty, scattered huachos. The Gauchos
unanimously affirm, and there is no reason to doubt
their statement, that the male bird alone hatches
the eggs, and for some time afterwards accompanies
the young. The cock when on the nest lies very
close ; I have myself almost ridden over one. It
is asserted that at such times they are occasionally
fierce, and even dangerous, and that they have been
known to attack a man on horseback, trying to kick
and leap on him. My informer pointed out to me
an old man, whom he had seen much terrified by
one chasing him. I observe in Burchell's travels
in South Africa, that he remarks, " Having killed
a male ostrich, and the feathers being dirty, it was
said by the Hottentots to be a nest bird." I un-
derstand that the male emu in the Zoological Gar-
dens takes charge of the nest : this habit, therefore,
is common to the family.
The Gauchos unanimously affirm that several
females lay in one nest. I have been positively
told that four or five hen birds have been watched
to go in the middle of the day, one after the otlier,
to the same nest. I may add, also, that it is be-
lieved in Africa, that two or more females lay in
one nest.* Although this habit at first appears
very strange, I think the cause may be explained
in a simple manner. The number of eggs in the
* Burchell's Travels, vol. i., p. 280.
HABITS OF THE OSTRICH. 117
nest varies from twenty to forty, and even to fifty ;
and according to Azara, sometimes to seventy or
eighty. Now although it is most probable, from
the number of eggs found in one district being so
extraordinarily great in proportion to the parent
birds, and likewise from the state of the ovarium
of the hen, that she may in the course of the season
lay a large number, yet the time required must be
very long. Azara states,* that a female in a state
of domestication laid seventeen eggs, each at the
interval of three days one from another. If the
hen was obliged to hatch her own eggs, before the
last was laid the first probably would be addled ;
but if each laid a few eggs at successive periods,
in different nests, and several hens, as is stated to
be the case, combined together, then the eggs in
one collection would be nearly of the same age.
If the number of eggs in one of these nests is, as I
believe, not gi'eater oil an average than the number
laid by one female in the season, then there must
be as many nests as females, and each cock bird
will have its fair share of the labour of incubation;
and that during a period when the females probably
could not sit, from not having finished laying.t I
have before mentioned the great numbers of huachos
or deserted eggs, so that in one day's hunting twen-
ty were found in this state. It appears odd that so
many should be wasted. Does it not arise from
the difficulty of several females associating togeth-
er, and finding a male ready to undertake the oflfice
of incubation 1 It is evident that there must at first
be some degree of association between at least two
* Azara, vol. iv., p. 173.
t Lichtenstein, however, asserts (Travels, vol. ii., p. 25) that
the hens begin sitting when they have laid ten or twelve eggs ;
and ihat they continue laying, I presume, in another nest. This
appears to me very improbable. He asserts that four or five hens
associate for incubation with ono cock, who sits only at night.
118 BAHIA BLANCA.
females, otherwise the eggs would remain scatter-
ed over the wide plains at distances far too great
to allow of the male collecting them into one nest:
some authors have believed that the scattered eggs
were deposited for the young birds to feed on.
This can hardly be the case in America, because
the huachos, although often found addled and pu-
trid, are generally whole.
When at the Rio Negro in Northern Patagonia,
I repeatedly heard the Gauchos talking of a very
rare bird which they called Avestruz Petise. They
described it as being less than the common osti'ich
(which is there abundant), but with a very close
general resemblance. They said its colour was
dark and mottled, and that its legs were shorter,
and feathered lower dowm than those of the com-
mon ostrich. It is more easily caught by the bolas
than the other species. The few inhabitants who
had seen both kinds, affirmed they could distinguish
them apart from a long distance. The eggs of the
small species appeared, however, more generally
known ; and it was remarked, with surprise, that
they were very little less than those of the Rhea,
but of a slightly different form, and with a tinge of
pale blue. This species occurs most rarely on the
plains bordering the Rio Negro ; but about a de-
gree and a half further south they are tolerably
abundant. When at Port Desire, in Patagonia
(lat. 48°), Mr. Martens shot an ostrich ; and I look-
ed at it, forgetting at the inoment, in the most unac-
countable manner, the whole subject of the Petises,
and thought it was a not full-grown bird of the
common sort. It was cooked and eaten before my
memory returned. Fortunately the head, neck,
legs, wings, many of the larger feathers, and a
large part of the skin, had been preserved ; and
from these a veiy nearly perfect specimen has
THE AVESTRUZ PETIRE. 119
been put together, and is now exhibited in the mu-
seum of the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, in
describing this new species, has done me the hon-
our of calling it after my name.
Among the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of
Magellan, we found a half Indian, who had lived
some years with the tribe, but had been born in
the northern provinces. I asked him if he had ever
heard of the Avestruz Petise ] He answered by
saying, " Why there are none others in these south-
ern countries." He informed me that the number
of eggs in the nest of the petise is considerably less
than in that of the other kind, namely, not more
than fifteen on an average ; but he asserted that
more than one female deposited them. At Santa
Cruz we saw several of these birds. They were
excessively wary : I think they could see a person
appi-oaching when too far off to be distinguished
themselves. In ascending the river few were seen ;
but in our quiet and rapid descent, many, in pairs
and by fours or fives, were observed. It was re-
marked that this bird did not expand its wings,
when first starting at full speed, after the manner
of the northem kind. In conclusion, I may observe,
that the Struthio rhea inhabits the country of La
Plata as far as a little south of the Rio Negro in
lat. 41°, and that the Struthio Darwinii takes its
place in Southern Patagonia; the part about the
Rio Negro being neutral temtory. M. A. d'Or-
bigny,* when at the Rio Negro, made great exer-
tions to procure this bird, but never had the good
fortune to succeed. Dobrizhoffer long ago was
* When at Rio Negro, we heard much of the indefatigable la-
bours of this naturalist. M. Alcide d'Orbigny, during the years
1825 to 1833, traversed several large portions of South America,
and has made a collection, and is now publishing the results on
a scale of magnificence, which at once places himself in the list
«f American travellers second only to Humboldt.
120 BAIIIA BI.ANCA.
aware of their being two kinds of ostriches ; he
says : " You must know, moi'eover, that Emus differ
in size and habits in different tracts of land ; for
those that inhabit the plains of Buenos Ayi'es and
Tucuman are larger, and have black, white, and
gray feathers ; those near to the Strait of Magellan
are smaller and more beautiful, for their white
feathers are tipped with black at the extremity,
and their black ones, in like manner, terminate in
white."*
A very singular little bird, Tinochorus rumicivo-
rus, is here common : in its habits and general ap-
pearance it nearly equally partakes of the charac-
ters, different as they are, of the quail and snipe.
The Tinochorus is found in the whole of southern
South America, wherever there are sterile plains,
or open, dry pasture land. It frequents in pairs or
small flocks the most desolate places, whei'e scarcely
another living creature can exist. Upon being ap-
proached they squat close, and then are very dif-
ficult to be distinguished from the ground. When
feeding they walk rather slowly, with their legs
wide apart. Tiiey dust themselves in roads and
sandy places, and frequent particular spots, where
they may be found day after day : like partridges,
they take wing in a flock. In all these respects,
in the muscular gizzard adapted for vegetable food,
in the arched beak and fleshy nostrils, short legs
and form of foot, the Tinochorus has a close aflfinity
with quails. But as soon as the bird is seen flying,
its whole appearance changes ; the long pointed
wings, so different from those in the gallinaceous
order, the irregular manner of flight, and plaintive
cry uttered at the inoment of rising, recall the idea
* Account of the Abipones, A.D. 1749, vol. i. (English transla-
tion), p. 314.
THE OVEN-BIRD. 12l
of a snipe. The sportsmen of the Beagle unani-
mously called it the short-billed snipe. To this
genus, or rather to the family of the Waders, its
skeleton shows that it is really related.
The Tinochorus is closely related to some other
South American birds. Two species of the genus
Attagis are in almost every respect ptannigans in
their habits : one lives in Tierra del Fuego, above
the limits of the forest land ; and the other just
beneath the snow-line on the Cordillera of Central
Chile. A bird of another closely allied genus,
Chionis alba, is an inhabitant of the antarctic re-
gions ; it feeds on sea- weed and shells on the tidal
rocks. Although not web-footed, from some unac-
countable habit it is frequently met with far out
at sea. This small family of birds is one of those
which, from its varied relations to other families,
although at present oftering only difficulties to the
systematic naturalist, ultimately may assist in re-
vealing the grand scheme, common to the present
and past ages, on which organized beings have
been created.
The genus Furnarius contains several species,
all small birds, living on the gi'ound, and inhabiting
open, dry countries. In sti-ucture they cannot be
compared to any European form. Ornithologists
have generally included them among the creepers,
although opposed to that family in every habit.
The best known species is the common oven-bird
of La Plata, the Casara or housemaker of the Span-
iards. The nest, whence it takes its name, is placed
in the most exposed situations, as on the top of a
post, a bare rock, or on a cactus. It is composed
of mud and bits of straw, and has strong thick
walls : in shape it precisely resembles an oven, or
depressed beehive. The opening is large and
arched, and directly in front, within the nest, there
122 BAHIA BLANCA.
is a partition, which reaches nearly to the roof, thus
forming a passage or antechamber to the true nest.
Another and smaller species of Furnarius (F.
cunicularius) resembles the oven-bird in the gen-
eral reddish tint of its plumage, in a peculiar shrill,
reiterated cry, and in an odd manner of running
by starts. From its affinity, the Spaniards call it
Casarita (or little housebuilder), although its nidi-
fication is quite different. The Casarita builds its
nest at the bottom of a narrow cylindrical hole,
which is said to extend horizontally to nearly six
feet under ground. Several of the country people
told me, that when boys, they had attempted to dig
out the nest, but had scarcely ever succeeded in
getting to the end of the passage. The bird chooses
any low bank of firm sandy soil by the side of a
road or sti'eam. Here (at Bahia Blanca) the walls
round the houses are built of hardened mud ; and
I noticed that one, which enclosed a courtyard
where I lodged, was bored through by round holes
in a score of places. On asking the owner the
cause of this, he bitterly complained of the little
casarita, several of which I afterwards observed
at work. It is rather curious to find how incapable
these birds must be of acquiring any notion of
thickness, for although they were constantly flitting
over the low wall, they continued vainly to bore
through it, thinking it an excellent bank for their
nests. I do not doubt that each bird, as often as
it came to daylight on the opposite side, was greatly
surprised at the marvellous fact.
I have already mentioned nearly all the mam-
malia common in this country. Of armadilloes
three species occur, namely, the Dasypus minutus
ov picliy, the D. villosus or jyehido, and the aj^ar.
The first extends ten degrees further south than
any other kind : a fourth species, the Mulita, does
ARMADILLOES CURI0U3 S>fAKE. 123
not come as far south as Baliia Blanca. The four
species have nearly similar habits ; the peludo^
however, is nocturnal, while the others wander by
day over the open plains, feeding on beetles, larvae,
roots, and even small snakes. The ajxxr, commonly
called mataco^ is remarkable by having only three
m.oveable bands, the rest of its tesselated covering
being nearly inflexible. It has the power of rolling
itself into a perfect sphere, like one kind of Eng-
lish woodlouse. In this state it is safe from the
attack of dogs ; for the dog, not being able to take
the whole in its mouth, ti'ies to bite one side, and
the ball slips away. The smooth, hard covering of
the viataco offers a better defence than the short
spinesof the hedgehog. The^>'«'7^yprefersavery dry
soil ; and the sand-dunes near the coast, where for
many months it can never taste water, is its favour-
ite resort : it often tries to escape notice by squat-
ting close to the ground. In the course of a day's
ride, near Bahia Blanca, several were generally
met with. The instant one was perceived, it was
necessary, in order to catch it, almost to tumble off
one's horse ; for in soft soil the animal burrowed
so quickly, that its hinder quarters would almost
disappear before one could alight. It seems almost
a pity to kill such nice little animals, for as a Crau-
cho said, while sharpening his knife on the back
of one, " Son tan mansos" (they are so quiet).
Of reptiles there are many kinds : one snake (a
Trigonocephalus, or Cophias), from the size of the
poison chainiel in its fangs, must be very deadly.
Cuvier, in opposition to some other naturalists,
makes this a sub-genus of the rattlesnake, and inter-
mediate between it and the viper. In confii-mation
of this opinion, I observed a fact, which appears to
me very curious and instinctive, as showing how
every character, even though it may be in some
124 BAHIA BLANCA.
degree independent of structure, has a tendency
to vary by slow degi'ees. The extremity of the
tail of this snake is terminated by a point, which is
very slightly enlarged ; and as the animal glides
along, it constantly vibrates the last inch ; and this
part striking against the dry grass and brushwood,
produces a rattling noise, which can be distinctly
heard at the distance of six feet. As often as the
animal was irritated or surprised, its tail was
shaken ; and the vibrations were extremely rapid.
Even as long as the body retained its imtability, a
tendency to this habitual movement was evident.
This Trigonocephalus has, therefore, in some re-
spects, the structure of a viper, with the habits of a
rattlesnake ; the noise, however, being produced
by a simpler device. The expression of this snake's
face was hideous and fierce : the pujail consisted of
a vertical slit in a mottled and coppery iris ; the
jaws were broad at the base, and the nose termi-
nated in a triangular projection. I do not think I
ever saw anything more ugly, excepting, perhaps,
some of the vampire bats. I imagine this repul-
sive aspect originates from the features being placed
in positions, with respect to each other, somewhat
proportional to those of the human face ; and thus
we obtain a scale of hideovisness.
Amongst the Batrachian reptiles, I found only
one little toad (Phryniscus nigi'icans), which was
most singular from its colour. If we imagine, first,
that it had been steeped in the blackest ink, and
then, when dry, allowed to crawl over a board,
freshly painted with the brightest vermillion, so as
to colour the soles of its feet and parts of its stom-
ach, a good idea of its appearance will be gained.
If it had been an unnamed species, surely it ought
to have been called Diabolicus, for it is a fit toad
to preach in the ear of Eve. Instead of being noc-
LIZARDS. 125
turnal in its habits, as other toads are, and Hving in
damp, obscure recesses, it crawls during the heat of
the day about the dry sand-hillocks and arid plains,
where- not a single drop of water can be found. It
must necessarily depend on the dew for its moist-
in-e ; and this probably is absorbed by the skin, for
it is known that these reptiles possess great pow-
ers of cutaneous absoi-ption. At Maldonado, I
found one in a situation nearly as dry as at Bahia
Blanca, and thinking to give it a great treat, car-
ried it to a pool of water; not only was the little
animal unable to swim, but I think, without help,
it would soon have been drowned.
(^f lizards there were many kinds, but only one
(Proctotretus multimaculatus) remarkable from its
habits. It lives on the bare sand near the sea-coast,
and from its mottled colour, the brownish scales
being speckled with white, yellowish red, and dirty
blue, can hardly be distinguished from the sur-
rounding surface. When frightened, it attempts
to avoid discovery by feigning death, with out-
stretched legs, depressed body, and closed eyes : if
further molested, it buries itself with gi-eat quick-
ness in the loose sand. This lizard, from its flat-
tened body and short legs, cannot run quickly.
I will here add a few remarks on the hyberna-
tion of animals in this part of South America.
When we first arrived at Bahia Blanca, September
7th, 1832, we thought nature had granted scarcely
a living creature to this sandy and dry country.
By digging, however, in the ground, several insects,
large spiders, and lizards were found in a half tor-
pid state. On the 15th a few animals began to ap-
pear, and by the 18th (three days from the equi-
nox) everything announced the commencement of
spring. The plains were ornamented by the flow-
ers of a pink wood-sorrel, wild peas, cenotherae,
L 2
126 BAHIA BLANCA.
and geraniums ; and the birds began to lay their
eggs. Numerous Lamelhcorn and Heteromerous
insects, the latter remarkable for their deeply sculp-
tured bodies, were slowly crawling about ; while
the lizard tribe, the constant inhabitants of a sandy
soil, darted about in every direction. During the
first eleven days, whilst nature was dormant, the
mean temperature, taken from obsei'vations made
every two hours on board the Beagle, was 51° ;
and in the middle of the day the thermometer sel-
dom ranged above 55'^. On the eleven succeed-
ing days, in which all living things became so ani-
mated, the mean was 5S°, and the range in the
middle of the day between sixty and seventy.
Here, then, an increase of seven degrees in mean
temperature, but a greater one of extreme heat,
was sufficient to awake the functions of life. At
Monte Video, from which we had just before sail-
ed, in the twenty-three days included between the
26th of July and the 19th of August, the mean
temperature from 276 observations was 5S°-4 ; the
mean hottest day being 65°*5, and the coldest 46°.
The lowest point to which the thennometer fell
was 41°-5, and occasionally in the middle of the
day it rose to 69° or 70°. Yet with this high tem-
perature, almost every beetle, several genera of
spiders, snails, and land-shells, toads and lizards,
were all lying torpid beneath stones. But we have
seen that at Bahia Blanca, which is four degrees
southward, and therefore with a climate only a very
little colder, this same temperature, with a rather
less extreme heat, was sufficient to awake all or-
ders of animated beings. This shows how nicely
the stimulus required to arouse hybernating ani-
mals is governed by the usual climate of the district,
and not by the absolute heat. It is well known that
within the tropics, the hybernation, or more prop-
SEA-I'EN. 127
erly aestivation, of animals is determined, not by
the temperature, but by the times of drought. Near
Rio de J aneiro, I was at first surprised to observe,
that, a few days after some little depressions had
been filled with water, they were peopled by nu-
merous full-grown shells and beetles, which must
have been lying dormant. Humboldt has related
the strange accident of a hovel having been erect-
ed over a spot where a young crocodile lay buried
in the hardened mud. He adds, " The Indians
often find enormous boas, which they call Uji, or
water serpents, in the same lethargic state. To
reanimate them, they must be irritated or wetted
with water."
I will only mention one other animal, a zoophyte
(I believe Virgularia Patagonica), a kind of sea-pen.
It consists of a thin, straight, fleshy stem, with al-
ternate rows of polypi on each side, and surround-
ing an elastic stony axis, varying in length from
eight inches to two feet. The stem at one ex-
tremity is truncate, but at the other is terminated
by a vermiform fleshy appendage. The stony axis
which gives strength to the stem may be traced at
this extremity into a mere vessel filled with granu-
lar matter. At low water hundreds of these zon-
phytes might be seen, projecting like stubble, with
the truncate end upwards, a few inches above the
surface of the muddy sand. When touched or
pulled they suddenly drew themselves in with force,
so as nearly or quite to disappear. By this action,
the highly elastic axis must be bent at the lower
extremity, where it is naturally slightly curved ;
and I imagine it is by this elasticity alone that the
zoophyte is enabled to rise again through the mud.
Each polypus, though closely united to its breth-
ren, has a distinct mouth, body, and tentacula. Of
these polypi, in a large specimen, there must be
128 BAIIIA BLANCA.
many thousands ; yet we see that they act by one
movement : they have also one central axis con-
nected with a system of obscure circulation, and
the ova are produced in an organ distinct from the
separate individuals.* Well may one be allowed
to ask, What is an individual 1 It is always inter-
esting to discover the foundation of the strange
tales of the old voyagers ; and I have no doubt but
that the habits of this Virgularia explain one such
case. Captain Lancaster, in his voyaget in 1601,
narrates that on the sea-sands of the Island of Som-
brero, in the East Indies, he " found a small twig
growing up like a young tree, and on offeiung to
pluck it up it shrinks down to the ground, and sinks,
unless held very hard. On being plucked up, a
great worm is found to be its root, and as the tree
groweth in greatness, so doth the worm diminish ;
and as soon as the worm is entirely turned into a
tree it rooteth in the earth, and so becomes great.
This transformation is one of the strangest wonders
that I saw in all my travels : for if this tree is
plucked up while young, and the leaves and bai'lc
stripped oif, it becomes a hard stone when dry,
much like white coral : thus is this worm twice
* The cavities leading from the fleshy compartments of the ex-
tremity were filled with a yellow pulpy matter, which, examined
under a microscope, presented an extraordinary appearance. The
mass consisted of rounded, semi-transparent, irregular grains, ag-
gregated together into particles of various sizes. All such parti-
cles, and the separate grains, possessed the power of rapid move-
ment ; generally revolving around different axes, but sometimes
progressive. The movement was visible with a very weak power,
but even with the highest its cause could not be perceived. It
was very different from the circulation of the fluid in the elastic
bag, containing the thin extremity of the axis. On other occa-
sions, when dissecting small marine animals beneath the micro-
scope, I have seen particles of pulpy matter, some of large size,
as soon as they were disengaged, commence revolving. I have
imagined, I know not with how much truth, that this granulo-pul-
py matter was in process of being converted into ova. Certainly
in this zoophyte such appeared to be the case.
t Kerr's Collection of Voyages, vol. viii., p. 119.
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE INDIANS. 129
ti-ansformetl into different natures. Of these we
gathered and brought home many."
During my stay at Bahia Blanca, while waiting
for the Beagle, the place was in a constant state of
excitement, from rumours of wars and victories be-
tween the troops of Rosas and the wild Indians.
One day an account came that a small party, form-
ing one of the postas on the line to Buenos Ayres,
had been found all murdered. The next day three
hundred men arrived from the Colorado, under the
command of Commandant Miranda. A large por-
tion of these men were Indians {7/iansos, or tame)
belonging to the tribe of the Cacique Bemantio.
They passed the night here, and it was impossible
to conceive anything more wild and savage than
the scene of their bivouac. Some drank till they
were intoxicated ; others swallowed the steaming
blood of the cattle slaughtered for their suppers,
and then, being sick from drunkenness, they cast it
up again, and were besmeared with filth and gore.
Nam simul expletus dapibus, vinoque sepultus
Cervicem inflexain posuit, jacuitque per antrum
Immensus, saniem eructans, ac frusta cruenta
Per somnum commixta mero.
In the morning they started for the scene of the
murder, with orders to follow the " rastro," or
track, even if it led them to Chile. We subse-
quently heard that the wild Indians had escaped
into the great Pampas, and fiom some cause the
track had been missed. One glance at the rastro
tells these people a whole history. Supposing they
examine the track of a thousand horses, they will
soon guess the number of mounted ones by seeing
how many have cantered ; by the depth of the
other impressions, whether any horses were load-
ed with cargoes ; by the iiTegularity of the foot-
VoL. 1—9
130 BAHIA BLANCA. "
Bteps, how far tired; by the manner in which the
food has been cooked, whether the pursued trav-
elled in haste; by the general appearance, how
long it has been since they passed. They consider
a rastro of ten days or a fortnight quite recent
enough to be hunted out. We also heard that Mi-
randa struck from the west end of the Sierra Ven-
tana, in a direct line to the island of Cholechel,
situated seventy leagues up the Rio Negro. This
is a distance of between two and three hundred
miles, through a country completely unknown.
Wliat other troops in the world are so independent 1
With the sun for their guide, mares' flesh for food,
their saddle-cloths for beds — as long as there is a
little water, these men would penetrate to the end
of the world.
A few days afterwards I saw another troop of
these banditti-like soldiers start on an expeditioia
against a tribe of Indians at the small Salinas, who
had been betrayed by a prisoner cacique. The
Spaniard who brought the orders for this expedi-
tion was a very intelligent man. He gave me an
account of the last engagement at which he was
present. Some Indians, who had been taken pris-
oners, gave information of a tiibe living north of
the Colorado. Two hundred soldiers were sent ;
and they first discovered the Indians by a cloud of
dust from their horses' feet, as they chanced to be
travelling. The country was mountainous and
wild, and it must have been far in the interior, for
the Cordillera were in sight. The Indians, men,
women, and children, were about one hundred and
ten in number, and they were nearly all taken or
killed, for the soldiers sabre every man. The In-
dians are now so terrified that they offer no resist-
ance in a body ; but each flies, neglecting even his
wife and children ; but when overtaken, like wild
MASSACRE OF INDIAN WOMEN. 131
aiiimals, they fight against any number to the last
moment. One dying Indian seized with his teeth
the thumb of his adversary, and alkiwed his own
eye to be forced out sooner than relinquish his
hold. Another, who was wounded, feigned death,
keeping a knife ready to strike one more fatal
blow. My informer said, when he was pursuing
an Indian, the man cried out for mercy, at the same
time that he was covertly loosing the bolas from his
waist, meaning to whirl it round his head and so
strike his pursuer. " I however struck him with
my sabre to the ground, and then got off my horse,
and cut his throat with my knife." This is a dark
picture ; but how much more shocking is the un-
questionable fact, that all the women who appear
above twenty years old are massacred in cold blood !
When I exclaimed that this appeared rather inhu-
man, he answered, " Why, what can be done 1
they breed so !"
Every one here is fully convinced that this is the
most just war, because it is against barbarians.
Who would believe in this age that such atrocities
could be committed in a Christian civilized country 1
The children of the Indians are saved, to be sold
or given away as servants, or rather slaves, for as
long a time as the owners can make them believe
themselves slaves ; but I believe in their treatment
there is little to complain of
In the battle four men ran away together. They
were pursued, one was killed, and the other three
were taken alive. They turned out to be messen-
gers or ambassadors from a large body of Indians,
imited in the common cause of defence, near the
Cordillera. The tribe to which they had been sent
was on the point of holding a grand council ; the
feast of mares' flesh was ready, and the dance pre-
pared : in the morning the ambassadors were to
132 BAHIA BLANCA.
have returned to the Cordillera. They were re-
markably fine men, very fair, above six feet high,
and all under thirty years of age. The three sur-
vivors of course possessed very valuable infonna-
tion, and to extort this they v^ere placed in a line.
The two first being questioned, answered, " No se"
(I do not know), and were one after the other shot.
The third also said " No se ;" adding, " Fire : I am
a man, and can die !" Not one syllable would
they breathe to injure the united cause of their
country ! The conduct of the above-mentioned
cacique was very difl'erent: he saved his life by
betraying the intended plan of warfare, and the
point of union in the Andes. It was believed that
there were already six or seven hundred Indians
together, and that in summer their numbers would
be doubled. Ambassadors were to have been sent
to the Indians at the small Salinas, near Bahia
Blanca, whom I have mentioned that this same
cacique had betrayed. The communication, there-
fore, between the Indians, extends from the Cor-
dillera to the coast of the Atlantic.
General Rosas's plan is to kill all stragglers, and
having driven the remainder to a common point, to
attack them in a body, in the summer, with the as-
sistance of the Chilenos. This operation is to be
repeated for three successive years. I imagine
the summer is chosen as the time for the main at-
tack, because the plains are then without water,
and the Indians can only travel in particular direc-
tions. The escape of the Indians to the south of
the Rio Negro, where in such a vast unknown
country they would be safe, is prevented by a trea-
ty with the Tehuelches to this effect — that Rosas
pays them so much to slaughter every Indian who
passes to the south of the river, but if they fail in
Bo doing, they themselves are to be exterminated.
CAPTIVE INDIANS. 133
The war is waged chiefly against the Indians near
the Cordillera, for many of the tribes on this east-
ern side are fighting with Rosas. The general,
however, like Lord Chesterfield, thinking that his
friends may in a future day become his enemies,
always places them in the fc-ont ranks, so that their
immbers may bo thinned. Since leaving South
America we have heard that this war of extermi-
nation completely failed.
Among the captive girls taken in the same en-
gagement there were two very pretty ones, who had
been earned away by the Indians when young, and
could now only speak the Indian tongue. From
their account, they must have come from Salta,
a distance in a straight line of nearly one thou-
sand miles. This gives one a gi'and idea of the
immense territory over which the Indians roain ;
yet, great as it is, I think there will not, in another
half century, be a wild Indian north of the Rio Ne-
gro. The warfare is too bloody to last ; the Chris-
tians killing every Indian, and the Indians doing
the same by the Christians. It is melancholy to
trace how the Indians have given way before the
Spanish invaders. Schirdel* says that in 1535,
when Buenos Ayres was founded, there were vil-
lages containing two and three thousand inhabi-
tants. Even in Falconer's time (1750) the Indians
made inroads as far as Luxan, Areco, and An-e-
cife, but now thoy are driven beyond the Salado.
Not only have whole tribes been exterminated, '
but the remaining Indians have become more bar-
barous : instead of living in large villages, and be-
ing employed in the arts of fishing, as well as of
the chase, they now wander about the open plains,
without home or fixed occupation.
* Purchas's Collection of Voyages. I believe the date was re-
ally 1537.
M
134 BAHIA BLANCA,
I heard also some account of an engagement
which took place a few weeks previously to the
one mentioned at Cholechel. This is a very im-
portant station on account of being a pass for hor-
ses ; and it was, in consequence, for some time the
headquarters of a division of the army. When the
troops first arrived there they found a tribe of In-
dians, of whom they killed twenty or thirty. The
cacique escaped in a manner which astonished ev-
ery one. The chief Indians always have one or
two picked horses, which they keep ready for any
urgent occasion. On one of these, an old white
horse, the cacique sprung, taking with him his little
son. The horse had neither saddle nor bridle.
To avoid the shots, the Indian rode in the peculiar
method of his nation, namely, with an ann round
the horse's neck, and one leg only on its back.
Thus hanging on one side, he was seen patting the
horse's head, and talking to him. The pursuers
urged every effort in the chase; the Commandant
three times changed his horse, but all in vain.
The old Indian father and his son escaped, and
were free. What a fine picture one can form in
one's rnind — the naked, bronze-like figure of the
old man with his little boy, riding like a Mazeppa
on the white horse, thus leaving far behind him the
host of his pursuers !
I saw one day a soldier striking fire with a piece
of flint, which I immediately recognised as having
been a part of the head of an arrow. He told me
it was found near the island of Cholechel, and that
they are frequently picked up there. It was be-
tween two and three inches long, and therefore
twice as large as those now used in Tierra del Fu-
ego : it was made of opake cream-coloured flint,
but the point and barbs had been intentionally bro-
ken off. It is well known that no Pampas Indians
SET OUT FOR BUENOS AYHES. 135
now nse bows and aiTows. I believe a small tribe
in Banda Oriental must be excepted ; but they are
widely separated from the Pampas Indians, and
border close on those tribes that inhabit the forest
and live on foot. It appears, therefore, that these
arrow-heads are antiquarian relics* of the Indians,
before the great change in habits consequent on
the introduction of the horse into South America.
CHAPTER VI.
Set out for Buenos Ayres — Rio Sauce — Sierra Ventana — Third
Posta — Driving Horses — Bolas — Partridges and P'oxes — Fea-
tures of the Country — Long-legged Plover — Teru-tero — Hail-
storm — Natural Enclosures in the Sierra Tapalguen— Flesh of
Puma— Meat Diet— Guardia del Monte — Effects of Cattle on
the Vegetation — Cardoon— Buenos Ayres — Corral where Cat-
tle are slaughtered.
BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
September 8th. — I hired a Gaucho to accompa-
ny me on my ride to Buenos Ayres, though with
some difficulty, as the father of one man was afraid
to let him go, and another, who seemed willing,
was described to me as so fearful, that I was afraid
to take him, for I was told that even if he saw an
ostrich at a distance he would mistake it for an
Indian, and would fly like the wind away. The
distance to Buenos Ayres is about four hundred
miles, and nearly the whole way through an unin-
habited country. We started early in the morn-
ing ; ascending a few hundred feet from the basin
of green turf on which Bahia Blanca stands, we
entered on a wide desolate plain. It consists of a
crumbling argillaceo-calcareous rock, which, from
the dry nature of the climate, supports only scat-
* Azara has even doubted whether the Pampas Indians ever
used bows.
13G BAIIIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
tered tufts of withered grass, \vithout a single bush
or tree to break the monotonous uniformity. The
weather was fine, but the atmosphere remarkably
hazy ; I thought the appearance foreboded a gale,
but the Gauchos said it was owing to the plain, at
some great distance in the interior, being on fire.
After a long gallop, having changed horses twice,
we reached the Ilio Sauce : it is a deep, rapid lit-
tle stream, not above twenty-five feet wide. The
second posta on the road to Buenos Ayres stands
on its banks ; a little above there is a ford for hor-
ses, where the water does not reach to the horses'
belly ; but from that point, in its course to the sea,
it is quite impassable, and hence makes a most
useful barrier against the Indians.
Insignificant as this stream is, the Jesuit Falco-
ner,, whose information is generally so very correct,
figures it as a considerable river, rising at the foot
of the Cordillera. With respect to its source, I do
not doubt that this is the case ; for the Gauchos
assured mo, that in the middle of the dry summer,
this stream, at the same time with the Colorado,
has periodical floods, which can only originate in
the snow melting on the Andes. It is extremely
improbable that a stream so small as the Sauce then
was, should traverse the entire width of the conti-
nent ; and, indeed, if it were the residue of a large
river, its waters, as in other ascertained cases, would
be saline. During the winter we must look to the
springs round the Sierra Ventana as the source of
its pure and limpid stream. I suspect the plains
of Patagonia, like those of Australia, are traversed
by many water-courses, which only perform their
proper parts at certain periods. Probably this is
the case with the water which flows into the head
of Port Desire, and likewise with the Rio Chupat,
on the banks of which masses of highly cellular
SIERRA VENTANA. 137
scorlcc were found by the officers employed in the
survey.
As it was early in the afternoon when we ar-
rived, we took fresh horses, and a soldier for a guide,
and started for the Sierra de la Ventana. This
mountain is visible from the anchorage at jBahia
Blanca ; and Capt. Fitz Roy calculates its height
to be 3340 feet — an altitude very remarkable on
this eastern side of the continent. I am not aware
that any foreigner, previous to my visit, had as-
cended this mountain; and indeed very few of the
soldiers at Bahia Blanca knew anything about it.
Hence we heard of beds of coal, of gold and sil-
ver, of caves, and of forests, all of which inflamed
my curiosity, only to disappoint it. The distance
from the posta was about six leagues, over a level
plain of the same character as before. The ride
was, however, interesting, as the mountain began to
show its true form. When we reached the foot of
the main ridge, we had much difficvilty in finding
any water, and we thought we should have been
obliged to have passed the night without any. At
last we discovered some by looking close to the
mountain, for at the distance even of a few hun-
dred yards the sti-eamlets were buried, and entire-
ly lost in the friable calcareous stone and loose de-
tritus. I do not think Nature ever made a more
solitary, desolate pile of rock ; it well deserves its
name of Hurtado, or separated. The mountain is
steep, extremely I'ugged and broken, and so en-
tirely destitute of trees, and even bushes, that we
actually could not make a skewer to stretch out
our meat over the fire of thistle-stalks.* The
strange aspect of this mountain is conti'asted by the
sea-like plain, which not only abuts against its steep
* I call these thistle-stalks for the want of a more correct
name. I believe it is a species of Eryngium.
M2
138 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
sides, but likewise separates the parallel ranges.
The uniformity of the colouring gives an extreme
quietness to the view ; the whitish grey of the
quartz rock, and the light brown of the withered
grass of the plain, being unrelieved by any bright-
er tint. From custom, one expects to see in the
neighbourhood of a lofty and bold mountain, a bro-
ken country strewed over with huge fragments.
Here nature shows that the last movement before
the bed of the sea is changed into dry land may
sometimes be one of tranquillity. Under these
circumstances, I was curious to obsei-ve how far
from the parent rock any j^ebbles could be found.
On the shores of Bahia Blanca, and near the set-
tlement, there were some of quartz, which certain-
ly must have come from this source : the distance
is forty-five miles.
The dew, which in the early part of the night
wetted the saddle-cloths under which we slept,
was in the morning frozen. The plain, though ap-
pearing horizontal, had insensibly sloped up to a
height of between 800 and 900 feet above the sea.
In the morning (9th of September) the guide told
me to ascend the nearest ridge, which he thought
would lead me to the four peaks that crown the
summit. The climbing up such rough rocks was
very fatiguing; the sides were so indented, that
what was gained in one five minutes was often lost
in the next. At last, when I reached the ridge,
my disappointment was extreme in finding a pre-
cipitous valley as deep as the plain, which cut the
chain transversely in two, and separated me from
the four points. This valley is very naiTow, but
flat-bottomed, and it forms a fine horse-pass for the
Indians, as it connects the plains on the northern
and southern sides of the range. Having descend-
ed, and while crossing it, I saw two horses gra-
SIERRA VENTANA. 139
zing : I immediately hid myself in the long grass,
and began to reconnoitre ; but as I could see no
signs of Indians, I proceeded cautiously on my sec-
ond ascent. It was late in the day, and this part
of the mountain, like the other, was steep and rug-
ged, I was on the top of the second peak by two
o'clock, but got there with extreme difficulty ; ev-
ery twenty yards I had the cramp in the upper part
of both tlughs, so that I was afraid I should not
have been able to have got down again. It was
also necessary to return by another road, as it was
out of the question to pass over the saddle-back.
I was therefore obliged to give up the two higher
peaks. Their altitude was but little greater, and
every purpose of geology had been answered, so
that the attempt was not worth the hazard of any
further exertion. I presume the cause of the cramp
was the gi'eat change in the kind of muscular ac-
tion, from that of hard riding to that of still harder
climbing. It is a lesson worth remembering, as in
some cases it might cause much difficulty.
I have already said the mountain is composed of
white quartz rock, and with it a little glossy clay-
slate is associated. At the height of a few hun-
dred feet above the plain, patches of conglomerate
adhered in several places to the solid rock. They
resembled in hardness, and in the nature of the ce-
ment, the masses which may be seen daily forming
on some coasts. I do not doubt these pebbles were
in a similar manner aggregated, at a period when
the great calcareous formation was depositing be-
neath the suiTounding sea. We may believe that
the jagged and battered fonns of the hard quartz
yet show the effects of the waves of an open ocean.
I was, on the whole, disappointed with this as--
cent. Even the view was insignificant — a plain
like the sea, but without its beautiful colour and
140 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
defined outline. The scene, however, was novel,
and a little danger, like salt to meat, gave it a rel-
ish. That the danger was very little was certain,
for my two companions made a good fire — a thing
which is never done when it is suspected that In-
dians are near. I reached the place of our bivou-
ac by sunset, and drinking much mate, and smo-
king several cigaritos, soon made up my bed for
the night. The wind was very strong and cold,
but I never slept more comfortably.
September lOth. — In the morning, having fairly
scudded before the gale, we amved by the middle
of the day at the Sauce posta. On the road we saw
gi-eat numbers of deer, and near the mountain a
guanaco. The plain, which abuts against the Si-
eiTa, is traversed by some curious gulleys, of which
one was about twenty feet wide, and at least thirty
deep ; we were obliged, in consequence, to make
a considerable circuit before we could find a pass.
We stayed the night at the posta, the conversation,
as was generally the case, being about the Indians.
The Sierra Ventana was formerly a great place of
resort ; and three or four years ago there was much
fighting there. My guide had been present when
many Indians were killed : the women escaped to
the top of the ridge, and fought most desperately
with great stones ; many thus saving themselves.
SejJtemhcr lltli. — Proceeded to the third posta
in company with the lieutenant who commanded
it. The distance is called fifteen leagues ; but it is
only guess-work, and is generally overstated. The
road was uninteresting, over a dry grassy plain; and
on our left hand, at a gi'eater or less distance, there
were some low hills, a continuation of which we
crossed close to the posta. Before our arrival we
met a large herd of cattle and horses, guarded by
fifteen soldiers ; but we were told many had been
LOVE OF SALT BY THE INDIANS. 141
lost. It is very difficult to drive animals across the
plains ; for if in the night a puma, or even a fox,
approaches, nothing can prevent the horses disper-
sing in every direction ; and a storm will have the
same effect. A short time since, an officer left Bu-
enos Ayres with five hundred horses, and when he
arrived at the army he had under twenty.
Soon afterwards we perceived by the cloud of
dust that a party of horsemen were coming to-
wards us ; when far distant my companions knew
them to be Indians, by their long hair streaming
behind their backs. The Indians generally have a
fillet round their heads, but never any covering;
and their black hair blowing across their swarthy
faces, heightens to an uncommon degree the wild-
ness of their appearance. They turned out to be
a party of Bernantio's friendly tribe, going to a sa-
lina for salt. The Indians eat much salt, their
children sucking it like sugar. This habit is very
different fi'om that of the Spanish Gauchos, who,
leading the same kind of life, eat scarcely any: ac-
cording to Mungo Park,* it is people who live on
vegetable food that have an unconquerable desire
for salt. The Indians gave us good-humoured nods
as they passed at full gallop, driving before them a
troop of horses, and followed by a train of lanky
dogs.
September 12th and 13^"/^. — I stayed at this posta
two days, waiting for a troop of soldiers, which
General Rosas had the kindness to send to inform
me would shortly travel to Buenos Ayres ; and he
advised me to take the opportunity of the escort.
In the morning we rode to some neighbouring hills
to view the country and to examine the geology.
After dinner the soldiers divided themselves into
two parties for a trial of skill with the bolas. Two
* Travels in Africa, p. 233.
142 BAIIIA BLAXCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
spears were stuck in the gi'ound thirty-five yards
apart, but they were struck and entangled only
once in four or five times. The balls can be thrown
fifty or sixty yards, but with little certainty. This,
however, does not apply to a man on horseback ;
for when the speed of the horse is added to the
force of the arm, it is said that they can be whirled
with effect to the distance of eighty yards. As a
proof of their force, I may mention, that at the
Falkland Islands, when the Spaniards murdered
some of their own countrymen and all the English-
men, a young friendly Spaniard was running away,
when a great tall man, by name Luciano, came at
full gallop after him, shouting to him to stop, and
saying that he only wanted to speak to him. Just
as the Spaniard was on the point of reaching the
boat, Luciano threw the balls ; they struck him on
the legs with such a jerk as to throw him down,
and to render him for some time insensible. The
man, after Luciano had had his talk, was allowed
to escape. He told us that his legs were marked
by gi'eat weals, where the thong had wound round,
as if he had been flogged with a whip. In the
middle of the day two men arrived, who brought a
parcel from the next posta to be forwarded to the
general : so that besides these two, our party con-
sisted this evening of my guide and self, the lieu-
tenant, and his four soldiers. The latter were
strange beings : the first a fine young negro : the
second half Indian and negro ; and the two others
nondescripts, namely, an old Chilian ininer, the
colour of mahogany, and another partly a mulatto ;
but two such mongrels, with such detestable ex-
pressions, I never saw before. At night, when they
were sitting round the fire and playing at cards, I
retired to view such a Salvator Rosa scene. They
were seated under a low cliff, so that I could look
THE POSTA. 143
down upon them; around the party were lying
dogs, arms, remnants of deer and ostriches ; and
their long spears were stuck in the turf. Further
in the dark backgi-ound, their horses were tied up,
ready for any sudden danger. If the stillness of
the desolate plain was broken by one of the dogs
barking, a soldier, leaving the fire, would place his
head close to the ground, and thus slowly scan the
horizon. Even if the noisy teru-tero uttered its
scream, there would be a pause in the conversation,
and every head, for a moment, a little inclined.
What a life of misery these men appear to us to
lead ! They were at least ten leagues from the
Sauce posta, and since the murder committed by
the Indians, twenty from another. The Indians
are supposed to have made their attack in the mid-
dle of the night, for very early in the morning
after the murder they were luckily seen approach-
ing this posta. The whole party here, however,
escaped, together with the troop of horses, each
one taking a line for himself, and driving with him
as many animals as he was able to manage.
The little hovel, built of thistle-stalks, in which
they slept, neither kept out the wind or rain ; in-
deed, in the latter case, the only effect the roof had
was to condense it into larger drops. They had
nothing to eat excepting what they could catch,
such as ostriches, deer, armadillo'es, «fec., and their
only fuel was the dry stalks of a small plant, some-
what resembling an aloe. The sole luxury which
these men enjoyed was smoking the little paper
cigars, and sucking mate. I used to think that the
carrion vultures, man's constant attendants on these
dreary plains, while seated on the little neighbour-
ing cliff's, seemed, by their very patience, to say,
" Ah ! when the Indians come we shall have a
feast."
144 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
In the morning we all sallied forth to hunt, and
although we had not much success, there were
some animated chases. Soon after starting the
party separated, and so arranged their plans, that
at a certain time of the day (in guessing which they
show much skill) they should all meet from difler-
ent points of the compass on a plain piece of ground,
and thus drive together the wild animals. One
day I went out hunting at Bahia Blanca, but the
men there merely rode in a crescent, each being
about a quarter of a mile apart from the other. A
fine male ostrich being turned by the headmost
riders, tried to escape on one side. The Gauchos
pursued at a reckless pace, twisting their horses
about with the most admirable command, and each
man whirling the balls round his head. At length
the foremost threw them revolving through the
air : in an instant the ostrich rolled over and over,
its legs fairly lashed together by the thong.
The plains abound with three kinds of parti'idge,*
two of which ai-e as large as hen pheasants. Their
destroyer, a small and pretty fox, was also singu-
larly numerous ; in the course of the day we could
not have seen less than forty or fifty. They were
generally near their earths, but the dogs killed one.
When we returned to the posta, we found two of
the party returned who had been hunting by them-
selves. They hS^d. killed a puma, and had found
an ostrich's nest with twenty-seven eggs in it.
Each of these is said to equal in weight eleven
hens' eggs ; so that we obtained from this one nest
as much food as 297 hens' eggs would have given.
September Wth. — As the soldiers belonging to the
next posta meant to return, and we should together
* Two species of Tinamus, and Eudromia elegans of A. d'Or-
bigny, which can only be called a partridge with regard to its
habits.
HOSriTALITY. 145
make a party of five, and all armed, I determined
not to wait for the expected troops. My host, the
lieutenant, pressed me much to stop. As he had
been very obliging — not only providing me with
food, but lending me his private horses — I wanted
to make him some remuneration. I asked my guide
whether I might do so, but he told me certainly
not ; that the only answer I should receive proba-
bly would be, " We have meat for the dogs in our
countiy, and therefore do not grudge it to a Chris-
tian." It must not be supposed that the rank of
lieutenant in such an army would at all prevent the
acceptance of payment : it was only the high sense
of hospitality, which every ti-aveller is bound to ac-
knowledge is nearly universal throughout these
provinces. After galloping some leagues, we
came to a low swampy country, which extends for
nearly eighty miles northward, as far as the Sierra
Taj)alguen. In some parts there were fine damp
plains, covered with grass, while others had a soft,
black, and peaty soil. There were also many ex-
tensive but shallow lakes, and large beds of reeds.
The country, on the whole, resembled the better
parts of the Cambridgeshire fens. At night we
had some difficulty in finding, amidst the swamps,
a dry place for our bivonac.
Septemher Idth. — Rose very early in the morn-
ing, and shortly after passed the posta where the
Indians had murdered the five soldiers. The of-
ficer had eighteen chuzo wounds in his body. By
the middle of the day, after a hard gallop, we
reached the fifth posta : on account of some diffi-
culty in procuring horses, we stayed there the night.
As this point was the most exposed on the whole
line, twenty-one soldiers were stationed here ; at
sunset they returned from hunting, bringing with
them seven deer, three ostriches, and many arma-
VoL. I— 10 N
146 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYREri.
dilloes and partridges. When riding through the
country, it is a common practice to set fire to the
plain ; and hence at night, as on this occasion, the
horizon was illuminated in several places by brill-
iant conflagrations. This is done partly for the
sake of puzzling any stray Indians, but chiefly for
improving the pasture. In grassy plains unoccu-
pied by the larger ruminating quadrupeds, it seems
necessary to remove the superfluous vegetation by
fire, so as to render the new year's gi'owth service-
able.
The rancho at this place did not boast even of a
roof, but merely consisted of a ring of thistle-stalks,
to break the force of the wind. It was situated on
the borders of an extensive but shallow lake,
swaiTuing with wild fowl, among which the black-
necked swan was conspicuous.
The kind of plover, which appears as if mount-
ed on stilts (Himantopus nigricollis), is here com-
mon in flocks of considerable size. It has been
wi'ongfully accused of inelegance ; when wading
about in shallow water, which is its favourite re-
sort, its gait is far from awkward. These birds in
a flock utter a noise, that singularly resembles the
cry of a pack of small dogs in full chase : waking
in the night, I have more than once been for a mo-
ment startled at the distant sound. The teru-tero
(Vanellus cayanus) is another bird which often
disturbs the stillness of the night. In appearance
and habits it resembles in many respects our pee-
wits ; its wings, however, are armed with sharp
spurs, like those on the legs of the common cock.
As our peewit takes its name from the sound of
its voice, so does the teru-tero. While riding over
the grassy plains, one is constantly pursued by
these birds, which appear to hate mankind, and I
am sure deserve to be hated for their never-ceasing,
A VIOLENT IIAIL-STORM. 147
unvaried, harsh screams. To the sportsman they
are most annoying, by telling every other bird and
animal of his approach ; to the traveller in the
country, they may possibly, as Molina says, do
good, by warning him of the midnight robber.
During the breeding season, they attempt, like our
peewits, by feigning to be wounded, to draw away
from thir nests dogs and other enemies. The eggs
of this bird are esteemed a great delicacy.
Scjitemhcr IQtJi. — To the seventh posta at the
foot of the Sierra Tapalguen. The country was
quite level, with a coarse herbage, and a soft, peaty
soil. The hovel was here remarkably neat, the posts
and i-afters being made of about a dozen dry this-
tle-stalks bound together with thongs of hide ; and
by the support of these Ionic-like columns, the
roof and sides were thatched with reeds. We
were here told a fact, which I would not have
credited if I had not had partly ocular proof of
it, namely, that during the previous night, hail as
large as small apples, and extremely hard, had
fallen with such violence as to kill the greater num-
ber of the wild animals. One of the men had al-
ready found thirteen deer (Cervus campestris) ly-
ing dead, and I saw their /res/i hides'; another of
the party, a few minutes after my arrival, brought
in seven more. Now I well know that one man
without dogs could hardly have killed seven deer
in a week. The men believed they had seen about
fifteen dead ostriches (part of one of which we had
for dinner) ; and they said that several were run-
ning about, evidently blind in one eye. Numbers
of smaller birds, as ducks, hawks, and partridges,
were killed. I saw one of the latter with a black
mark on its back, as if it had been struck with a
paving-stone. A fence of thistle-stalks round the
hovel was nearly broken down, and my informer,
148 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
putting his head out to see what was the matter,
received a severe cut, and now wore a bandage.
The storm was said to have been of limited extent :
we certainly saw from our last night's bivouac a
dense cloud and lightning in this direction. It is
marvellous how such strong animals as deer could
thus have been killed ; but I have no doubt, from
the evidence I have given, that the story is not in
the least exaggerated. I am glad, however, to
have its credibility supported by the Jesuit Do-
brizhofter,* who, speaking of a country much to
the northward, says, hail fell of an enormous size,
and killed vast numbers of cattle; the Indians hence
called the place Lalcgraicavalca, meaning " the lit-
tle white things." Dr. Malcolmson also informs me,
that he witnessed in 1831, in India, a hail-storm,
which killed numbers of large birds, and much in-
jured the cattle. These hail-stones were flat, and one
was ten inches in circumference, and another weigh-
ed two ounces. They ploughed up a gravel-walk
like musket-balls, and passed through glass-win-
dows, making round holes, but not cracking them.
Having finished our dinner of hail-strickeu meat,
we crossed the Sierra Tapalguen ; a low range of
hills, a few hundred feet in height, which com-
mences at Cape Corrientes. The rock in this part
is jjure quartz ; further eastward I understand it is
granitic. The hills are of a remarkable form ; they
consist of flat patches of table-land, surrounded by
low perpendicular cliffs, like the outliers of a sed-
imentary deposit. The hill which I ascended was
very small, not above a couple of hundred yards in
diameter ; but I saw others larger. One, which
goes by the name of the " Corral," is said to be
two or three miles in diameter, and encompassed
by perpendicular cliffs between thirty and forty
* History of the Abipones, vol. ii., p. 6.
TAPALGUEN. 149
feet liigli, excepting at one spot, where the en-
trance lies. Falconer* gives a curious account of
the Indians driving troops of w^ild horses into it,
and then, by guarding the entrance, keeping them
secure. I have never heard of any other instance
of table-land in a formation of quartz, and which,
in the hill I examined, had neither cleavage nor
sti'atification. I was told that the rock of the " Cor-
ral" was white, and would strike fire.
We did not reach the posta on the Rio Tapal-
guen till after it was dark. At supper, from some-
thing which was said, I was suddenly struck with
horror at thinking that I was eating one of the fa-
vourite dishes of the country, namely, a half-formed
calf, long before its proper time of birth. It turn-
ed out to be Puma: the meat is very white, and
remarkably like veal in taste. Dr. Shaw was
laughed at for stating that " the flesh of the lion is
in great esteem, having no small affinity with veal,
both in colour, taste, and flavour." Such certainly
is the case with the Puma. The Gauchos differ
in their opinion whether the Jaguar is good eating,
but are unanimous in saying that cat is excellent.
September 11th. — We followed the course of the
Rio Tapalguen, through a very fertile country, to
the ninth posta. Tapalguen itself, or the town of
Tapalguen, if it may be so called, consists of a per-
fectly level plain, studded over, as far as the eye
can reach, with the toldos, or oven-shaped huts of
the Indians. The families of the friendly Indians,
who were fighting on the side of Rosas, resided
here. We met and passed many young Indian
women, riding by two or three together on the
same horse : they, as well as many of the young
men, were strikingly handsome, their fine ruddy
complexions being the picture of health. Besides
* Falconer's Patagonia, p. 70.
■ - . N2
150 BAFIIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
the toldos, there were three ranches ; one inhabited
by the Commandant, and the two others by Span-
iards with small shops.
We were here able to buy some biscuit. I had
now been several days without tasting anything be-
sides meat : I did not at all dislike this new regimen,
but I felt as if it would only have agreed with me
with hard exercise. I have heard that patients in
England, when desired to confine themselves exclu-
sively to an animal diet, even with the hope of life
before their eyes, have hardly been able to endure it.
Yet the Gi-aucho in the Pampas, for months togeth-
er, touches nothing but beef. But they eat, I ob-
serve, a very large proportion of fat, which is of a
less animalized nature ; and they particularly dis-
like dry meat, such as that of the Agouti. Di'.
Richardson* also has remarked, "that when people
have fed for a long time solely upon lean animal
food, the desire for fat becomes so insatiable, that
they can consume a large quantity of vmmixed
and even oily fat without nausea :" this appears to
me a curious physiological fact. It is, perhaps,
from their meat regimen that the Gauchos, like
other carnivorous animals, can abstain long from
food. I was told that at Tandeel, some troops
voluntai'ily pursued a party of Indians for three
days without eating or drinking.
We saw in the shojDS many articles, such as
horsecloths, belts, and garters, woven by the In-
dian women. The patterns were very pretty, and
the colours brilliant ; the workmanship of the gar-
ters was so good that an English merchant at Bue-
nos Ayres maintained they must have been manu-
factured in England, till he found the tassels had
been fastened by split sinew.
Septemher ISih. — We had a very long ride this
* Fauna Boreali-Americana, vol. i., p. 35.
GUARDIA DEL MONTE. 151
day. At the twelfth posta, which is seven leagues
south of the Rio Salado, we came to the first es-
tancia with cattle and white women. Afterwards
we had to ride for many miles through a country
flooded with water above our horses' knees. Ey
crossing the stiiTups, and riding Arab-like, with
our legs bent up, wo contrived to keep tolerably
dry. It was nearly dark when we an-ived at the
Salado ; the stream was deep, and about forty
yards wide ; in summer, however, its bed becomes
almost dry, and the little remaining water nearly
as salt as that of the sea. We slept at one of the
great estancias of General Rosas. It was fortified,
and of such an extent, that, arriving in the dark, I
thought it was a town and foiti-ess. In the morn-
ing we saw immense herds of cattle, the general
here having seventy-four square leagues of land.
Formerly nearly three hundred men were employ-
ed about this estate, and they defied all the attacks
of the Indians.
September I'dth. — Passed the Guardia del Monte.
This is a nice, scattered little town, with many
gardens, full of peach and quince trees. The plain
here looked like that around Buenos Ayres ; the
turf being short and bright gi'een, with beds of clo-
ver and thistles, and with bizcacha holes. I was
very much struck with the marked change in the
aspect of the country after having crossed the Sa-
lado. From a coarse herbage we passed on to a
carpet of fine green verdure. I at first attributed
this to some change in the nature of the soil, but
the inhabitants assured me that here, as well as in
Banda Oriental, where there is as great a differ-
ence between the country around Monte Video and
the thinly-inhabited savannahs of Colonia,the whole
was to be attributed to the manuring and grazing
of the cattle. "Exactly the same fact has been ob-
152 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
served in the prairies* of North America, where
coarse grass, between five and six feet high, when
grazed by cattle, changes into common pasture
land. I am not botanist enough to say whether
the change here is owing to the introduction of new
species, to the altered growth of the same, or to a
difference in their proportional numbers. Azara
has also observed with astonishment this change :
he is likewise much perplexed by the immediate
appearance of 2:)lants not occurring in the neigh-
bourhood, on the borders of any track that leads to
a newly-constructed hovel. In another part he says,
" ces chevaux (sauvages) ont la manie de preferer les
chemins, et le bord des routes pour deposer leurs
excremens, dont on trouve des monceaux dans ces
endroits."t Does this not partly explain the cir-
cumstance 1 We thus have lines of richly-ma-
nured land serving as channels of communication
across wide districts.
Near the Guardia we find the southern limit of
two European plants, now become extraordinarily
common. The fennel in great profusion covers the
ditch-banks in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres,
Monte Video, and other towns. But the cardoon
(Cynara cardunculus)| has a far wider range : it
* See Mr. Atwater's account of the Prairies, in Silliraan's N. A.
Journal, vol. i., p. 117. f Azara's Voyage, vol. i., p. 373.
t M. A. d'Orbigny (vol. i., p 474) says that the cardoon and
artichoke are both found wild. Dr. Hooker (Botanical Magazine,
vol. Iv., p. 2862) has described a variety of the Cynara from this
[)art of South America under the name of inermis. He states
that botanists are now generally agreed that the cardoon and
the artichoke are varieties of one plant. I may add, that an in-
telligent farmer assured me that he had observed in a deserted
garden some artichokes changing into the common cardoon. Dr.
Hooker believes that Head's vivid description of the thistle of the
Pampas applies to the cardoon ; but this is a mistake. Captain
Head referred to the plant, which I have mentioned a few lines
lower down, under the title of giant thistle. Whether it is a true
thistle, I do not know ; but it is quite different from the cardoon,
and more like a thistle properly so called.
THE CARDOON. 153
occurs in these latitudes on both sides of the Cor-
dillera, across the continent. I saw it in unfre-
quented spots in Chile, Entre Rios, and Banda
Oriental. In the latter countiy alone, very many
(probably several hundred) square miles are covered
by one mass of these prickly plants, and are im-
penetrable by man or beast. Over the undulating
plains, where these great beds occur, nothing else
can now live. Before their introduction, however,
the surface must have supported, as in other parts,
a rank herbage. I doubt whether any case is on
record of an invasion on so gi'and a scale of one
plant over the aborigines. As I have already said,
I nowhere saw the cai'doon south of the Salado ;
but it is probable that in pro])ortion as that coun-
try becomes inhabited, the cardoon will extend its
limits. The case is different with the giant thistle
(with variegated leaves) of the Pampas, for I met
with it in the valley of the Sauce. According to
the principles so well laid down by Mr. Lyell,
few countries have undergone more remarkable
changes since the year 1535, when the first colo-
nist of La Plata landed with seventy-two horses.
The countless herds of horses, cattle, and sheep,
not only have altered the whole aspect of the vege-
tation, but they have almost banished the guanaco,
deer, and ostrich. Numberless other changes must
likewise have taken place; the wild pig in some
parts probably replaces the peccari ; packs of wild
dogs may be heard howling on the wooded banks
of the less frequented streams ; and the common
cat, altered into a large and fierce animal, inhabits
rocky hills. As M. d'Orbigny has remarked, the
increase in numbers of the can-ion-vulture, since the
introduction of tlie domestic animals, must have
been infinitely gi'eat ; and we have given reasons
for believing that thev have extended their south-
154 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES.
em range. No doubt many plants, besides the car-
doon and fennel, are naturalized ; thus the islands
near the mouth of the Parana are thickly clothed
with peach and orange trees, springing from seeds
carried there by the waters of the river.
While changing horses at the Guardia several
people questioned us much about the army: I never
saw anything like the enthusiasm for Rosas, and
for the success of the " most just of all wars, be-
cause against barbarians." This expression, it must
be confessed, is very natural, for till lately, neither
man, woman, nor horse was safe from the attacks
of the Indians. We had a long day's ride over the
same rich green plain, abounding with various
flocks, and with here and there a solitary estancia,
and its one omhu-tree. In the evening it rained
heavily : on arriving at a post-house, we were told
by the owner that if we had not a regular passport
we must pass on, for there were so many robbers
he would trust no one. When he read, however,
my passport, which began with " El Naturalista
Don Carlos," his respect and civility were as un-
bounded as his suspicions had been before. What
a naturalist might be, neither he nor his country-
men, I suspect, had any idea; but probably my
title lost nothing of its value from that cause.
Scptetnher 20tJi. — We arrived by the middle of
the day at Buenos Ayres. The outskirts of the
city looked quite pretty, with the agave hedges,
and groves of olive, peach, and willow trees, all just
throwing out their fresh green leaves. I rode t )
the house of Mr. Lumb, an English merchant, tj
whose kindness and hospitality, during my stay in
the country, I was greatly indebted.
The city of Buenos Ayres is large,* and, I should
* It is said to contain 60,000 inhabitants. Monte Video, the
second town of importance on the banks of the Plata, has 15,0OJ.
TtlE GREAT CORRAL. 155
think, one of the most regular in the workl. Every
street is at right angles to the one it crosses, and
the parallel ones being equidistant, the houses are
collected into solid squares of equal dimensions,
vv^hich are called quadras. On the other hand, the
houses themselves are hollow squares, all the rooms
opening into a neat little courtyard. They are
generally only one story high, with flat roofs, which
are fitted with seats, and are much frequented by
the inhabitants in summer. In the centre of the
town is the Plaza, where the public offices, fortress,
cathedral, &c., stand. Here, also, the old viceroys,
before the revolution, had their palaces. The gen-
eral assemblage of buildings possesses considerable
architectural beauty, although none individually
can boast of any.
The great corral, where the animals are kept
for slaughter to supply food to this beef-eating
population, is one of the spectacles best worth
seeing. The strength of the horse as compared to
that of the bullock is quite astonishing : a man on
horseback having thrown his lazo round the horns
of a beast, can drag it anywhere he chooses. The
animal ploughing up the ground with outstretched
legs, in vain efforts to resist the force, generally
dashes at full speed to one side ; but the horse
immediately turning to receive the shock, stands
so firmly that the bullock is almost thrown dovvni,
and it is surprising that their necks are not broken.
The struggle is not, however, one of fair strength,
the horse's girth being matched against the bul-
lock's extended neck. In a similar manner, a man
can hold the wildest horse, if caught with the lazo
just behind the ears. AVhen the bullock has been
dragged to the spot where it is to be slaughtered,
the matador with great caution cuts the hamstrings.
Then is given the death bellow — a noise more ex-
156 EXCURSION TO ST. PE.
pressive of fierce agony than any I know : I have
often distinguished it from a long distance, and
have always known that the struggle was then
drawing to a close. The whole sight is horrihle
and revolting : the ground is almost made of bones,
and the horses and riders are drenched with gore.
CHAPTER VII.
Excursion to St. Fe — Thistle Beds — Habits of the Bizcacha —
Little Owl — Saline Streams — Level Plains — Mastodon — St. Fe
— Change in Landscape — Geology — Tooth of Extinct Horse —
Relation of the Fossil and recent Quadrupeds of North and
South America — Effects of a great Drought — Parana — Habits
of the Jaguar — Scissor-beak — Kingfisher, Parrot, and Scissor-
tajl — Revolution — Buenos Ayres — State of Government.
BUENOS AYRES TO ST. FE.
Septcmher 21th. — In the evening I set out on an
excursion to St. Fe, which is situated nearly three
hundred English miles from Buenos Ayres, on the
banks of the Parana. The roads in the neighbour-
hood of the city, after the rainy weather, were ex-
traordinarily bad, I should never have thought it
possible for a bullock-wagon to have crawled along;
as it was, they scarcely went at the rate of a mile
an hour, and a man was kept ahead to survey the
best line for making the attempt. The bullocks
were tembly jaded: it is a great mistake to sup-
pose that with improved roads, and an accelerated
rate of travelling, the sufferings of the animals in-
crease in the same proportion. We passed a train
of wagons and a troop of beasts on their road to
Mendoaa, The distance is about 580 geographi-
cal miles, and the journey is generally performed
in fifty days. These wagons are very long, nar-
THISTLE BEDS. 157
row, and thatchetl with reeds ; they have only two
wheels, the diameter of which in some cases is as
much as ten feet. Each is drawn by six bullocks,
which are urged on by a goad at least twenty feet
long : this is suspended from within the roof; for
the wheel bullocks a smaller one is kept ; and for
the intennediate pair, a point projects at right an-
gles from the middle of the long one. The whole
apparatus looked like some implement of war.
September 28th. — We passed the small town of
Luxan, where there is a wooden bridge over the
river — a most unusual convenience in this country.
We passed also Areco. The plains apjieared level,
but Avere not so in fact, for in various places the
horizon was distant. The estancias are here wide
apart ; for there is little good pasture, owing to the
land being covered by beds either of an acrid clo-
ver, or of the great thistle. The latter, well known
fi'om the animated description given by Sir F. Head,
were at this time of the year two thirds grown ; in
some parts they were as high as the horse's back,
but in others they had not yet sprung up, and the
ground was bare and dusty as on a turnpike-road.
The clumps were of the most brilliant green, and
they made a pleasing miniature-likeness of broken
forest land. When the thistles are full grown, the
gi-eat beds are impenetrable, except by a few tracks,
as intricate as those in a labyrinth. These are only
known to the robbers, who at this season inhabit
them, and sally forth at night to rob and cut throats
with impunity. Upon asking at a house whether
robbers were numerous, I was answered, " The
thistles are not up yet ;" the meaning of which re-
ply was not at first very obvious. There is little
interest in passing over these tracts, for they are
inhabited by few animals or birds, excepting the
bizcacha and its friend the little owl.
O
158 EXCURSION TO ST. FE.
The bizcacha* is well known to form a promi-
nent feature in the zoology of the Pampas. It is
found as far south as the Rio Negi'o, in lat. 41°,
but not beyond. It cannot, like the agouti, subsist
on the gravelly and desert plains of Patagonia, but
prefers a clayey or sandy soil, which produces a
different and more abundant vegetation. Near
Mendoza, at the foot of the Cordillera, it occurs
in close neighbourhood with the allied alpine spe-
cies. It is a very curious circumstance in its geo-
gi-aphical distribution, that it has never been seen,
fortunately for the inhabitants of Banda Oriental,,
to the eastward of the river Uruguay ; yet in this
province there are plains which appear admirably
adapted to its habits. The Uruguay has formed
an insuperable obstacle to its migration, although
the broader barrier of the Parana has been pass-
ed, and the bizcacha is common in Entre Rios, the
province between these two great rivers. Near
Buenos Ayres these animals are exceedingly com-
mon. Their most favourite resort appears to be
those parts of the plain which during one half of
the year are covered with giant thistles, to the ex-
clusion of other plants. The Gauchos affirm that
it lives on roots ; which, from the great strength of
its gnawing teeth, and the kind of places frequent-
ed by it, seems probable. In the evening the biz-
cachas come out in numbers, and quietly sit at the
mouths of their burrows on their haunches. At
such times they are very tame, and a man on horse-'
back passing by seems only to present an object
for their grave contemplation. They run very awk-
wardly, and when running out of danger, from their
* The bizcacha (Lagostoinus trichodactylus) somewhat resem-
bles a large rabbit, but with bigger gnawing teeth and a long tail :
it has, however, only three toes behind, like the agouti. During
the last three or four years the skins of these animals have been
seat to England for the sake of the fur.
THE BISCACHA. 159
elevated tails and short front legs, much resemble
great rats. Their flesh, when cooked, is .very white
and good, but it is seldom used.
The bizcacha has one very singular habit, name-
ly, dragging every hard object to the mouth of its
burrow : around each group of holes many bones
of cattle, stones, thistle-stalks, hard lumps of earth,
dry dung, &c., are collected into an iiTcgular heap,
which frequently amounts to as much as a wheel-
baiTOW would contain. I was credibly informed
that a gentleman, when riding on a dark night,
dropped his watch ; he returned in the morning,
and by searching the neighbourhood of every biz-
cacha hole on the line of road, as he expected,
he soon found it.' This habit of picking up what-
ever may be lying on the ground anywhere near
its habitation, must cost much trouble. For what
pui"pose it is done, I am quite unable to form even
the most remote conjecture : it cannot be for de-
fence, because the rubbish is chiefly placed above
the mouth of the burrow, which enters the ground
at a very small inclination. No doubt there must
exist some good reason, but the inhabitants of the
country are quite ignorant of it. The only fact
which I know analogous to it, is the habit of that
extraordinary Australian bird, the Calodera macu-
lata, which makes an elegant vaulted passage of
twigs for playing in, and which collects near the
spot land and sea shells, bones, and the feathers
of birds, especially brightly coloured ones. Mr.
Gould, who has described these facts, informs me,
that the natives, when they lose any hard object,
search the playing passages, and he has known a
tobacco-pipe thus recovered.
The little owl (Athene cunicularia), which has
been so ofi;en mentioned, on the plains of Buenos
Ayres exclusively inhabits the holes of the bizcacha,
160 EXCURSION TO ST. FE.
but in Banda Oriental it is its own workman. Du-
ring the open day, but more especially in the even-
ing, these birds may be seen in every direction
standing frequently by pairs on the hillock near
their buiTOws. If disturbed, they either enter the
hole, or, uttering a shrill, harsh cry, move with a
remarkably undulatory flight to a short distance,
and then turning round, steadily gaze at their pur-
suer. Occasionally in the evening they may be
heard hooting. I found in the stomachs of two
which I opened the remains of mice, and I one
day saw a small snake killed and carried away. It
is said that snakes are their common prey during
the daytime. I may here mention, as showing on
what various kinds of food owls subsist, that a spe-
cies killed among the islets of the Chonos Ai'chi-
pelago had its stomach full of good-sized crabs.
In India* there is a fishing genus of owls, which
likewise catches crabs.
In the evening we crossed the Rio AiTecife on a
simple raft made of barrels lashed together, and
slept at the post-house on the other side. I this
day paid horse-hire for thirty-one leagues ; and
although the sun was glaring hot, I was but little
fatigued. Wlien Captain Head talks of riding fifty
leagues a day, I do not imagine the distance i,3
equal to 150 English miles. At all events, the
thirty-one leagues was only 76 miles in a straight
line, and in an open country I should think four
additional miles for turnings would be a sufficient
allowance.
2Qth and 30th. — We continued to ride over plains
of the same character. At San Nicolas I first saw
the noble river of the Parana. At the foot of the
cliff on which the town stands, some large vessels
were at anchor. Before arriving at Rozario, we
* Journal of Asiatic Soc, vol. v., p. 363.
ROZARIO. 161
crossed the Saladillo, a stream of fine, clear run-
ning water, but too saline to drink. Rozario is a
large town, built on a dead level plain, which forms
a cliff about sixty feet high over the Parana. The
river here is very broad, with many islands, which
are low and wooded, as is also the opposite shore.
The view would resemble that of a gi'eat lake, if it
were not for the linear-shaped islets, which alone
give the idea of running water. The clift's are the
most picturesque part : sometimes they are abso-
lutely pei-jiendicular, and of a red colour ; at other
times in large, broken masses, covered with cacti
and mimosa-trees. The real grandeur, however,
of an immense river like this, is derived from re-
flecting how important a means of communication
and commerce it forms between one nation and an-
other ; to what a distance it travels ; and from how
vast a ten'itory it drains the great body of fresh
water which flows past your feet.
For many leagues north and south of San Nicolas
and Rozario, the country is really level. Scarcely
anything which travellers have written about its
extreme flatness can be considered as exaggera-
tion. Yet I could never find a spot w^here, by
slowly turning round, objects were not seen at
greater distances in som.e directions than in others ;
and this manifestly proves inequality in the plain
At sea, a person's eye being six feet above the sur
face of the water, his horizon is two miles and four
fifths distant. In like manner, the more level the
plain, the more nearly does the horizon approach
within these naiTOW limits ; and this, in my opinion,
entirely destroys that grandeur which one would
have imagined that a vast level plain would have
possessed.
Octohcr 1st. — "VVe started by moonlight, and ar-
rived at the Rio Teixero by sunrise. This river is
Vol. T— 11 O 2
163 EXCURSION TO ST. FE.
also called the Saladillo, and it deserves the name,
for the water is brackish. I stayed here the greater
part of the day, searching for fossil bones. Be-
sides a perfect tooth of the Toxodon, and many
scattered bones, I found two immense skeletons
near each other, projecting in bold relief from the
perpendicular cliff of the Parana. They were,
however, so completely decayed, that I could only
bring away small fragments of one of the great mo-
lar teeth ; but these are sufficient to show that the
remains belonged to a Mastodon, probably to the
same species with that which formerly must have
inhabited the Cordillera in Upper Peru in such
great numbers. The men who took me in the ca-
noe said they had long known of these skeletons,
and had often wondered how they had got there :
the necessity of a theory being felt, they came to
the conclusion that, like the bizcacha, the masto-
don was formerly a burrowing animal ! In the
evening we rode another stage, and crossed the
Monge, another brackish stream, bearing the dregs
of the washings of the Pampas,
Oct. 2d. — We passed through Corunda, which,
from the luxuriance of its gardens, was one of the
prettiest villages I saw. From this point to St. Fe
the road is not very safe. The western side of the
Parana northward ceases to be inhabited, and hence
the Indians sometimes come down thus far, and
waylay travellers. The nature of the country also
favours this, for instead of a grassy plain, there is
an open woodland, composed of low, prickly mi-
mosas. We passed some houses that had been
ransacked and since deserted ; we saw also a spec-
tacle, which my guides viewed with high satisfac-
tion : it was the skeleton of an Indian, with the
dried skin hanging on the bones, suspended to the
branch of a tree.
ARRIVE AT SE. FE. 163
In the morning we amved at St. Fe. I was sur-
prised to observe how great a change of climate a
ditlerence of only three degrees of latitude be-
tween this place and Buenos Ayres had caused.
This was evident from the dress and complexion
of the men — from the increased size of the ombu-
trees — the number of new cacti and other plants —
and especially from the birds. In the course of an
hour I I'emarked half a dozen birds which I had
never seen at Buenos Ayres. Considering that
there is no natural boundary between the two pla-
ces, and that the character of the countiy is nearly
similar, the difference was much greater than I
should have expected.
October '3d and Ath. — I was confined for these
two days to my bed by a headache. A good-na-
tured old woman, who attended me, wished me to
try many odd remedies. A common practice is to
bind an orange-leaf or a bit of black plaster to
each temple ; and a still more general plan is to
split a bean into halves, moisten them, and place
one on each temple, where they will easily adhere.
It is not thought proper ever to remove the beans
or plaster, but to allow them to drop off; and
sometimes, if a man, with patches on his head, is
asked. What is the matter 1 he will answer, " I
had a headache the day before yesterday." Many
of the remedies used by the people of the country
are ludicrously strange, but too disgusting to be
mentioned. One of the least nasty is to kill and
cut open two puppies, and bind them on each side
of a broken limb. Little hairless dogs are in great
request to sleep at the feet of invalids.
St. Fe is a quiet little town, and is kept clean and
in good order. The governor, Lopez, was a com-
mon soldier at the time of the revolution, but has
now been seventeen years in power. This stability
164 ST. FE.
of government is owing to his tyrannical habits ;
for tyranny seems as yet better adapted to these
countries than republicanism. The governor's fa-
vourite occupation is hunting Indians : a short time
since he slaughtered forty-eight, and sold the chil-
dren at the rate of three or four pounds apiece.
October 5th. — We crossed the Parana to St. Fe
Bajada, a town on the opposite shore. The pass-
age took some hours, as the river here consisted
of a labyrinth of small streams, separated by low
wooded islands. I had a letter of introduction to
an old Catalonian Spaniard, who treated me with
the most uncommon hospitality. The Bajada is
the capital of Entre Rios. In 1825 the town con-
tained 6000 in]iabitants, and the province 30,000 ;
yet, few as the inhabitants are, no province has
suffered more from bloody and desperate revolu-
tions. They boast here of representatives, minis-
ters, a standing army, and governors : so it is no
wonder that they have their revolutions. At some
future day this must be one of the richest countries
of La Plata. The soil is varied and productive ;
and its almost insular form gives it two grand lines
of communication by the rivers Parana and Uruguay.
I was delayed here five days and employed my-
self in examining the geology of the surrounding
country, which was very interesting. We here
see -at the bottom of the cliffs, beds containing
sharks' teeth and sea-shells of extinct species, pass-
ing above into an indurated marl, and from that
into the red clayey earth of the Pampas, with its
calcareous concretions and the bones of terrestrial
quadrupeds. This vertical section clearly tells us
of a large bay of pure salt-water, gradually en-
croached on, and at last converted into the bed of
a muddy estuary, into which floating carcasses
GEOLOGY OF THE PAMPAS. 1G5
were svvcjit. At Punta Gorda, in Banda Oncntal,
I found an alternation of the Pamptean estuary-
deposit, with a limestone containing; some of the
same extinct sea-shells ; and this shows either a
change in the former currents, or more probably
an oscillation of level in the bottom of the ancient
estuary. Until lately, my reasons for considering
the Pampaean formation to be an estuary deposit
were, its general appearance, its position at the
mouth of the existing great river the Plata, and
the presence of so many bones of terrestrial quad-
rupeds ; but now Professor Ehrenberg has had
the kindness to examine for me a little of the red
earth, taken from low down in the deposit, close to
the skeletons of the mastodon, and he finds in it
many infusoria, partly salt-water and partly fresh-
water forms, with the latter rather preponderating ;
and thei'efore, as he remarks, the water must have
been brackish. M. A. d'Orbigny found on the
banks of the Parana, at the height of a hundred
feet, great beds of an estuary shell, now living a
hundred 7Tiiles lower down nearer the sea ; and I
found similar shells at a less height on the banks of
the Uruguay : this shows that just before the Pam-
pas was slowly elevated into dry land, the water
covering it was brackish. Below Buenos Ayres
there are upraised beds of sea-shells of existing
species, which also proves that the period of eleva-
tion of the Pampas was within the recent period.
In the Pampeean deposit at the Bajada I found
the osseous armour of a gigantic armadillo-like an-
imal, the inside of which, when the earth was re-
moved, was like a great cauldron ; I found also
teeth of the Toxodon and Mastodon, and one tooth
of a Horse, in the same stained and decayed state.
This latter tooth gi-eatly interested me,* and I took
* I need hardly state here that there is good evidence against
any horse living in America at the time of Columbua.
166 ST, FE.
scrupulous care in ascertaining that it had been
embedded contemporaneously with the other re-
mains ; for I was not then aware that amongst the
fossils from Bahia Blanca there was a horse's tooth
hidden in the matrix, nor was it then known with
certainty that the remains of horses are common in
North America. Mr. Lyell has lately brought
from the United States a tooth of a horse ; and it
is an interesting fact, that Professor Owen could
find in no species, either fossil or recent, a slight
but peculiar curvature characterizing it, until he
thought of comparing it with my specimen found
here : he has named this American horse Equus
curvidens. Certainly it is a marvellous fact in the
history of the Mammalia, that in South America a
native horse should have lived and disappeared, to
be succeeded in after ages by the countless herds
descended from the few introduced with the Span-
ish colonists !
The existence in South America of a fossil horse,
of the mastodon, possibly of an elephant,* and of
a hollow-horned ruminant, discovered by MM.
Lund and Clausen in the caves of Brazil, are high-
ly interesting facts with respect to the geographi-
cal disti'ibution of animals. At the present time,
if we divide America, not by the Isthmus of Pana-
ma, but by the southern part of Mexicot in lat. 20°,
where the great table-land presents an obstacle to
* Cuvier, Ossemens Fossiles, torn, i., p. 158.
t This is the geographical division followed by Lichtenstein,
Swainson, Erichson, and Richardson. The section from Vera
Cruz to Acapulco, given by Humboldt in the Polit. Essay on
Kingdom of N. Spain, will show how immense a barrier the
Mexican table-land forms. Dr. Richardson, in his admirable Re-
port on the Zoology of N. America, read before the British Assoc,
1836 (p. 157), talking of the identification of a Mexican animal
with the Synetheres prehensilis, says, " We do not know with what
propriety, but if correct, it is, if not a solitary instance, at least
very nearly so, of a rodent animal being common to North and
South America.
ZOOLOGY OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 167
the migration of species, by affecting the climate,
and by forming, with the exception of some valleys
and of a fringe of low land on the coast, a broad
barrier ; we shall then have the two zoological
provinces of North and South America strongly
contrasted with each other. Some few species
alone have passed the barrier, and may be consid-
ered as wanderers from the south, such as the pu-
ma, opossum, kinkajou, and peccari. South Amer-
ica is characterized by possessing many peculiar
gnawers, a family of monkeys, the llama, peccari,
tapir, opossums, and, especially, several genera of
Edentata, the order which includes the sloths, ant-
eaters, and armadillos. North America, on the
other hand, is characterized (putting on one side
a few wandering species) by numerous peculiar
gnawers, and by four genera (the ox, sheep, goat,
and antelope) of hollow-horned ruminants, of which
great division South America is not kno'wn to pos-
sess a single species. Formerly, but within the
period when most of the now existing shells were
living. North America possessed, besides hollow-
homed ruminants, the elephant, mastodon, horse,
and three genera of Edentata, namely, the Mega-
therium, Megalonyx, and Mylodon. Within nearly
this same period (as proved by the shells at Bahia
Blanca) South America possessed, as we have just
seen, a mastodon, horse, hollow-horned ruminant,
and the same three genera (as well as several oth-
ers) of the Edentata, Hence it is evident that
North and South America, in having within a late
geological period these several genera in common,
were much more closely related in the character
of their terrestrial inhabitants than they now are.
The more I reflect on this case, the more interest-
ing it appears : I know of no other instance where
we can almost mark the period and manner of the
168 ST. FE.
splitting up of one gTcat region into two well-
characterized zoological provinces. The geologist,
who is fully impressed with the vast o,scillations of
level which have aftected the earth's crust within
late periods, will not fear to speculate on the re-
cent elevation of the Mexican platform, or, more
probably, on the recent submergence of land in
the West Indian Archipelago, as the cause of the
present zoological separation of North and South
America. The South Ameiican character of the
West Indian mammals* seems to indicate that this
archipelago was formerly united to the southern
continent, and that it has subsequently been an
area of subsidence.
When America, and especially North America,
possessed its elephants, mastodons, horse, and hol-
low-hoi-ned ruminants, it was much more closely
related in its zoological characters to the temper-
ate parts of Europe and Asia than it now is. As
the remains of these genera ai'e found on both sides
of Behring's Straitsf and on the plains of Siberia,
we are led to look to the north-western side of
North America as the former point of communica-
tion between the Old and so-called New World.
And as so many species, both living and extinct,
of these same genera inhabit and have inhabited
the Old World, it seems most probable that the
North American elephants, mastodons, horse, and
hollow-horned ruminants migrated, on land since
submerged near Behring's Straits, from Siberia
into North America, and thence, on land since sub-
* See Dr. Richardson's Report, p. 157 ; also L'Institut, 1837, p.
253. Cuvier says the kinkajou is found in the larger Antilles, but
this is doubtful. M. Gervais states that the Didelphis crancrivora
is found there. It is certain that the West Indies possess some
mammifers peculiar to themselves. A tooth of a mastodon has
been brought from Bahama : Edin. New Phil. Journ., 1826, p. 395.
t See the admirable Appendix by Dr. Bnckland to Beechey's
Voyage ; also the writings of Chamisso in Kotzebue's Voyage.
THE GREAT DROUGHT. 109
merged in the West Indies, into South America,
where for a time they mingled with the forms char-
acteristic of that southern continent, and have since
become extinct.
"While travelling through the country, I received
several vivid descriptions of the effects of a late
great drought; and the account of this may tln-ow
some light on the cases where vast numbers of ani-
mals of all kinds have been embedded together.
The period included between the years 1827 and
1830 is called the " gran seco," or the gi'eat drought.
During this time so little rain fell, that the vegeta-
tion, even to the thistles, failed ; the brooks were
dried up, and the whole country assumed the ap-
pearance of a dusty high road. This was esjje-
cially the case in the northern part of the province
of Buenos Ayres and the southern part of St. Fe.
Very gi'eat numbers of birds, wild animals, cattle,
and horses perished from the want of food and
water. A man told me that the deei'* used to come
into his courtyard to the well, which he had been
obliged to dig to supply his own faixiily with water ;
and that the partridges had hardly strength to fly
away when pursued. The lowest estimation of
the loss of cattle in the province of Buenos Ayres
alone was taken at one million head. A proprie-
* In Capt. Owen's Surveying Voyage (vol. ii,, p. 274) there is
a curious account of the effects of a drought on the elephants at
Benguela (west coast of Africa). " A number of these animals
had some time since entered the town m a body, to possess them-
selves of the wells, not being able to procure any water in the
country. The inhabitants mustered, when a desperate conflict en-
sued, which terminated in the ultimate discomfiture of the inva-
ders, but not until they had killed one man, and wounded several
others." The town is said to have a population of nearly three
thousand ! Dr. Malcolmson informs me, that during a great
drought in India, the wild animals entered the tents of some troops
at Ellore, and that a hare drank out of a vessel held by the adju-
tant of the regiment.
P
170 ST. FE.
tor at San Pedro had previously to these years
20,000 cattle ; at the end not one remained. San
Pedro is situated in the middle of the finest coun-
try ; and even now abounds again with animals ;
yet, during the latter part of the " gran seco," live
cattle were brought in vessels for the consumption
of the inhabitants. The animals roamed from their
estancias, and, wandering far southward, were
mingled together in such multitudes, that a govern-
ment commission was sent fi'om Buenos Ayres to
settle the disputes of the owners. Sir Woodbine
Parish informed me of another and very curious
source of dispute : the ground being so long dry,
such quantities of dust were blown about, that in
this open country the landmarks became oblitera-
ted, and people could not tell the limits of their
estates.
I was informed by an eyewitness that the cattle
in herds of thousands rushed into the Parana, and,
being exhausted by hunger, they were unable to
crawl up the muddy banks, and thus were drowned.
The arm of the river which runs by San Pedro was
so full of putrid carcasses, that the master of a ves-
sel told me that the smell rendered it quite impass-
able. Without doubt, several hundred thousand
animals thus perished in the river : their bodies,
when putrid, were seen floating down the stream ;
and many, in all probability, were deposited in the
estuary of the Plata. All the small rivers became
highly saline, and this cav^sed the death of vast
numbers in particular spots ; for when an animal
drinks of such water it does not recover. Azara
describes* the fury of the wild horses on a similar
occasion, rushing into the marshes, those which ar-
rived first being overwhelmed and crushed by those
which followed. He adds, that more than once he
* Travels, vol. j., p. 374,
ISLANDS IN THE PARANA. 171
lias seen the carcasses of upwards of a thousand
wild horses thus destroyed. I noticed that the
smaller streams in the Pampas were paved with a
breccia of bones, but this probably is the effect of
a gi'adual increase rather than of the destruction
at any one period. Subsequently to the drought
of 1827 to '32, a very rainy season followed, which
caused great floods. Hence it is almost certain
that some thousands of the skeletons were buried
by the deposits of die very next year. What
would be the opinion of a geologist, viewing such
an enormous collection of bones, of all kinds of ani-
mals and of all ages, thus embedded in one thick
earthy mass ] Would he not attribute it to a flood
having swept over the surface of the land, rather
than to the common order of things 1*
October \2th. — I had intended to push my ex-
cursion further, but not being quite well, I was
compelled to return by a balandra, or one-masted
vessel of about a hundred tons' burden, which
was bound to Buenos Ayres. As the weather was
not fair, we luoored early in the day to a branch
of a tree on one of the islands. The Parana is full
of islands, which undergo a constant round of de-
cay and renovation. In the memory of the master
several large ones had disappeared, and others
again had been formed and protected by vegeta-
tion. They are composed of muddy sand, without
even the smallest pebble, and were then about four
feet above the level of the river ; but during the
periodical floods they are inundated. They all
present one character : numerous willows and a
few other trees are bound together by a gi-eat
* These droughts, to a certain degree, seem to be almost peri-
odical ; I was told the dates of several others, and the intervals
were about fifteen years.
172 ST. FE.
variety of creeping plants, thus forming a thick
jungle. These thickets afford a retreat for capy-
baras and jaguars. The fear of the latter animal
quite destroyed all pleasure in scrainbling through
the woods. This evening I had not proceeded a
hundred yards before, finding indubitable signs of
the recent presence of the tiger, I was obliged to
come back. On every island there were tracks ;
and as on the former excursion " el rastro de los
Indies" had been the subject of conversation, so in
this was " el rastro del tigre."
The wooded banks of the great rivers appear to
be the favourite haunts of the jaguar, but south of
the Plata I was told that they frequented the reeds
bordering lakes : wherever they are, they seem to
require water. Their common prey is the capy-
bara, so that it is generally said, where capybaras
are numerous there is little danger from the jaguar.
Falconer states that near the southern side of the
mouth of the Plata there are many jaguars, and
that they chiefly live on fish ; this account I have
heard repeated. On the Parana they have killed
many wood-cutters, and have even entered vessels
at night. There is a man now living in the Bajada,
who, coming up from below when it was dark, was
seized on tlfe deck ; he escaped, however, with
the loss of the use of one arm. When the floods
drive these animals from the islands, they are most
dangerous. I was told that a few years since a
very large one found its way into a church at St,
Fe : two padres entering one after the other were
killed, and a third, who came to see what was the
matter, escaped with difficulty. The beast was
destroyed by being shot from a corner of the build-
ing which was unroofed. They commit also at
these times great ravages among cattle and horses.
It is said that they kill their prey by breaking their
HABITS OF THE JAGUAR. 173
necks. If driven from the carcass, they seldom
return to it. The Gauchos say that the jaguar,
Avhen wandering about at night, is much tormented
by the foxes yelping as they follow him. This is
a curious coincidence with the fact which is gener-
ally affirmed of the jackals accompanying, in a sim-
ilarly officious manner, the East Indian tiger. The
jaguar is a noisy animal, roaring much by night,
and especially before bad weather.
One day, when hunting on the banks of the Uru-
guay, I was shown certain trees, to which these an-
imals constantly recur for the purpose, as it is said,
of sharpening their claws. I saw three well-known
trees ; in front, the bark was worn smooth, as if
by the breast of the animal, and on each side there
were deep scratches, or rather grooves, extending
in an oblique line, nearly a yard in length. Tiie
scars were of different ages. A common method
of ascertaining whether a jagviar is in the neigh-
bourhood is to examine these trees. I imagine
this habit of the jaguar is exactly similar to one
which may any day be seen in the common cat, as
with outsti-etched legs and exserted claws it scrapes
the leg of a chair ; and I have heard of young fruit-
trees in an orchard in England having been thus
much injured. Some such habit must also be com-
mon to the puma, for on the bare hard soil of Pat-
agonia I have fiequently seen scores so deep that
no other animal could have made them. The ob-
ject of this practice is, I believe, to tear off the rag-
ged points of their claws, and not, as the Gauchos
think, to sharpen them. The jaguar is killed,
without much difficulty, by the aid of dogs baying
and driving him up a tree, where he is despatched
witli bullets.
Owing to bad weather we remained two days at
our moorings. Our only amusement was catching
ip 2
174
RIO PARANA.
fish for our dinner : there were several kinds, and
all good eating. A fish called the "arinado" (a
Silurus) is remarkable from a harsh gi'ating noise
which it makes when caught by hook and line, and
which can be distinctly heard when the fish is be-
neath the water. This same fish has the power of
fiiTtily catching hold of any object, such as the blade
of an oar or the fishing-line, with the strong spine
both of its pectoral and dorsal fin. In the evening
the weather was quite tropical, the thennometer
standing at 79*^. Numbers of fireflies were hover-
ing about, and the musquitoes were very trouble-
some. I exposed my hand for five minutes, and it
was soon black with them ; I do not suppose there
could have been less than fifty, all busy sucking.
October \bth. — We got under way and passed
Punta Gorda, where there is a colony of tame In-
dians from the province of Missiones. We sailed
rapidly down the cuiTent, but before sunset, fi-om
a silly fear of bad weather, we brought-to in a nar-
row ai-m of the river. I took the boat and rowed
some distance up this creek. It was very naiTow,
winding, and deep ; on each side a wall thirty or
forty feet high, formed by trees intwined with
creepers, gave to the canal a singularly gloomy
appearance. I here saw a very extraordinary bird,
called the Scissor-beak (Rhynchops nigra). It has
short legs, web feet, extremely long-pointed wings,
and is of about the size of a tern. The beak ia
THE SCISSOR-BEAK. 175
flattened laterally, that is, in a plane at right an-
gles to that of a spoonbill oi" duck. It is as flat
and elastic as an ivory paper-cutter, and the lower
mandible, differently from every other bird, is an
inch and a half longer than the upper. In a lake
near Maldonado, from which the water had been
nearly drained, and which, in consequence, swarmed
with small fry, I saw several of these birds, gener-
ally in small flocks, flying rapidly backwards and
forwards close to the surface of the lake. They
kept their bills wide open, and the lower mandible
half buried in the water. Thus skimming the sur-
face, they ploughed it in their course : the water
was quite smooth, and it formed a most curious
spectacle to behold a flock, each bird leaving its
naiTow wake on the mirror-like surface, [n their
flight they frequently twist about with extreme
quickness, and dexterously manage with their pro-
jecting lower mandible to plough up small fish,
which are secured by the upper and shorter half
of their scissor-like bills. This fact I repeatedly
saw, as, like swallows, they continued to fly back-
wards and forwards close before me. Occasionally
when leaving the surface of the water their flight
was wild, iri'egular, and rapid : they then uttered
loud, hai'sh cries. When these birds are fishing,
the advantage of the long primary feathers of their
wings, in keeping them dry, is very evident.
When thus employed, their forms resemble the
symbol by which many artists represent marine
birds. Their tails are much used in steering their
irregular course.
These birds are common far inland along the
course of the Rio Parana ; it is said that they remain
here during the whole year, and breed in the marsh-
es. During the day they rest in flocks on the
grassy plains, at some distance from the water.
176 ■ RIO PARANA.
Being at anclior, as I have said, in one of the deep
creeks between the islands of the Parana, as the
evening drew to a close, one of these scissor-beaks
suddenly appeared. The water was quite still, and
many little fish were rising. The bird coirtinued
for a long time to skim the surface, flying in its
wild and iiTegular manner up and down the nar-
row canal, now dark with the gi'owing night and
the shadows of the overhanging trees. At Monte
Video, I observed that some large flocks during the
day remained on the mud-banks at the head of the
harbour, in the same manner as on the gi'assy
plains near the Parana ; and every evening they
took flight seaward. From these facts, I suspect
that the Rhynchops generally fishes by night, at
which time many of the lower animals come most
abundantly to the surface. M. Lesson states that
he has seen these birds opening the shells of the
mactrae buried in the sand-banks on the coast of
Chile : from their weak bills, with the lower man-
dible so much projecting, their short legs and long
wings, it is very improbable that this can be a
general habit.
In our course down the Parana, I obsei-ved only
three other birds whose habits are worth mention-
ing. One is a small king-fisher (Ceryle Ameri-
cana) ; it has a longer tail than the European spe-
cies, and hence does not sit in so stiff" and upright
a position. Its flight also, instead of being direct
and rapid, like the course of an aiTow, is weak and
undulatory, as among the soft-billed birds. It ut-
ters a low note, like the clicking together of two
small stones. A small gi'een parrot (Conurus mu-
rinus), with a grey breast, appears to prefer the tall
trees on the islands to any other situation for its
building-place. A number of nests are placed so
close together as to form one great mass of sticks.
UIO I'AKANA. 177
These parrots always live in flocks, and commit
great ravages on tlie corn-fields. I v\'as told that
near Colonia 2500 were killed in the course of
one year. A bird with a forked tail, terminated
by two long feathers (Tyrannus savana), and named
by the Spaniards scissoi--tail, is very common near
Buenos Ayres : it commonly sits on a branch of
the ombu-tvee, near a house, and thence takes a
short flight in pursuit of insects, and returns to the
same spot. When on the wing, it presents in its
manner of flight and general appearance a carica-
ture-likeness of the common swallow. It has the
power of turning very shortly in the air, and in so
doing opens and shuts its tail, sometimes in a hori-
zontal or lateral, and sometimes in a vertical direc-
tion, just like a pair of scissors.
October lQt]i. — Some leagues below Rozario, the
western shore of tlie Parana is bounded by per-
pendicular cliffs, which extend in a long line to
below San Nicolas ; hence it more resembles a
sea-coast than that of a fresh- water ri\er. It is a
great drawback to the scenery of the Parana, that,
from the soft nature of its banks, the water is very
muddy. The Uruguay, flowing through a granitic
country, is much clearer ; and where the two chan-
nels unite at the head of the Plata, the waters may
for a long distance be distinguished by their black
and red colours. In the evening, the wind being
not quite fair, as usual we immediately moored,
and the next day, as it blew rather freshly, though
with a favouring current, the master was much too
indolent to think of starting. At Bajada, he was
described to me as "liombre muy aflicto" — a man
always miserable to get on ; but certainly he bore
all delays with admirable resignation. He was an
old Spaniard, and had been many yeai's in this
country. He professed a great liking to the Eng-
VoL. 1—12
178 RIO PARANA,
lish, but stoutly maintained that the battle of Tra-
falgar was merely won by the Spanish captains
having been all bought over; and that the only
really gallant action on either side was perfoz'med
by the Spanish admiral. It struck me as rather
characteristic, that this man should prefer his coun-
trymen being thought the worst of traitors, rather
than unskilful or cowardly.
IStJi cuid 19th. — We continued slowly to sail
down the noble stream : the current helped us but
little. We met, during our descent, very few ves-
sels. One of the best gifts of nature, in so grand
a channel of communication, seems here wilfully
thrown away — a river in which ships might navi-
gate from a temperate country, as suiiirisingly
abundant in certain productions as destitute of oth-
ers, to another possessing a tropical climate, and a
soil which, according to the best of judges, M. Bon-
pland, is perhaps unequalled in fertility in any part
of the world. How different would have been the
aspect of this river if English colonists had, by good
fortune, first sailed up the Plata ! What noble
towns would now have occupied its shores ! Till
the death of Francia, the Dictator of Paraguay,
these two countries must remain distinct, as if
placed on opposite sides of the globe. And when
the old bloody-minded tyrant is gone to his long
account, Paraguay will be torn by revolutions, vi-
olent in proportion to the previous unnatural calm.
That country will have to learn, like eveiy other
South American state, that a republic cannot suc-
ceed till it contains a certain body of men imbued
with the principles of justice and honour.
October 20th. — Being arrived at the mouth of the
Parana, and as I was very anxious to reach Buenos
Ayres, I went on shore at Las Conchas, with the
intention of riding there. Upon landing, I found,
REVOLUTION AT BUENOS AYRE3. 179
to my great surprise, that I was, to a certain degi-cc,
a prisoner. A violent revolution having broken
out, all the ports were laid under an embargo. I
could nut return to my vessel, and as for going by
land to the city, it was out of the question. After
a long conversation with the commandant, I ob-
tained permission to go the next day to Genei-al
Rulor, who commanded a division of the rebels on
this side the capital. In the morning I rode to
the encampment. The general, officers, and sol-
diers all appeared, and I believe really were, gi'eat
villains. The general, the very evening before he
left the city, voluntarily went to the Governor, and
with his hand to his heart, pledged his word of
honour that he at least would remain faithful to the
last. The general told me that the city was in a
state of close blockade, and that all he could do was
to give me a passport to the commander-in-chief
of the rebels at Quilmes. We had therefore to
take a gi-eat sweep round the city, and it was with
much difficulty that we procured horses. My re-
ception at the encampment was quite civil, but I
was told it was impossible that I could be allowed
to enter the city. I was very anxious about this, as
I anticipated the Beagle's departure from the Rio
Plata earlier than it took place. Having mention-
ed, however, General Rosas's obliging kindness to
me when at the Colorado, magic itself could not
have altered circumstances quicker than did this
conversation. I was instantly told that though
they could not give me a passport, if I chose to
leave my guide and horses I might pass their sen-
tinels. I was too glad to accept of this, and an of-
ficer was sent with me to give directions that I
should not be stopped at the bridge. The road for
the space of a league was quite deserted. I met
one party of soldiers, who were satisfied by grave-
180 REVOLUTION AT BUENOS AVRES.
ly looking at an old passport : and at length I was
not a little pleased to find myself within the city.
This revolution was supported by scarcely any
pretext of grievances : but in a state which, in the
course of nine months (from February to October,
1820), underwent fifteen changes in its government
— each governor, according to the constitution, be-
ing elected for three years — it would be very un-
reasonable to ask for pretexts. In this case, a par-
ty of men — who, being attached to Rosas, were
disgusted with the governor Balcarce — to the num-
ber of seventy, left the city, and with the cry of
Rosas the whole country took arms. The city was
then blockaded — no provisions, cattle, or horses
were allowed to enter ; besides this, there was only
a little skirmishing, and a few men daily killed.
The outside party well knew that by stopping the
supply of meat they would certainly be victorious.
General Rosas could not have known of this rising ;
but it appears to be quite consonant with the jilans
of his party. A year ago he was elected governor,
but he refused it, unless the Sala would also confer
on him extraordinary powers. This was refused,
and since then his party have shown that no other
governor can keep his place. The warfare on both
sides was avowedly protracted till it was possible
to hear from Rosas. A note arrived a few days
after I left Buenos Ayres, which stated that the
General disapproved of peace having been broken,
but that he thought the outside party had justice
on their side. On the bare reception of this, the
Governor, ministers, and part of the militaiy, to the
number of some hundreds, fled from the city. The
rebels entered, elected a new governor, and were
paid for their services to the number of 5500 men.
From these proceedings, it was clear that Rosas
ultimately would become the dictator : to the term
BANDA ORIENTAL. 181
king, the people in this, as in other repuhlics, have
a particular dislike. Since leaving South America,
we have heard that Rosas has been elected, with
powers and for a time altogether opposed to the
constitutional principles of the republic.
CHAPTER VIII.
Excursion to Colonia del Sacramiento — Value of an Estancia —
Cattle, how counted — Singular Breed of Oxen — Perforated Peb-
bles — Shepherd Dogs — Horses broken-in, Gauchos riding —
Character of Inhabitants — Kio Plata— Flocks of Butterflies-
Aeronaut Spiders — Phosphorescence of the Sea — Port Desire
— Gnanaco — Port St. Julian — Geology of Patagonia — Fossil
gigantic Animal — Types of Organization constant — Change in
the Zoology of America — Causes of Extinction.
BANDA ORIENTAL AND PATAGONIA.
Having been delayed for nearly a fortnight in
the city, I was glad to escape on board a packet
bound for Monte Video. A town in a state of
blockade must always be a disagreeable place of
residence ; in this case, moreover, there were con-
stant apprehensions from robbers within. The sen-
tinels were the worst of all ; for, from their office
and from having arms in their hands, they robbed
with a degree of authority which other men could
not imitate.
Our passage was a veiy long and tedious one.
The Plata looks like a noble estuary on the map,
but is, in truth, a poor affair. A wide expanse of
muddy water has neither grandeur nor beauty. At
one time of the day, the two shores, both of which
are extremely low, could just be distinguished from
the deck. On arriving at Monte Video, I found that
the Beagle would not sail for some time, so I pre-
pared for a short excursion in this part of Banda
Oriental. Everything which I have said about the
182 BANDA ORIENTAL.
country near Maldonado is applicable to M. Video;
but the land, with the one exception of the Green
Mount, 450 feet high, from which it takes its name,
is far more level. Very little of the undulating
grassy plain is enclosed ; but near the town tliere
are a few hedge-banks, covered with agaves, cacti,
and fennel.
Novanhcr lifh. — We left Monte Video in the af-
ternoon. I intended to proceed to Colonia del Sa-
cramiento, situated on the northern bank of the
Plata and oj^posite to Buenos Ayres, and thence,
following up the Uruguay, to the village of Merce-
des on the Rio Negi'o (one of the many rivers of
this name in South America), and from this point
to return direct to Monte Video. We slept at the
house of my guide at Canelones. In the morning
we rose early, in the hopes of being able to ride
a good distance ; but it was a vain attempt, for all
the rivers were flooded. We passed in boats the
streams of Canelones, St. Lucia, and San Jose, and
thus lost much time. On a former excursion I
crossed the Lucia near its mouth, and I was sur-
prised to observe how easily our horses, although
not used to swim, passed over a width of at least
six hundred yards. On mentioning this at Monte
Video, I was told that a vessel containing some
mountebanks and their hoi'ses, being wrecked in
the Plata, one horse swam seven miles to the shoi'e.
In the course of the day I was amused by the dex-
terity with which a Gaucho forced a restive horse
to swim a river. He stripped off his clothes, and
jumping on its back, rode into the water till it was
out of its depth ; then slipping off over the cnip-
per, he caught hold of the tail, and as often as the
horse turned round, the man frightened it back by
splashing water in its face. As soon as the horse
touched the bottom on the other side, the man pull-
BANDA ORIENTAL. 183
ed himself on, and was firmly seated, bridle in
hand, before the horse gained the bank. A naked
man on a naked horse is a fine spectacle ; I had no
idea how well the two animals suited each other.
The tail of a horse is a very useful appendage ; I
have passed a river in a boat with four people in
it, which was femed across in the same way as the
Gaucho. If a man and horse have to cross a broad
river, the best plan is for the man to catch hold of
the pommel or mane, and help himself with the
other arm.
We slept and stayed the following day at the
post of Cufre. In the evening the postman or let-
ter-carrier an-ived. He was a day after his time,
owing to the Rio Rozario being flooded. It would
not, however, be of much consequence ; for, al-
though he had passed through some of the princi-
pal towns in Banda Oriental, his luggage consisted
of two letters ! The view from the house was pleas-
ing; an undulating green surface, with distant
glimpses of the Plata. I find that I look at this
province with very different eyes from what I did
upon my first amval. I recollect I then thought it
singularly level ; but now, after galloping over the
Pampas, my only surprise is, what could have in-
duced me ever to have called it level. The coun-
try is a series of undulations, in themselves perhaps
not absolutely gi-eat, but, as compared to the plains
of St. Fe, real mountains. From these inequalities
there is an abundance of small rivulets, and the turf
is green and luxuriant.
November 11th. — We crossed the Rozario, which
was deep and rapid, and passing the village of
Colla, arrived at midday at Colonia del Sacra-
miento. The distance is twenty leagues, through
a country covered with fine grass, but poorly stock-
ed with cattle or inhabitants. I was invited to
184 BANDA ORIENTAL.
sleep at Colonia, and to accompany on the follow-
ing day a gentleman to his estancia, where there
were some limestone rocks. The town is built on
a stony promontory something in the same manner
as at Monte Video. It is strongly fortified, but
both fortifications and town suftered much in the
Brazilian war. It is very ancient ; and the irregu-
lai'ity of the streets, and the surrounding groves of
old orange and peach trees, gave it a pretty ap-
pearance. The church is a curious ruin ; it was
used as a powder magazine, and was struck by
lightning in one of the ten thousand thunder-storms
of the Rio Plata. Two thirds of the building were
blown away to the very foundation ; and the rest
stands a shattered and curious monument of the
united powers of lightning and gunpowder. In
the evening I wandered about the half-demolished
walls of the town. It was the chief seat of the Bra-
zilian war — a war most injurious to this countiy,
not so much in its immediate effects, as in being
the origin of a multitude of generals and all other
grades of ofl[icers. More generals are numbered
(but not paid) in the United Provinces of La Pla-
ta than in the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
These gentlemen have learned to like power, and
do not object to a little skirmishing. Hence there
are many always on the watch to create disturb-
ance and to overturn a government which as yet
has never rested on any stable foundation. I no-
ticed, however, both here and in other places, a
very genei'al interest in the ensuing election for
the President ; and this ajapears a good sign for
the prosjierity of this little country. The inhabi-
tants do not require much education in their repre-
sentatives : I heard some men discussing the merits
of those for Colonia, and it was said that " although
they were not men of business, they could all sign,
AN EXTENSIVE ESTANCIA. 185
their names :" with tliis they seemed to think every
reasonable man ought to be satisfied,
IQtJi. — Rode with my host to his estancia at the
Arroyo de San Juan. In the evening we took a
ride round the estate : it contained two square
leagues and a lialf, and was situated in what is
called a rincon ; that is, one side was fronted by
the Plata, and the two others guarded by impass-
able brooks. There was an excellent port for
little vessels, and an abundance of small wood,
which is valuable as supplying fuel to Buenos
Ayres. I was curious to know the value of so
complete an estancia. Of cattle there were 3000,
and it would well support three or lour times that
number; of mares 800, together with 150 broken-
in horses, and 600 sheep. There was plenty of
water and limestone, a rough house, excellent cor-
rals, and a peach orchard. For all this he had
been offered d£2000, and he only wanted <£500 ad-
ditional, and probably would sell it for less. The
chief trouble with an estancia is driving the cattle
twice a week to a central spot, in order to make
them tame, and to count them. This latter opera-
tion would be thought difficult, where there are ten
or fifteen thousand head together. It is managed
on the principle that the cattle invariably divide
themselves into little troops of from forty to one
hundred. Each troop is recognised by a few pe-
culiarly marked animals, and its number is known :
so that, one being lost out of ten thousand, it is per-
ceived by its absence from one of the tropillas.
During a stormy night the cattle all mingle to-
gether, but the next morning the ti'opillas separate
as before, so that each animal must know its fellow
out of ten thousand others.
On two occasions I met with in this province
some oxen of a very curious breed, called nata or
Q2
186 BANDA ORIENTAL.
niata. They appear externally to hold neai-ly the
same relation to other cattle which bull or pug
dogs do to other dogs. Their forehead is very
short and broad, with the nasal end turned up, and
the upper lip much drawn back; their lower jaws
project beyond the upper, and have a correspond-
ing upward curve : hence their teeth are always
exposed. Their nostrils are seated high up and
are very open ; their eyes project outwards. When
walking they caiTy their heads low, on a short neck ;
and their hinder legs are rather longer, compared
with the front legs, than is usual. Their bare teeth,
their short heads, and up-turned nostrils give them
the most ludicrous, self-confident air of defiance
imaginable.
Since my return I have procured a skeleton
head, through the kindness of my friend Captain
Sulivan, R. N., which is now deposited in the Col-
lege of Surgeons.* Don F. Muniz, of Luxan, has
kindly collected for me all the information which
he could respecting this breed. From his account,
it seems that about eighty or ninety years ago they
were rare, and kept as curiosities at Buenos Ayres.
The breed is universally believed to have originated
amongst the Indians southward of the Plata, and
that it was with them the commonest kind. Even
to this day, those reared in the provinces near the
Plata show their less civilized origin, in being
fiercer than common cattle, and in the cow easily
deserting her first calf, if visited too often or mo-
lested. It is a singular fact, that an almost similar
structure to the abnormalt one of the niata breed
* Mr. Waterhouse has drawn up a detailed description of this
head, which I hope he will publish in some Journal.
t A nearly similar abnormal, but I do not know whether hered-
itary, structure has been observed in the carp, and likewise in the
crocodile of the Ganges: Histoire des Anomalies, par M. Isid.
Geoffroy St. Hilaire, torn, i., p. 244.
NIATA CATTLE. 187
characterizes, as I am informed by Dr. Falconer,
that great extinct ruminant of India, the Sivatheri-
um. The breed is very true ; and a niata bull and
cow invariably produce niata calves. A niata bull
with a common cow, or the reverse cross, produces
offspring having an intermediate character, but
with the niata characters strongly displayed : ac-
cording to Seiior Muniz, there is the clearest evi-
dence, contrary to the common belief of agricultu-
rists in analogous cases, that the niata cow when
crossed with a common bull, transmits her peculi-
arities more strongly than the niata bull when cross-
ed with a connnon cow. When the pasture is tol-
erably long, the niata cattle feed with the tongue
and palate as well as common cattle ; but during
the great droughts, when so many animals perish,
the niata breed is under a great disadvantage, and
would be exterminated if not attended to ; for the
common cattle, like horses, are able just to keep
alive by browsing with their lips on twigs of trees
and reeds ; this the niatas cannot so well do, as
their lips do not join, and hence they are found to
perish before the common cattle. This strikes me
as a good illustration of how little we are able to
judge from the ordinary habits of life, on what cir-
cumstances, occurring only at long intervals, the
rarity or extinction of a species may be detennined.
November Vdtli. — Passing the valley of Las Va-
cas, we slept at a house of a North American, who
worked a lime-kiln on the Arroyo de las Vivoras.
In the morning we rode to a projecting headland
on the banks of the river, called Punta Gorda. On
the way we tried to find a jaguar. There were
plenty of fresh tracks, and we visited the trees, on
which they are said to sharpen their claws; but
we did not succeed in disturbing one. From this
point the Rio Uruguay presented to our view a
188 BANDA ORIENTAL.
noble volume of water. From the clearness and
rapidity of the stream, its appearance was far su-
perior to that of its neighbour the Parana. On the
opposite coast, several branches from the latter riv-
er entered the Uruguay, As the sun was shining,
the two colours of the waters could be seen quite
distinct.
In the evening we proceeded on our road to-
wards Mercedes on the Rio Negro. At night we
asked permission to sleep at an estancia at which
we happened to an'ive. It was a very large es-
tate, being ten leagues square, and the owner is
one of the gi'eatest landowners in the country. His
nephew had charge of it, and with him there was
a captain in the army, who the other day ran away
from Buenos Ayres. Considering their station,
their conversation was rather amusing. They ex-
pressed, as was usual, unbounded astonishment at
the globe being round, and could scarcely credit
that a hole would, if deep enough, come out on the
other side. They had, however, heard of a coun-
try where there were six months light and six of
darkness, and where the inhabitants were very tall
and thin ! They were curious about the price and
condition of horses and cattle in England, Upon
finding out we did not catch our animals with the
lazo, they cried out, " Ah, then, you use nothing
but the bolas :" the idea of an enclosed country was
quite new to them. The captain at last said, he
had one question to ask me, which he should be
very much obliged if I would answer with all truth.
I trembled to think how deeply scientific it would
be : it was, " Whether the ladies of Buenos Ayres
were not the handsomest in the world V I re-
plied, like a renegade, " Charmingly so." He add-
ed, " I have one other question : Do ladies in any
other part of the world wear such large combs V
THE PAMPAS THISTLE. 189
I solemnly assured liim that they did not. They
were absolutely delighted. The captain exclaim-
ed, " Look there ! a man who has seen half the
world says it is the case ; we always thought so,
but now we know it." My excellent judgment in
combs and beauty procured me a most hospitable
reception ; the captain forced me to take his bed,
and he would sleep on his recado.
2lst. — Started at sunrise, and rode slowly du-
ring the whole day. The geological nature of this
part of the pi'ovince was different from the rest,
and closely resembled that of the Pampas. In
consequence, there were immense beds of the this-
tle, as well as of the cardoon : the whole country,
indeed, may be called one great bed of these plants.
The two sorts grow separately, each plant in com-
pany with its own kind. The cardoon is as high
as a horse's back, but the Pampas thistle is often
higher than the crown of the rider's head. To
leave the road for a yard is out of the question;
and the road itself is partly, and in some cases en-
tirely, closed. Pasture, of course, there is none; if
cattle or horses once enter the bed, they are for the
time completely lost. Hence it is very hazardous
to attempt to drive cattle at this season of the year;
for when jaded enough to face the thistles, they rush
among them and are seen no more. In these dis-
tricts there are very few estancias, and these few
are situated in the neighbourhood of damp valleys,
where, fortunately, neither of these overwhelming
plants can exist. As night came on before we ar-
rived at our journey's end, we slept at a misera-
ble little hovel inhabited by the poorest people.
The extreme though rather formal courtesy of our
host and hostess, considering their gi-ade of life,
was quite delightful.
November 22d. — Arrived at an estancia on the
190 BANDA ORIENTAL.
Berquelo belonging to a very hospitable English-
man, to whom I had a letter of introduction from
my friend Mr. Lumb. I stayed here three days.
One morning I rode with my host to the Sierra
del Pedro Flaco, about twenty miles up the Rio
Negi'o. Nearly the whole country was covered
with good though coarse grass, which was as high
as a horse's belly ; yet there were square leagues
without a single head of cattle. The province of
Banda Oriental, if well stocked, would support an
astonishing number of animals ; at present the an-
nual export of hides from Monte Video amounts
to three hundred thousand ; and the home con-
sumjDtion, from waste, is very considerable. An
estanciero told me that he often had to send large
herds of cattle a long journey to a salting estab-
lishment, and that the tired beasts were frequently
obliged'to be killed and skinned ; but that he could
never persuade the Gauchos to eat of them, and
every evening a fresh beast was slaughtered for
their suppers ! The view of the Rio Negro from
the Sierra was more picturesque than any other
which I saw in this province. The river, broad,
deep, and rapid, wound at the foot of a rocky pre-
cipitous cliff: a belt of wood followed its course,
and the horizon terminated in the distant undula-
tions of the turf plain.
When in this neighbourhood, I several times
heard of the Sierra de las Cuentas : a hill distant
many miles to the northward. The name signifies
hill of beads. I was assured that vast numbers of
little round stones, of various colours, each with a
small cylindrical hole, are fdund there. Formerly
the Indians used to collect them, for the purpose
of making necklaces and bracelets — a taste, I may
observe which is common to all savage nations, as
well as to the most polished. I did not know what
SIIEPIIERD-DOGS, 191
to understand from this story, but upon mention-
ing it at the Cape of Good Hope to Dr. Andrew
Smith, he tokl me that he recollected finding on the
south-eastern coast of Africa, about one hundred
miles to the eastward of St. John's river, some
quartz crystals with their edges blunted from at-
trition, and mixed with gravel on the sea-beach.
Each crystal was about five lines in diameter, and
from an inch to an inch and a half in length.
Many of them had a small canal extending from one
extremity to the other, perfectly cylindrical, and of
a size that readily admitted a coarse thread or a
piece of fine catgut. Their colour was red or dull
white. The natives were acquainted with this
structure in crystals. I have mentioned these cir-
cumstances because, although no crystallized body
is at present known to assume this form, it may
lead some future traveller to investigate the real
nature of such stones.
While staying at ths estancia, I was amused
with what I saw and heard of the shepherd-dogs
of the country.* Wlien riding, it is a common
thing to meet a large flock of sheep guarded by
one or two dogs, at the distance of some miles
from any house or man. I often wondered how
so firm a friendship had been established. The
method of education consists in separating the pup-
py, while very young, fi'om the bitch, and in accus-
toming it to its future companions. A ewe is held
three or four times a day for the little thing to suck,
and a nest of wool is made for it in the sheep-pen ;
at no time is it allowed to associate with other
dogs, or with the children of the family. The
puppy is, moreover, generally castrated ; so that,
* M. A. d'Orbigny has given nearly a similar account of these
dogs, torn, i., p. 175.
192 HANDA ORIENTAL.
when grown up, it can scarcely have any feelings
in common with the rest of its kind. From this
education, it has no wish to leave the flock, and just
as another dog will defend its master, man, so will
these the sheep. It is amusing to observe, when
approaching a flock, how the dog immediately ad-
vances barking, and the sheep all close in his rear,
as if round the oldest ram. These dogs are also
easily taught to bring home the flock at a certain
hour in the evening. Their most troublesome fault,
when young, is their desire of playing with the
sheep ; for in their sport they sometimes gallop
their poor subjects most unmercifully.
The shepherd-dog comes to the house every day
for some meat, and as soon as it is given him he
skulks away as if ashamed of himself. On these
occasions the house-dogs are very tyrannical, and
the least of them will attack and pursue the stran-
ger. The minute, however, the latter has reached
the flock, he turns round and begins to bark, and
then all the house-dogs take very quickly to their
heels. In a similar manner, a whole pack of the hun-
gry wild dogs will scarcely ever (and I was told by
some never) venture to attack a flock guarded by
even one of these faithful shepherds. The whole
account appears to me a curious instance of the
pliability of the affections in the dog ; and yet,
whether wild or however educated, he has a feel-
ing of respect or fear for those that are fulfilling
their instinct of association ; for we can under-
stand on no principle the wild dogs being driven
away by the single one with its flock, except that
they consider, from soime confused notion, that the
one thus associated gains power, as if in company
with its own kind. F. Cuvier has observed, that
all animals that readily enter into domestication,
consider man as a member of their own society,
BREAKING-IN WILD HORSES. 193
and thus fulfil their instinct of association. In the
above case the shephertl-dog ranks the sheep as its
fellow-brethren, and thus gains confidence ; and
the wild dogs, though knowing that the individual
sheep are not dogs, but are good to eat, yet partly
consent to this view when seeing them in a flock
with a shepherd-dog at their head.
One evening a " domidor" (a subduer of horses)
came for the purpose of breaking-in some colts. I
will describe the preparatory steps, for I believe
they have not been mentioned by other travellers.
A troop of wild young horses is driven into the
coiTal, or large enclosure of stakes, and the door
is shut. We will suppose that one man alone has
to catch and mount a horse, which as yet had never
felt bridle or saddle. I conceive, except by a Gau-
cho, such a feat would be utterly impracticable.
The Gaucho picks out a full-grown colt ; and as
the beast rushes round the circus, he throws his
lazo so as to catch both the front legs. Instantly
the horse rolls over with a heavy shock, and whilst
struggling on the ground, the Gaucho, holding the
lazo tight, makes a circle, so as to catch one of the
hind legs just beneath the fetlock, and draws it
close to the two front legs: he then hitches the
lazo so that the three are bound together. Then
sitting on the horse's neck, he fixes a strong bridle,
without a bit, to the lower jaw: this he does by
passing a narrow thong through the eye-holes at
the end of the reinS, and several times round both
jaw and tongue. The two front legs are now tied
closely together with a strong leathern thong, fas-
tened by a slip-knot. The lazo, which bound the
three together, being then loosed, the horse rises
with difficulty. The Gaucho, now holding fast the
bridle fixed to the lower jaw, leads the horse out-
side the corral. If a second man is present (other-
VoT,. 1—1.3 R
194 BANDA ORIENTAL.
wise the trouble is much greater), he holds the ani-
mal's head, whilst the first puts on the horsecloths
and saddle, and girths the whole together. During
this operation, the horse, from dread and astonish-
ment at thus being bound round the waist, throws
himself over and over again on the ground, and, till
beaten, is unwilling to rise. At last, when the sad-
dling is finished, the poor animal can hardly breathe
from fear, and is white with foam and sweat. The
man now prepares to mount by pressing heavily
on the stiiTup, so that the horse may not lose its
balance ; and at the moment that he throws his leg
over the animal's back, he pulls the slip-knot bind-
ing the front legs, and the beast is free. Some
" domidors" pull the knot while the animal is ly-
ing on the ground, and, standing over the saddle,
allow him to rise beneath them. The hoi'se, wild
with dread, gives a few most violent bounds, and
then starts off at full gallop : when quite exhaust-
ed, the man, by patience, brings him back to the
coiTal, whei'e, reeking hot and scarcely alive, the
poor beast is let free. Those animals which will
not gallop away, but obstinately throw themselves
on the ground, are by far the most troublesome.
This process is tremendously severe, but in two
or three trials the horse is tamed. It is not, how-
ever, for some weeks that the animal is ridden with
the iron bit and solid ring, for it must learn to as-
sociate the will of its rider with the feel of the rein,
before the most powerful bridle can be of any ser-
vice.
Animals are so abundant in these countries that
humanity and self-interest are not closely united ;
therefore I fear it is that the former is here scarce-
ly known. One day, riding in the Pampas with a
very respectable " Estanciero," my horse, being
tired, lagged behind. The man often shouted to
RIDING OP THE GAUCIIOS. 195
me to spur him. AVhen I remonstrated that it was
a pity, for the horse was quite exhausted, he cned
out, " Why not 1 never mind — spur him — it is m?/
horse." I had then some difficuky in making him
comprehend that it was for the horse's sake, and
not on his account, that I did not choose to use my
spurs. He exclaimed, with a look of great sur-
prise, "Ah, Don Carlos, que cosa!" It was clear
that such an idea liad never before entered his
head.
The Gauchos are well known to be perfect ri-
dei's. The idea of being thrown, let the horse do
what it likes, never enters their head. Their cri-
terion of a good rider is a man who can manage
an untamed colt, or who, if his horse falls, alights
on his own feet, or can perform other such exploits.
I have heard of a man betting that he would throw
his horse down twenty times, and that nineteen
times he would not fall himself. I recollect seeing
a Gaucho riding a veiy stubborn horse, which three
times successively reared so high as to fall back-
wards with great violence. The man judged with
uncommon coolness the proper moment for slipping
off, not an instant before or after the right time ;
and as soon as the horse got up, the man jumped on
his back, and at last they started at a gallop. The
Gaucho never appears to exert any muscular force.
I was one day watching a good rider, as we were
galloping along at a rapid pace, and thought to my-
self, " Surely, if the horse starts, you appear so care-
less on your seat, you must fall." At this moment,
a male ostrich sprang from its nest right beneath
the horse's nose : the young colt bounded on one
side like a stag ; but as for the man, all that could
be said was, that he started and took fright with
his horse.
In Chile and Peru more pains are taken with the
196 BANDA ORIENTAL.
mouth of the horse than in La Plata, and this is
evidently a consequence of the more intricate na-
ture of the country. In Chile a horse is not con-
sidered perfectly broken till he can be brought up
standing, in the midst of his full speed, on any par-
ticular spot — for instance, on a cloak thrown on the
ground : or, again, he will charge a wall, and rear-
ing, scrape the surface with his hoofs. I have seen
an animal bounding with spirit, yet merely reined
by a fore-finger and thumb, taken at full gallop
across a courtyard, and then made to wheel round
the post of a veranda with great speed, but at so
equal a distance, that the rider, with outstretched
arm, all the while kept one finger rubbing the post.
Then making a demi-volte in the air, with the other
arm outstretched in a like manner, he wheeled
round, with astonishing force, in an oj^posite direc-
tion.
Such a horse is well broken ; and although this
at first may appear useless, it is far otherwise. It
is only carrying that which is daily necessary into
perfection. When a bullock is checked and caught
by the lazo, it will sometimes gallop round and
round in a circle, and the horse, being alarmed at
the great sti-ain, if not well broken, will not readily
turn like the pivot of a wheel. In consequence,
many men have been killed ; for if the lazo once
takes a twist round a man's body, it will instantly,
from the power of the two opposed animals, al-
most cut him in twain. On the same principle the
races are managed ; the course is only two or three
hundred yards long, the wish being to have horses
that can make a rapid dash. The race-horses are
trained not only to stand with their hoofs touching
a line, but to draw all four feet together, so as at
the first spring to bi'ing into play the full action of
the hind-quarters. In Chile I was told an ancc-
MARES riLAUGHTERKD EUR THEIR HIDES. 197
dote, which I believe was true ; and it offers a
good illustration of the use of a well-broken ani-
mal. A respectable man riding one day met two
others, one of whom was mounted on a horse
which he knew to have been stolen from himself.
He challenged them ; they answered him by draw-
ing their sabres and giving chase. The man, on
his good and fleet beast, kept just ahead : as he
passed a thick bush he wheeled round it, and
broiight up his horse to a dead check. The pur-
suers were obliged to shoot on one side and ahead.
Then instantly dashing on, right behind them, he
buried his knife in the back of one, wounded the
other, recovered his horse from the dying robber,
and rode home. For these feats of horsemanship
two things are necessary : a most severe bit, like
the Mameluke, the power of which, though seldom
used, the horse knows full well ; and large blunt
spurs, that can be applied either as a mere touch,
or as an instrument of extreme pain. I conceive
that with English spurs, the slightest touch of which
pricks the skin, it would be impossible to break in
a horse after the South American fashion.
At an estancia near Las Vacas, large numbers
of mares are weekly slaughtered for the sake of
their hides, although worth only five paper dollars,
or about half a crown apiece. It seems at first
strange that it can answer to kill mares for such a
trifle ; but as it is thought ridiculous in this country
ever to break in or ride a mare, they are of no
value except for breeding. The only thing for
which I ever saw mares used was to tread out
wheat fi-om the- ear ; for which purpose they were
driven round a circular enclosure, where the wheat-
sheaves were strewed. The man employed for
slaughtering the mares happened to be celebrated
for his dexterity with the lazo. Standing at tho
R2
198 BAi\DA ORIEiNTAL.
distance of twelve yards from the moutli of the cor-
ral, he has laid a wager that he would catch by the
legs every animal, without missing one, as it rushed
past him. There was another man who said he
would enter the corral on foot, catch a mare, fast-
en her front legs together, drive her out, throw her
down, kill, skin, and stake the hide for drying
(which latter is a tedious job) ; and he engaged
that he would perform this whole operation on
twenty-two animals in one day ; or he would kill
and take the skin off fifty in the same time. This
would have been a prodigious task, for it is consid-
ered a good day's work to skin and stake the hides
of fifteen or sixteen animals,
November 2Qth. — I set out on my i-etum in a di-
rect line for Monte Video. Having heard of some gi-
ant's bones at a neighbouring farm-house on the Sar-
andis, a small stream entering the Rio Negro, I rode
there, accompanied by iny host, and purchased for
the value of eighteen pence the head of the Toxo-
don.* When found it was quite perfect ; but the
boys knocked out some of the teeth with stones, and
then set up the head as a mark to throw at. By a
most fortunate chance I found a perfect tooth, which
exactly fitted one of the sockets in this skull, em-
bedded by itself on the banks of the Rio Tercero,
at the distance of about 180 miles from this place.
I found remains of this extraordinary animal at
two other places, so that it must formerly have been
common. I found here, also, some large portions
of the armour of a gigantic armadillo-like animal,
and part of the great head of a Mylodon. The
bones of this head are so fresh, that they contain,
according to the analysis by Mr. T. Reeks, seven
* I must express my obligation to Mr. Keane, at whose house
I was staying on the Berquelo, and to Mr. Lumb at Buenos Ayres,
for without their assistance these vahiable remains would never
have reached England.
FOSSIL, KEMAli\ri. 199
per cent, of animal matter ; and when placed in a
spirit-lamp, they burn with a small flame. The
number of the remains embedded in the grand es-
tuary deposit which forms the Pampas and covers
the granitic rocks of Banda Oriental must be ex-
traordinarily great. I believe a straight line drawn
in any direction through the Pampas would cut
through some skeleton or bones. Besides those
which I found during my short excursions, I heard
of many others, and the origin of such names as
" the stream of the animal," " the hill of the giant,"
is obvious. At other times I heard of the marvel-
lous property of certain rivei's, which had the pow-
er of changing small bones into large ; or, as some
maintained, the bones themselves gi-ew. As far as
I am aware, not one of these animals perished, as
was formerly supposed, in the marshes or muddy
river-beds of the present land, but their bones have
been exposed by the streams intersecting the sub-
aqueous deposit in which they were originally em-
bedded. We may conclude that the whole area
of the Pampas is one wide sepulchre of these ex-
tinct gigantic quadrupeds.
By the middle of the day, on the 28th, we ar-
rived at Monte Video, having been two days and
a half on the road. The countiy for the whole way
was of a very uniform character, some parts being
rather more rocky and hilly than near the Plata.
Not far from Monte Video we passed through the
■village of Las Pietras, so named from some large
rounded masses of syenite. Its appearance was
rather pretty. In this country a few tig-trees round
a group of houses, and a site elevated a hundred
feet above the general level, ought always to be
called picturesque.
Durinaf the last six months I have had
oppor-
200 DANDA ORIENTAL.
tunity of seeing a little of the character of the in-
habitants of these provinces. The Gauchos, or
countrymen, are very superior to those who reside
in the towns. The Gaucho is invariably most
obliging, polite, and hospitable : I did not meet
with even one instance of rudeness or inhospitality.
He is modest, both respecting himself and country,
but at the same time a spirited, bold fellow. On
the other hand, many robberies are committed, and
there is much bloodshed : the habit of constantly
wearing the knife is the chief cause of the latter.
It is lamentable to hear how many lives are lost in
trifling quarrels. In fighting, each jaarty tries to
mark the face of his adversary by slashing his nose
or eyes, as is often attested by deep and hon-id-
looking scars. Robberies are a natural conse-
quence of universal gambling, much drinking, and
extreme indolence. At Mercedes I asked two men
why they did not work. One gravely said the days
were too long; the other, that he was too poor.
The number of horses and the profusion of food
are the destruction of all industry. Moreover, there
are so many feast-days ; and again, nothing can
succeed without it be begun when the moon is on
the increase ; so that half the moon is lost from
these two causes.
Police and justice are quite inefiicient. If a man
who is poor commits murder and is taken, he
will be imprisoned, and perhaps even shot ; but if
he is rich and has friends, he may rely on it no
very severe consequence will ensue. It is curious
that the most respectable inhabitants of the country
invariably assist a murderer to escape : they seem
to think that the individual sins against the govern-
ment, and not against the people. A traveller has
no protection besides his fire-arms ; and the con-
stant habit of caiTying them is the main check to
more freauent robbeiies.
STATE OF SOCIETY. 201
Tho character of the higher and more educated
classes who reside in the towns, partakes, but per-
haps in a lesser degi'ee, of the good parts of tho
Gaucho, but is, I fear, stained by many vices of
which he is free. Sensuality, mockery of all reli-
gion, and the gi-ossest corruption, are far from un-
common. Nearly every public officer can be bribed.
The head man in the post-office sold forged gov-
ernment franks. The governor and prime minis-
ter openly combined to plunder the state. Justice,
where gold came into jjlay, was hardly expected
by any one. I knew an Englishman, who went to
the Chief-justice (he told me, that not then under-
standing the ways of the place, he trembled as he
entered the room), and said, " Sir, I have come to
offer you two hundred (paper) dollars (value about
five pounds sterling) if you will ai'rest before a cer-
tain time a man who has cheated me. I know it
is against the law, but my lawyer (naming him)
recommended me to take this step." The Chief-
justice smiled acquiescence, thanked him, and tlie
man before night was safe in prison. With this
entire want of principle in many of the leading
men, with the country full of ill-paid turbulent of-
ficers, the people yet hope that a democratic form
of government can succeed !
On first entering society in these countries, two
or three featui'es strike one as particularly remark-
able. The polite and dignified manners pervading
every rank of life, the excellent taste displayed by
the women in their dresses, and the equality amongst
all ranks. At the Rio Colorado some men who
kept the humblest shops used to dine with General
Rosas. A son of a ma,jor at Bahia Blanca gained
his livelihood by making paper cigars, and he
wished to accompany me, as guide or servant, to
Buenos Ayres. but his father objected on the score
202 mo PLATA.
of the danger alone. Many officers in the army-
can neither read nor write, yet all meet in society
as equals. In Entre Rios, the Sala consisted of
only six representatives. One of them kept a
common shop, and evidently was not degraded by
the office. All this is what would be expected in
a new country ; nevertheless, the absence of gen-
tlemen by profession appears to an Englishman
something strange.
When speaking of these countries, the manner
in which they have been brought up by their un-
natural parent, Spain, should always be borne in
mind. On the whole, perhaps, more credit is due
for what has been done, than blame for that which
may be deficient. It is impossible to doubt but
that the extreme liberalism of these countries must
ultimately lead to good results. The very general
toleration of foreign religions, the regard paid to
the means of education, the freedom of the press,
the facilities offered to all foreigners, and especial-
ly, as I am bound to add, to every one professing
the humblest pretensions to science, should be rec-
ollected with gTatitude by those who have visited
Spanish South America.
Decemher 6t7i. — The Beagle sailed from the Rio
Plata, never again to enter its muddy stream. Our
course was directed to Port Desire, on the coast
of Patagonia. Before proceeding any further, I
will here put together a few observations made at
sea.
Several times when the ship has been some miles
off" the mouth of the Plata, and at other times
when off" the shores of Northern Patagonia, we
have been surrounded by insects. One evening,
when we were about ten miles from the Bay of
San Bias, vast numbers of butterflies, in bands oi"
FLOCKS UF BUTTKKFLIKS. 203
flocks of countless myriads, extended as far as the
eye could range. Even by the aid of a telescope
it was not possible to see a space free from butter-
flies. The seamen cried out " it was snowing but-
tei-flies," and such, in fact, was the appearance.
More species than one were present, but the main
part belonged to a kind very similar to, but not
identical with, the common English Colias edusa.
Some moths and hymenoptera accompanied the
butterflies ; and a fine beetle (Calosoma) flew on
board. Other instances are known of this beetle
having been caught far out at sea ; and this is the
more remarkable, as the greater number of the
Carabida3 seldom or never take wing. The day
had been fine and calm, and the one previous to it
equally so, with light and variable airs. Hence
we cannot suppose that the insects were blown off"
the land, but we must conclude that they volunta-
rily took flight. The great bands of the Colias
seem at first to afford an instance like those on
record of the migrations of another butterfly, Va-
nessa cardui ;* but the presence of other insects
makes the case distinct, and even less intelligible.
Before sunset a strong breeze sprung up from the
north, and this must have caused tens of thousands
of the butterflies and other insects to have perished.
On another occasion, when seventeen miles off"
Cape Corrientes, I had a net overboard to catch pe-
lagic animals. Upon drawing it up, to my surprise
I found a considerable number of beetles in it, and
although in the open sea, they did not appear much
injured by the salt water. I lost some of the spe-
cimens, but those which I preserved belonged to
the genera Colymbetes, Hydroporus, Hydrobius
(two species), Notaphus, Cynucus, Adimonia, and
Scarabceus. At first I thought that these insects
* Lyeli's Principles of Geology, vol. iii., p. 63.
204 RIO PLATA.
had been blown from the shore ; but upon reflect-
ing that out of the eight species four were aquatic,
and two others partly so in their habits, it appeai'-
ed to me most probable that they were floated into
the sea by a small stream which drains a lake near
Cape Con-ientes. On any supposition, it is an in-
teresting circumstance to find live insects swim-
ming in the open ocean seventeen miles from the
nearest point of land. There are several accounts
of insects having been blown off the Patagonian
shore. Captain Cook obsei-ved it, as did more
lately Captain King in the Adventure. The cause
probably is due to the want of shelter, both of trees
and hills, so that an insect on the wing, with an off"-
shore breeze, would be very apt to be blown out to
sea. The most remarkable instance I have known
of an insect being caught far from the land, was
that of a large grasshopper (Acrydium), which
flew on board when the Beagle was to windward
of the Cape de Verd Islands, and when the near-
est point of land, not directly opposed to the trade-
wind, was Cape Blanco on the coast of Africa, 370
miles distant.*
On several occasions, when the Beagle has been
within the mouth of the Plata, the rigging has been
coated with the web of the Gossamer Spider. One
day (November 1st, 1832) I paid particular atten-
tion to this subject. The weather had been fine
and clear, and in the morning the air was full of
patches of the flocculent web, as on an autumnal
day in England. The ship was sixty miles distant
from the land, in the direction of a steady though
light breeze. Vast numbers of a small spider, about
one tenth of an inch in length, and of a dusky red
* The flies which frequently accompany a ship for some days
on its passage from harbour to harbour, wandering from the ves-
sel, are soon lost, and all disappear.
AERONAUT SPIDERS. 205
coloiu', were attaclied to the webs. There must
have been, I should suppose, some thousands on the
ship. The httle spider, when first coming in con-
tact with the rigging, was always seated on a sin-
gle thread, and not on the flocculent mass. This
latter seems merely to be produced by the entan-
glement of the single threads. The spiders were
all of one species, but of both sexes, together with
young ones. These latter were distinguished by
their smaller size and more dusky colour. I will
not give the description of this spider, but merely
state that it does not appear to me to be included
in any of Latreille's genera. The little aeronaut,
as soon as it arrived on board, was very active, run-
ning about, sometimes letting itself fall, and then
reascending the same thread ; sometimes employ-
ing itself in making a small and very iiTegular
mesh in the corners between the ropes. It could
run with facility on the surface of water. When
disturbed, it lifted up its front legs in the attitude
of attention. On its first arrival it appeared very
thirsty, and with exserted maxillae drank eagerly
of drops of water; this same circumstance has been
observed by Strack : may it not be in consequence
of the little insect having passed throvigh a dry and
rarefied atmosphere ] Its stock of web seemed in-
exhaustible. While watching some that were sus-
pended by a single thread, I several times obsei-v-
ed that the slightest breath of air bore them away
out of sight, in a horizontal line. On another oc-
casion (25th), under similar circumstances, I repeat-
edly observed the same kind of small spider, either
when placed or having crawled on some little em-
inence, elevate its abdomen, send forth a thread,
and then sail away horizontally, but with a rapid-
ity which was quite unaccountable. I thought I
could perceive that the spider, before performing
206 RIO PLATA.
the above preparatory steps, connected its legs to-
gether with the most delicate threads, but I am
not sure whether this observation was correct.
One day, at St. Fe, I had a better opportunity
of observing some similar facts. A spider which
was about three tenths of an inch in length, and
which in its general appearance resembled a Citi-
grade (therefore quite different from the gossamer),
while standing on the summit of a post, darted
forth four or five threads from its spinners. These,
glittering in the sunshine, might be compared to
diverging rays of light ; they were not, however,
straight, but in undulations like films of silk blown
by the wind. They were more than a yard in
length, and diverged in an ascending direction
from the orifices. The spider then suddenly let
go its hold of the post, and was quickly borne out
of sight. The day was hot and apparently quite
calm ; yet, under such circumstances, the atmo-
sphere can never be so tranquil as not to affect a
vane so delicate as the thread of a spider's web.
If during a warm day we look either at the shadow
of any object cast on a bank, or over a level plain
at a distant landmark, the effect of an ascending
current of heated air is almost always evident: such
upward currents, it has been remarked, are also
shown by the ascent of soap-bubbles, which will
not rise in an in-doors room. Hence I think there
is not much difficulty in understanding the ascent
of the fine lines projected from a spider's spinners,
and afterwards of the spider itself; the divergence
of the lines has been attempted to be explained, I
believe by Mr. Murray, by their similar electrical
condition. The circumstance of spiders of the
same species, but of different sexes and ages, being
found on several occasions at the distance of many
leagues from the land, attached in vast numbers to
CRUSTACEA. 207
the lines, renders it probable that the habit of sail-
ing through the air is as characteristic of this tribe, as
that of diving is of the Argyroneta. We may then
reject Latreille's supposition that the gossamer
owes its origin indifferently to the young of several
genera of spiders ; although, as we have seen, the
young of other spiders do possess the power of
performing aerial voyages.*
During our difierent passages south of the Pla-
ta, I often towed astern a net made of bunting,
and thus caught many curious animals. Of Crus-
tacea there were inany strange and undescribed
genera. One, which in some respects is allied to
the Notopods (or those crabs which have their pos-
terior legs placed almost on their backs, for the
purpose of adhering to the under side of rocks), is
very remarkable from the structure of its hind pair
of legs. The penultimate joint, instead of termi-
nating in a simple claw, ends in thi'ee bristle-like
appendages of dissimilar lengths — the longest
equalling that of the entire leg. These claws are
very thin, and are serrated with the finest teeth,
directed backwards : their curved extremities are
flattened, and on this part five most minute cups
are placed, which seem to act in the same manner
as the suckers on the arms of the cuttle-fish. As
the animal lives in the open sea, and probably
wants a place of rest, I suppose this beautiful and
most anomalous structure is adapted to take hold
of floating marine animals.
In deep water, far from the land, the number of
living creatures is extremely small : south of the
latitude 35°, I never succeeded in catching any-
thing besides some beroe, and a few species of
minute entomostracous Crustacea. In shoaler wa-
* Mr. Blackwall, in his Researches in Zoology, has many ex-
cellent observations on the habits of spiders.
208 ATLANTIC OCEAN.
ter, at the distance of a few miles from the coast,
very many kinds of Crustacea and some other an-
imals are numerous, but only during the night.
Between latitudes 56° and 57° south of Cape Horn,
the net was put astern several times ; it never,
however, brought up anything besides a few of
two extremely minute species of Entomostraca.
Yet whales and seals, petrels and albatross, are
exceedingly abundant throughout this part of the
ocean. It has always been a mystery to me on what
the albatross, which lives far from the shore, can
subsist ; I presume that, like the condor, it is able to
fast long ; and that one good feast on the carcass of a
puti-id whale lasts for a long time. The central and
intertropical parts of the Atlantic swarm with Pte-
ropoda, Crustacea, and Radiata, and with their de-
vourers the flying-fish, and again with their devoui'-
ers the bonitos and albicores ; I presume that the
numerous lower pelagic animals feed on the Infu-
soria, which are now known, from the researches
of Ehrenberg, to abound in the open ocean : but
on what, in the clear blue water, do these Infusoria
subsist 1
While sailing a little south of the Plata on one
very dark night, the sea presented a wonderful
and most beautiful spectacle. There was a fresh
breeze, and every part of the surface, which during
the day is seen as foam, now glowed with a pale
light. The vessel drove before her bows two bil-
lows of liquid phosphorus, and in her wake she
was followed by a milky train. As far as the eye
reached, the crest of every wave was bright, and
the sky above the horizon, from the reflected glare
of these livid flames, was not so utterly obscure as
over the vault of the heavens.
As we proceed further southward the sea is sel-
dom phosphorescent ; and off Cape Horn I do not
PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE SEA. 209
recollect more than once having seen it so, and
then it was far from being brilliant. This circum-
stance probably has a close connexion with the
scarcity of organic beings in that part of the ocean.
After the elaborate paper* by Ehrenberg on the
phosphorescence of the sea, it is almost 6upei"fluous
on my part to make any observations on the sub-
ject. I may, however, add, that the same torn and
irregular particles of gelatinous matter, described by
Ehrenberg, seem, in the southern as well as in the
northern heinisphere, to be the common cause of
this phenomenon. The particles were so minute as
easily to pass through fine gauze ; yet many were
distinctly visible by the naked eye. The water,
when placed in a tumbler and agitated, gave out
sparks, but a small portion in a watch-glass scarce-
ly ever was luminous. Ehrenberg states that these
particles all retain a certain degree of irritability.
My observations, some of which were made directly
after taking up the water, gave a different result.
I may also mention, that having used the net du-
ring one night, I allowed it to become partially dry,
and having occasion twelve hours aftenvards to
employ it again, I found the whole sui-face spark-
led as brightly as when first taken out of the water.
It does not appear probable, in this case, that the
paiticles could have remained so long alive. On
one occasion, having kept a jelly-fish of the genus
Dianaea till it was dead, the water in which it was
placed became luminous. When the waves scin-
tillate with bright green sparks, I believe it is gen-
erally owing to minute Crustacea. But there can
be no doubt that very many other pelagic animals,
when alive, are phosphorescent.
On two occasions I have observed the sea lumi-
* An abstract is given in No. IV. of the Magazine of Zoology
and Botany.
Vol. I—n S 2
210 I'HOSPIIOIlErfCENCE OF THE SEA.
nous at considerable depths beneath the surface.
Near the mouth of the Plata some circular and oval
patches, from two to four yards in diameter, and with
defined outlines, shone with a steady but pale light;
while the surrounding water only gave out a few
sparks. The appearance resembled the reflection of
the moon, or some luminous body ; for the edges
were sinuous from the undulations of the surface.
The ship, which drew thirteen feet of water, passed
over without disturbing these patches ; therefore
we inust suppose that some animals were congre-
gated together at a gi-eater depth than the bottom
of the vessel.
Near Fernando Noronha the sea gave out light in
flashes. The appearance was very similar to that
which might be exj^ected from a large fish moving
rapidly through a luminous fluid. To this cause
the sailors attributed it ; at the time, however, I
entertained some doubts, on account of the fre-
quency and rapidity of the flashes. I have already
remarked that tlie phenomenon is very much more
common in warm than in cold countries ; and I
have sometimes imagined that a disturbed electrical
condition of the atmosphere was most favourable
to its production. Certainly I think the sea is most
luminous after a few days of more calm weather
than ordinary, during which time it has swarmed
with various animals. Observing that the water
charged with gelatinous particles is in an impure
state, and that the luminous appearance in all com-
mon cases is produced by the agitation of the fluid
in contact with the atmosphere, I am inclined to
consider that the phosphorescence is the result of
the decomposition of the organic particles, by which
process (one is tempted almost to call it a kind of
respiration'^ the ocean becomes puiified.
PORT DESIRE SPANISH SETTLEMENT. 211
December 23d. — We anived at Poil Desire, sit-
uated in lat 47°, on the coast of Patagonia. The
creek runs for about twenty miles inland, with an
irregular width. The Beagle anchored a few miles
within the entrance, in front of the ruins of an old
Spanish settlement.
The same evening I went on shore. The first
landing in any new country is very interesting, and
especially when, as in this case, the whole aspect
bears the stamp of a marked and individual chai'-
acter. At the height of between two and three
hundred feet above some masses of porphyry a
wide plain extends, which is truly characteristic of
Patagonia. The surface is quite level, and is com-
posed of well-rounded shingle mixed with a whi-
tish earth. Here and there scattered tufts of browTi
wiry grass are supported, and, still more rarely,
some low thorny bushes. The weather is dry and
pleasant, and the fine blue sky is but seldom ob-
scured. When standing in the middle of one of
these desert plains and looking towards the interior,
the view is generally bounded by the escaqsment
of another plain, rather higher, but equally level
and desolate ; and in every other direction the ho-
lizon is indistinct from the trembling mirage which
seems to rise from the heated surface.
In such a- country the fate of the Spanish settle-
ment was soon decided ; the dryness of the climate
during the gi'eater part of the year, and the occa-
sional hostile attacks of the wandering Indians,
compelled the colonists to desert their half-finished
buildings. The style, however, in which they were
commenced, shows the strong and liberal hand of
Spain in the old time. The result of all the at-
tempts to colonize this side of America south of
41° have been miserable. Port Famine expresses
by its name the lingering and extreme sufferings
212 PORT DESIRE.
of several Imnclrecl wretched people, of whom one
alone survived to relate thsir misfortunes. At St.
Joseph's Bay, on the coast of Patagonia, a small
settlement was made ; but during one Sunday the
Indians made an attack and massacred the whole
party, excepting two men, who remained captives
during many years. At the Rio Negro I conversed
with one of these men, now in extreme old age.
The zoology of Patagonia is as limited as its
Flora.* On the arid j)lains a few black beetles
(Heteromera) might be seen slowly crawling about,
and occasionally a lizard darted from side to side.
Of birds we have three carrion hawks, and in the
valleys a few finches and insect-feeders. An ibis
(Theristicus melanops — a species said to be found
in central Africa) is not uncommon on the most
desert parts : in their stomachs I found grasshop-
pers, cicadae, small lizards, and even scorpions.!
At one time of the year these birds go in flocks, at
another in pairs ; their cry is very loud and singu-
lar, like the neighing of the guanaco.
The guanaco, or wild llama, is the characteristic
quadruped of the plains of Patagonia ; it is the
South American representative of the camel of the
East. It is an elegant animal in a state of nature,
with a long, slender neck and fine legs. It is very
common over the whole of the temperate parts of
the continent, as far south as the islands near Cape
Horn. It generally lives in small herds of from
* I found here a species of cactus, described by Professor Hen-
slow under the name of Opimtia Darwinii (Magazine of Zoology
and Botany, vol. i., p. 466), which was remarkable by the irrita-
bility of the stamens, when I inserted either a piece of stick or
the end of my finger in the flower. The segments of the peri-
anth also closed on the pistil, but more slowly than the stamens.
Plants of this family, generally considered as tropical, occur in
North America (Lewis and Clarke's Travels, p. 221), ill the same
high latitude as here, namely, in both cases, in 47°.
t These insects were not uncommon beneath stones. I found
one cannibal scorpion quietly devouring another.
HABITS OF THE GUANACO. 213
half a dozen to thirty in each ; but on the banlcs of
the St. Cruz we saw one herd which must have con-
tained at least five hundred.
They are generally wild and extremely wary.
Mr. Stokes told me that he one day saw through
a glass a herd of these animals which evidently
had been frightened, and were running away at
full speed, although their distance was so great
that he could not distinguish them with his naked
eye. The sportsman frequently receives the first
notice of their presence by hearing from a long dis-
tance their peculiar shrill, neighing note of alarm.
If he then looks attentively, he will probably see
the herd standing in a line on the side of some dis-
tant hill. On approaching nearer, a few more
squeals are given, and off they set at an apparently
slow, but really quick canter, along some narrow
beaten track to a neighbouring hill. If, however,
by chance he abruptly meets a single animal, or
several together, they will generally stand motion-
less and intently gaze at him ; then perhaps move
on a few yards, turn round, and look again. What
is the cause of this difference in their shyness 1
Do they mistake a man in the distance for their
chief enemy the puma "? Or does curiosity over-
come their timidity ? That they are curious is cer-
tain ; for if a person lies on the ground, and plays
strange antics, such as throwing up his feet in the air,
they will almost always approach by degrees to re-
connoitre him. It was an artifice that was repeated-
ly practised by our sportsmen with success, and it
had, moreover, the advantage of allowing several
shots to be fired, which were all taken as parts of
the pei-formance. On the mountains of Tierra del
Fuego, I have more than once seen a guanaco, on
being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but
prance and leap about in the most ridiculous man-
214 PORT DESIRE.
ner, apparently in defiance of a challenge. These
animals are very easily domesticated, and I have
seen some thus kept in northern Patagonia near a
house, though not under any restraint. They are
in this state very bold, and readily attack a man by
striking him from behind with both knees. It is as-
serted that the motive for these attacks is jealousy
on account of their females. The wild guanacos,
however, have no idea of defence ; even a single
dog will secure one of these large animals till the
huntsman can come up. In many of their habits
they are like sheep in a flock. Thus, when they
see men approaching in several directions on horse-
back, they soon become bewildered, and know not
which way to run. This greatly facilitates the In-
dian method of hunting, for they are thus easily
driven to a central point, and are encompassed.
The guanacos readily take to the water : several
times at Port Valdes they were seen swimming
from island to island. Byron, in his voyage, says
he saw thera drinking salt water. Some of our of-
ficers likewise saw a herd apparently drinking the
briny fluid from a salina near Cape Blanco. I
imagine, in several parts of the country, if they do
not drink salt water, they drink none at all. In the
middle of the day they frequently roll in the dust,
in saucer-shaped hollows. The males fight togeth-
er; two one day passed quite close to ine, squeal-
ing and trying to bite each other ; and several were
shot with their hides deeply scored. Herds some-
times appear to set out on exploring parties : at
Bahia Blanca, where, within thirty miles of the
coast, these animals are extremely unfrequent, I
one day saw the tracks of thirty or forty, which had
come in a direct line to a muddy salt-water creek.
They then must have perceived that they were ap-
proaching the sea, for they had wheeled with the
HABITS OF THE GUANACO. 215
regulai'ity of cavalry, and had returned back in as
straight a Une as they had advanced. The guana-
cos have one singular habit, which is to me quite
inexplicable ; namely, that on successive days they
drop their dung in the same defined heap. I saw
one of these heaps which was eight feet in diameter,
and was composed of a large quantity. This habit,
according to M. A. d'Orbigny, is common to all
the species of the genus : it is very useful to the
Peruvian Indians, who use the dung for fuel, and
are thus saved the trouble of collecting it.
The guanacos appear to have lavourite spots for
lying down to die. On the banks of the St. Cruz,
in certain circumscribed spaces, which were gener-
ally bushy and all near the river, the ground was
actually white with bones. On one such spot I
counted between ten and twenty heads. I partic-
ularly examined the bones ; they did not appear as
some scattered ones which I had seen, gnawed or
broken, as if dragged together by beasts of prey.
The animals in most cases must have crawled, be-
fore dying, beneath and amongst the bushes. Mr,
Bynoe informs me that during a former voyage he
observed the same circumstance on the banks of
the Rio Gallegos. I do not at all understand the
reason of this, but I may observe, that the wound-
ed guanacos at the St. Cruz invariably walked to-
wards the river. At St. Jago, in the Cape de Verd
islands, I remember having seen in a ravine a re-
tired comer covered with bones of the goat ; we
at the time exclaimed that it was the burial-ground
of all the goats in the island. I mention these tri-
fling circumstances, because in certain cases they
might explain the occurrence of a number of un-
injured bones in a cave, or buried under alluvial
accumulations ; and likewise the cause why certain
animals are more commonly embedded than others
in sedimentary deposits.
21G PATAGONIA.
One day the yawl was sent under the command
ofMr. Chaffers with three days' provisions to sur-
vey the upper part of the harbour. In the morn-
ing we searched for some watering-jjlaces men-
tioned in an old Spanish chart. We found one
creek, at the head of which there was a trickling
rill (the first we had seen) of brackish water.
Here the tide compelled us to wait several hours ;
and in the interval I walked some miles into the
interior. The plain, as usual, consisted of gravel,
mingled with soil resembling chalk in appearance,
but very different from it in nature. From the soft-
ness of these materials it was worn into many gul-
leys. There was not a tree, and, excepting the
guanaco, which stood on the hill-top a watchful
sentinel over its herd, scarcely an animal or a bird.
All was stillness and desolation. Yet in passing
over these scenes, without one bright object near,
an ill-defined but strong sense of pleasure is vivid-
ly excited. One asked how many ages the plain
had thus lasted, and how many more it was doomed
thus to continue.
None can reply — all seems eternal now.
The wilderness has a mysterious tongue,
Which teaches awful doubt.*
In the evening we sailed a few miles further up,
and then pitched the tents for the night. By the
middle of the next day the yawl was aground, and
from the shoalness of the water could not proceed
any higher. The water being found partly fresh,
Mr. Chaffers took the dingey and went up two or
three miles further, where she also grounded, but in
a fresh-water river. The water was muddy, and
though the stream was most insignificant in size, it
would be difficult to account for its origin, except
from the melting snow on the Cordillera. At the
* Shelley, Lines on Mt. Blano.
INDIAN GRAVE. 217
Bpot where we bivoviacked, we were surrounded
by bold clifts, and steep pinnacles of porphyry. I
do not think I ever saw a spot which appeared
more secluded from the rest of the world than this
rocky crevice in the wide plain.
The second day after our return to the anchorage,
a party of officers and myself went to ransack an
old Indian grave which I had found on the summit
of a neighbouring hill. Two immense stones, each
probably weighing at least a couple of tons, had
been placed in front of a ledge of rock about six
feet high. At the bottom of the gi-ave, on the hard
rock, there was a layer of earth about a foot deep,
which must have been brought up from the plain
below. Above it a pavement of flat stones was
placed, on which others were piled, so as to fill up
the space between the ledge and the two great
blocks. To complete the grave, the Indians had
contrived to detach from the ledge a huge frag-
ment, and to throw it over the pile so as to rest on
the two blocks. We undermined the grave on
both sides, but could not find any relics, or even
bones. The latter probably had decayed long since
(in which case the gi-ave must have been of ex-
treme antiquity), for I found in another place some
smaller heaps, beneath which a very {"ew cnimbling
fragments could yet be distinguished as having be-
longed to a man. Falconer states, that where an
Indian dies he is buried, but that subsequently his
bones are carefully taken up and carried, let the
distance be ever so great, to be deposited near the
sea-coast. This custom, I think, may be accounted
for by recollecting, that before the introduction of
horses, these Indians must have led nearly the same
life as the Fuegians now do, and therefore gener-
ally have resided in the neighbourhood of the sea.
The common prejudice of lying where one's an-
T
218 PORT ST. JULIAN.
cestors have lain, would, make the now roaming
Indians bring the less perishable part of their dead
to their ancient burial-ground on the coast.
January ^th, 1834. — Before it was dark the
Beagle anchored in the fine, spacious harbour of
Port St. Julian, situated about one hundred and ten
miles to the south of Port Desire. We remained
here eight days. The countiy is nearly similar
to that of Port Desire, but perhaps rather more
sterile. One day a party accompanied Captain
Fitz Roy on a long walk round the head of the
harbour. We were eleven hours without tasting
any water, and some of the party were quite ex-
hausted. From the summit of a hill (since well
named Thirsty Hill) a fine lake was spied, and two
of the party proceeded with concerted signals to
show whether it was fresh water. What was our
disappointment to find a snow-white expanse of
salt, crystallized in great cubes ! We attributed
our extreme thirst to the dryness of the atmo-
sphere ; but, whatever the cause might be, we were
exceedingly glad, late in the evening, to get back to
the boats. Although we could nowhere find, du-
ring our whole visit, a single drop of fresh water,
yet some must exist ; for by an odd chance I found
on the surface of the salt water, near the head of
the bay, a Colymbetes not quite dead, which must
have lived in some not far distant pool. Three
other insects (a Cincindela, like hybrida, a Cymin-
dis, and a Harpalus, which all live on muddy flats
occasionally overflowed by the sea), and one other
found dead on the plain, complete the list of the
beetles. A good-sized fly (Tabanus) was extreme-
ly numerous, and tormented us by its painful bite.
The common horsefly, which is so troublesome in
the shady lanes of England, belongs to this same
genus. We here have the puzzle that so frequent-
GEOLOGY OF PATAGONIA. 219
ly occurs in the case of musquitoes — on the blood
of what animals do these insects commonly feed?
The guanaco is nearly the only warm-blooded
quadruped, and it is found in quite inconsiderable
numbers compared with the multitude of flies.
The geology of Patagonia is interesting. Dif-
ferently from Europe, where the tertiary forma-
tions appear to have accumulated in bays, here
along hundreds of miles of coast we have one great
deposit, including many tertiary shells, all appa-
rently extinct. The most common shell is a mass-
ive, gigantic oyster, sometimes even a foot in diam-
eter. These beds are covered by others of a pe-
culiar soft white stone, including much gypsum,
and resembling chalk, but really of a pumiceous
nature. It is highly remarkable, from being com-
posed, to at least one tenth part of its bulk, of In-
fusoria : Professor Ehrenberg has already ascer-
tained in it thirty oceanic forms. This bed ex-
tends for 500 miles along the coast, and probably
for a considerably greater distance. At Port St.
Julian its thickness is more than 800 feet ! These
white beds are everywhere capped by a mass of
gravel, forming probably one of the largest beds
of shingle in the world : it certainly extends from
near the Rio Colorado to between 600 and 700
nautical miles southward ; at Santa Cruz (a river
a little south of St. Julian) it reaches to the foot of
the Cordillera ; half way up the river, its thickness
is more than 200 feet ; it probably everywhere ex-
tends to this great chain, whence the well-rounded
pebbles of porphyry have been derived : we may
consider its average breadth as 200 miles, and its
average thickness as about 50 feet. If this gi-eat
bed of pebbles, without including the mud neces-
sarily derived from their attrition, was piled into a
220 GEOLOGY OF PATAGONIA,
mound, it would form a great mountain chain !
When we consider tliat all these pebbles, countless
as the gi'ains of sand in the desert, have been de-
rived from the slow falling of masses of rock on
the old coast-lines and banks of rivers, and that
these fragments have been dashed into smaller
pieces, and that each of them has since been slow-
ly rolled, rounded, and far transported, the mind
is stupified in thinking over the long, absolutely
necessary lapse of years. Yet all this gravel has
been transported, and probably rounded, subse-
quently to the deposition of the white beds, and
long subsequently to the underlying beds with the
tertiary shells.
Everything in this southern continent has been
effected on a grand scale : the land, from the Rio
Plata to Tierra del Fuego, a distance of 1200
miles, has been raised in mass (and in Patagonia
to a height of between 300 and 400 feet), within
the period of the now existing sea-shells. The
old and weathered shells left on the surface of the
upraised plain still partially retain their colours.
The uprising movement has been interrupted by
at least eight long periods of rest, during which
the sea ate deeply back into the land, forming at
successive levels the long lines of clifts or escarp-
ments, which separate the different plains as they
rise like steps one behind the other. The eleva-
tory movement, and the eating-back power of the
sea during the periods of rest, have been equable
over long lines of coast ; for I was astonished to
find that the step-like plains stand at nearly corre-
sponding heights at far distant points. The lowest
plain is 90 feet high ; and the highest, which I as-
cended near the coast, is 950 feet ; and of this,
only relics are left in the form of flat, gravel-capped
hills. The upper plain of St. Cruz slopes up to a
GEOLOGY OF PATAGONIA. 221
height of 3000 feet at the foot of the Cordillera.
I have said that within the period of existing sea-
shells Patagonia has been upraised 300 to 400 feet :
I may add, that within the period when icebergs
transported boulders over the upper plain of Santa
Cruz, the elevation has been at least 1500 feet.
Nor has Patagonia been aftected only by upward
movements : the extinct tertiary shells from Port
St. Julian and Santa Cruz cannot have lived, ac-
cording to Professor E. Forbes, in a gi-eater depth
of water than from 40 to 250 feet ; but they are
now covered with sea-deposited strata ft'om 800 to
1000 feet in thickness : hence the bed of the sea,
on which these shells once lived, must have sunk
downwards several hundred feet to allow of the ac-
cumulation of the superincumbent sti'ata. What a
history of geological changes does the simply-con-
sti'ucted coast of Patagonia reveal !
At Port St. Julian,* in some red mud capping
the gravel on the 90-feet plain, I found half the
skeleton of the Macrauchenia Patachonica, a re-
markable quadruped, full as large as a camel. It
belongs to the same division of the Pachydermata
with the rhinoceros, tapir, and pala30therium ; but
in the structure of the bones of its long neck it
shows a clear relation to the camel, or rather to the
guanaco and llama. From recent sea-shells being
found on two of the higher step-formed plains,
which must have been modelled and upraised be-
fore the mud was deposited in which the Macrau-
chenia was intombed, it is certain that this curious
quadruped lived long after the sea was inhabited
by its present shells. I was at first much surprised
* I have lately heard that Capt. Sulivan, R.N., has found nu-
merous fossil bones, embedded in regular strata, on the banks of
the Rio Gallegos, in lat. 51° 4'. Some of the bones are large ;
others are small, and appear to have belonged to an armadillo.
This IS a most interesting and important discovery.
T 2
222 TYPES OF ORGANIZATION CONSTANT.
how a large quadruped could so lately have sub-
sisted, in lat. 49° 15', on these wretched gravel
plains, with their stunted vegetation ; but the rela-
tionship of the Macrauchenia to the guanaco, now
an inhabitant of the most sterile parts, partly ex-
plains this difficulty.
The relationship, though distant, between the
Macrauchenia and the Guanaco, between the Tox-
odon and the Capybara — the closer relationship
between the many extinct Edentata and the living
sloths, ant-eaters, and armadilloes, now so eminent-
ly characteristic of South American zoology — and
the still closer relationship between the fossil and
living species of Ctenomys and Hydrocheerus, are
most interesting facts. This relationship is shown
wonderfully — as wonderfully as between the fossil
and extinct Marsupial animals of Australia — by the
great collection lately brought to Em-ope from the
caves of Brazil by MM. Lund and Clausen. In
this collection there are extinct species of all the
thirty-two genera, excepting four, of the terrestrial
quadrupeds now inhabiting tlie provinces in which
the caves occur ; and the extinct species are much
more numerous than those now living : there are
fossil ant-eaters, armadilloes, tapirs, peccaries, gua-
nacos, opossums, and numerous South American
gnawers and monkeys, and other animals. This
wonderful relationship in the same continent be-
tween the dead and the living, will, I do not doubt,
hereafter throw more light on the appearance of
organic beings on our earth, and their disappear-
ance from it, than any other class of facts.
It is impossible to reflect on the changed state of
the American continent without the deepest aston-
ishment. Formerly it must have swarmed with
gi'eat monsters : now we find mere pigmies, com-
pared with the antecedent allied races. If Buffon
CAUSES OF EXTINCTION. 223
had known of the gigantic sloth and armadillo-like
animals, and of the lost Pachydermata, he might
have said, with a greater semblance of truth, that
the creative force in America had lost its powei-,
rather than that it had never possessed great vigour.
The greater number, if not all, of these extinct
quadrupeds lived at a late period, and were the
contemporaries of most of the existing sea-shells.
Since they lived, no very gi-eat change in the form
of the land can have taken place. What, then, has
exterminated so many species and whole genera ?
The mind at first is irresistibly hurried into the be-
lief of some great catastrophe ; but thus to destroy
animals, both large and small, in Southern Patago-
nia, in Brazil, on the Cordillera of Peru, in North
America up to Behring's Straits, we must shake
the entire framework of the globe. An examina-
tion, moreover, of the geology of La Plata and Pata-
gonia, leads to the belief that all the features of
the land result from slow and gradual changes. It
appears from the character of the fossils in Europe,
Asia, Australia, and in North and South America,
that those conditions which favour the life of the
larger quadrupeds were lately co-extensive with
the world : what those conditions were, no one has
yet even conjectured. It could hardly have been
a change of temperature, which at about the same
time destroyed the inhabitants of tropical, temper-
ate, and arctic latitudes on both sides of the globe.
In North America, we positively know from Mr.
Lyell that the large quadrupeds lived subsequent-
ly to that period when boulders were brought into
latitudes at which icebergs now never an-ive :
firom conclusive but indirect reasons we may feel
sure, that in the southern hemisphere the Macrau-
chenia also lived long subsequently to the ice-
transporting boulder-period. Did man, after his
224 CAUSES OF EXTINCTION.
first inroad into South America, destroy, as has
been suggested, the unwieldy Megatherium and
the other Edentata 1 We must at least look to
some other cause for the destruction of the little
tucutuco at Bahia Blanca, and of the many fossil
mice and other small quadrupeds in Brazil. No
one will imagine that a drought, even far severer
than those which cause such losses in the provinces
of La Plata, could destroy every individual of
every species from Southern Patagonia to Behring's
Straits. What shall we say of the extinction of the
horse 1 Did those plains fail of pasture, which
have since been overrun by thousands and hun-
dreds of thousands of the descendants of the stock
introduced by the Spaniards 1 Have the subse-
quently introduced species consumed the food of
the great antecedent races ? Can we believe that
the Capybara has taken the food of the Toxodon,
the Guanaco of the Macrauchenia, the existing
small Edentata of their numerous gigantic proto-
tyj^es 1 Certainly no fact in the long history of the
world is so startling as the wide and repeated ex-
terminations of its inhabitants.
Nevertheless, if we consider the subject under
another point of view, it will appear less pei-plex-
ing. We do not steadily bear in inind how pro-
foundly ignorant we are of the conditions of exist-
ence of every animal ; nor do we always remem-
ber that some check is constantly preventing the
too rapid increase of every organized being left in
a state of nature. The supply of food, on an av-
erage, remains constant, yet the tendency in every
animal to increase by propagation is geometrical ;
and its surprising eft'ects have nowhere been more
astonishingly showi'i than in the case of the Euro-
pean animals run wild during the last few centu-
ries in America. Every animal in a state of na-
CAUSES UF EXTiNCTIuX. 225
ture regularly breeds ; yet in a species long estab-
lished, any great inci'ease in numbers is obviously
impossible, and must be checked by some means.
We are, nevertheless, seldom able with certainty
to tell, in any given species, at what period of life,
or at what period of the year, or whether only at
long intervals, the check falls ; or, again, what is
the precise nature of the check. Hence probably
it is that we feel so little surprise at one, of two
species closely allied in habits, being rare and the
other abundant in the same district ; or, again, that
one should be abundant in one district, and anoth-
er, filling the same place in the economy of nature,
should be abundant in a neighbouring district, dif-
fering very little in its conditions. If asked how
this is, one immediately replies that it is determin-
ed by some slight difference in climate, food, or the
number of enemies ; yet how rai'ely, if ever, we
can point out the precise cause and manner of ac-
tion of the check ! We are therefore driven to
the conclusion that causes generally quite inap-
preciable by us determine whether a given spe-
cies shall be abundant or scanty in numbers.
In the cases where we can trace the extinction
of a species through man, either wholly or in one
limited district, we know that it becomes rarer and
rarer, and is then lost : it would be difficult to point
out any just distinction* betv/een a species destroy-
ed by man or by the increase of its natural enemies.
The evidence of rarity preceding extinction is more
striking in the successive tertiary strata, as remark-
ed by several able observers; it has often been found
that a shell very common in a tertiary stratum
is now most rare, and has even long been thought
to be extinct. If, then, as appears probable, spe-
* See the excellent remarks on this subject by Mr Lyell, in his
Principles of Geology.
Vol, I — 15
226 CAUSES OF EXTIXCTION.
cies first become rare and then extinct — if the too
rapid increase of every species, even the most fa-
voured, is steadily checked, as we must admit,
though how and when it is hard to say — and if we
see, without the smallest surprise, though unable
to assign the precise reason, one species abundant
and another closely-allied species rare in the same
disti'ict, why should we feel such great astonish-
ment at the rarity being caiTied a step further to
extinction ? An action going on on eveiy side of
us, and yet barely appreciable, might surely be car-
ried a little further without exciting our observa-
tion. Who would feel any great surprise at hear-
ing that the jMegalonyx was fonnerly rare com-
pared with the Megatherium, or that one of the
fossil monkeys was few in number compared -with
one of the now living monkeys ? and yet in this
comparative rarity we should have the plainest ev-
idence of less favourable conditions for their exist-
ence. To admit that species generally become rare
before they become extinct — to feel uo sui"prise at
the comparative rarity of one species with another,
and yet to call in some extraordinary agent and
to mai-vel gi-eatly when a species ceases to exist,
appears to me much the same as to admit that sick-
ness in the individual is the prelude to death — to
feel no surprise at sickness — but when the sick
man dies, to wonder, and to believe that he died
through violence. ■ ,
EXPLORING THE SANTA CRUZ. 227
CHAPTER IX.
Santa Cruz— Expedition up the Kiver— Indians— Immense Streams
of Basaltic Lava— Fragments not transported by the Kiver — Ex-
cavation of the Valley— Condor, habits of— Cordillera— Erratic
Boulders of great size — Indian Relics — Return to the Ship —
Falkland Islands— Wild Horses, Cattle, Rabbits— Wolf-like Fox
— Fire made of Bones — Manner of hunting wild Cattle — Geolo-
gy — Streams of Stones— Scenes of Violence — Penguin— Geese
— Eggs of Doris— Compound Animals.
SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA, AND THE FALKLAND
ISLANDS.
April loth, 1834. — The Beagle ahcliored within
the mouth of the Santa Cruz. This river is situ-
ated about sixty miles south of Port St. Julian.
During the last voyage Captain Stokes proceeded
thirty miles up it, but then, from the want of pro-
visions, was obliged to return. Excepting what
was discovered at that time, scarcely anything was
known about this large river. Captain Fitz Roy
now determined to follow its course as far as time
would allow. On the 18th three whale-boats start-
ed, carrying three weeks' provisions ; and the par-
ty consisted of twenty-five souls — a force which
would have been sufficient to have defied a host of
Indians. With a strong flood-tide and a fine day
we made a good run, soon drank some of the fresh
water, and were at night nearly above the tidal in-
fluence.
The river here assumed a size and appearance
which, even at the highest point we ultimately
reached, was scarcely diminished. It was gener-
ally from three to four hundred yards broad, and
in the middle about seventeen feet deep. The
rapidity of the cuiTont, which in its whole course
runs at the rate of from four to six knots an hour,
H..^.- ■-'^-rC.— -^---^^-— ^-
228 SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA.
is, perhaps, its most remarkable feature. The wa-
ter is of a fine blue colour, but with a slight milky
tinge, and not so transparent as at first sight would
have been expected. It flows over a bed of peb-
bles, like those which compose the beach and the
surrounding plains. It runs in a winding course
through a valley, which extends in a direct line
westward. This valley varies from five to ten
miles in breadth ; it is bounded by step-formed
terraces, which rise in most parts, one above the
other, to the height of five hundred feet, and have
on the opposite sides a remarkable correspondence,
April 19th. — Against so strong a current it was,
of course, quite impossible to row or sail : conse-
quently the three boats were fastened together head
and stern, two hands left in each, and the rest came
on shore to track. As the general arrangements
made by Captain Fitz Roy were very good for fa-
cilitating the work of all, and as all had a share in
it, I will describe the system. The party, inclu-
ding every one, was divided into two spells, each
of which hauled at the tracking line alternately
for an hour and a half. The officers of each boat
lived with, ate the same food, and slept in the same
tent with their crew, so that each boat was quite in-
dependent of the others. After sunset, the first level
spot where any bushes were growing was chosen for
our night's lodging. Each of the crew took it in
turns to be cook. Immediately the boat was hauled
up, the cook made his fire ; two others pitched the
tent; the coxswain handed the things out of the boat;
the rest carried them ujj to the tents and collected
firewood. By this order, in half an hour everything
was ready for the night. A watch of two men
and an officer was always kept, whose duty it was
to look after the boats, keep up the fire, and guard
against Indians. Each in the party had his one,
hour every night.
EXPLORING THE SANTA CRUZ. 229
During tliis day we tracked but a short distance,
for there were many islets, covered by thorny bush-
es, and the channels between them were shallow.
Ajiril 20th. — We passed the islands and set to
work. Our regular day's march, although it was
hard enough, carried us on an average only ten
miles in a straight line, and perhaps fifteen or twen-
ty altogether. Beyond the place where we slept
last night the country is completely terra incognita,
for it was there that Captain Stokes turned back.
We saw in the distance a great smoke, and found
the skeleton of a horse, so wc knew that Indians
Avere in the neighbourhood. On the next morning
(:^lst) tracks of a party of horse, and marks left by
the trailing of the chuzos, or long spears, were ob-
served on the ground. It was generally thought
that the Indians had reconnoitred us dui'ing the
night. Shortly afterwards we came to a spot where,
from the fresh footsteps of men, children, and hor-
ses, it was evident that the party had crossed the
I'iver.
April 22d. — The country remained the same,
and was extremely uninteresting. The complete
similarity of the productions throughout Patagonia
is one of its most striking characters. The level
plains of arid shingle support the same stunted and
dwarf plants ; and in the valleys the same thorn-
bearing bushes grow. Everywhere we see the
same birds and insects. Even the very banks of
the river, and of the clear streamlets which entered
it, were scarcely enlivened by a brighter tint of
green. The curse of sterility is on the land, and
the water flowing over a bed of pebbles partakes
of the same curse. Hence the number of water-
fowl is very scanty, for there is nothing to support
life in the stream of this baiTen river.
Patagonia, poor as she is in some respects, can,
230 SANTA CRIJZ, PATAGONIA.
however, boast of a gi-eater stock of small rodents*
than perhaps any other country in the world. Sev-
eral species of mice are externally characterized
by large thin ears and a very fine fur. These lit-
tle animals swarm amongst the thickets in the val-
leys, where they cannot for months together taste
a drop of water excepting the dew. They all
seem to be cannibals ; for no sooner was a mouse
caught in one of my traps than it was devoured by
others. A small and delicately-shaped fox, which
is likewise very abundant, probably derives its en-
tire support from these small animals. The gua-
naco is also in his pro23er district ; herds of fifty or
a hundred were common ; and, as I have stated,
we saw one which must have contained at least five
hundred. The puma, with the condor and other
carrion-hawks in its train, follows and preys upon
these animals. The footsteps of the puma were
to be seen alinost everywhere on the banks of the
river; and the remains of several guanacos, with
their necks dislocated and bones broken, shoAved
how they had met their death.
April 2ith. — Like the navigators of old when
approaching an unknown land, we examined and
watched for the most trivial sign of a change. The
drifted trunk of a tree, or a boulder of primitive
rock, was hailed with joy, as if we had seen a forest
growing on the flanks of the Cordillera. The top,
however, of a heavy bank of clouds, which remain-
ed almost constantly in one position, was the most
promising sign, and eventually turned out a true
harbinger. At first the clouds were mistaken for
the mountains themselves, instead of the masses of
vapour condensed by their icy summits.
* The deserts of Syria are characterized, according to Volney
(torn, i., p. 351), by woody bushes, numerous rats, gazelles, and
hares. In the landscape of Patagonia, the guanaco replaces the
gazelle, and the agouti the hare.
EXPLOraNG THE SANTA CRUZ. 231
April 26t7i. — We this day met with a marked
change in the geological structure of the plains.
From the first starting I had carefully examined
the gravel in the river, and for the two last days
had noticed the presence of a few small pebbles
of a very cellular basalt. These gradually in-
ci'eased in number and in size, but none were as
large as a man's head. Tliis morning, however,
pebbles of the same rock, but more compact, sud-
denly became abundant, and in the course of half
an hour we saw, at the distance of five or six miles,
the angular edge of a great basaltic platform.
When we arrived at its base we found the stream
bubbling among the fallen blocks. For the next
twenty-eight miles the river-course was encumber-
ed with these basaltic masses. Above that limit im-
mense fragments of primitive rocks, derived from
the surrounding bouldcr-forraation, were equally
numerous. None of the fragments of any consid-
erable size had been washed more than three or
four miles down the river below their parent-source:
considering the singular rapidity of the great body
of water in the Santa Cruz, and that no still reach-
es occur in any part, this example is a most stri-
king one, of the inefficiency of rivers in transport-
ing even moderately-sized fragments.
The basalt is only lava, which has flowed be-
neath the sea; but the eruptions must have been
on the grandest scale. At the point where we first
met this formation it was 120 feet in thickness;
following up the river course, the surface imper-
ceptibly rose and the mass became thicker, so that
at forty miles above the first station it was 320 feet
thick. What the thickness may be close to the
Cordillera I have no means of knowing, but the
platform there attains a height of about three thou-
sand feet above the level of the sea : we must
232 SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA.
therefore look to the mountains of that great chain
for its source ; and worthy of such a source are
streams, that haVe flowed over the gently inclined
bed of the sea to a distance of one hundred miles.
At the first glance of the basaltic cliffs on the op-
posite sides of the valley, it was evident that the
strata once were united. What power, then, has
removed along a whole lino of country, a solid mass
of very hard rock, which had an average thickness
of nearly three hundred feet, and a breadth vary-
ing from rather less than two miles to four miles 1
The river, though it has so little power in trans-
porting even inconsiderable fragments, yet in the
lapse of ages might produce by its gradual erosion
an effect, of which it is difficult to judge the
amount. But in this case, independently of the
insignificance of such an agency, good reasons can
be assigned for believing that this valley was foi'-
merly occupied by an arm of the sea. It is need-
less in this work to detail the arguments leading to
this conclusion, derived from the form and the na-
ture of the step-formed terraces on both sides of
the valley, from the manner in which the bottom
of the valley near the Andes expands into a great
estuary-like plain, with sand-hillocks on it, and from
the occurrence of a few sea-shells lying in the bed
of the river. If I had space I could prove that
South America was formerly here cut off' by a
strait, joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, like
that of Magellan. But it may yet be asked. How
has the solid basalt been removed 1 Geologists
formerly would have brought into play the violent
action of some overwhelming debacle; but in this
case such a supposition would have been quite in-
admissible, because the same step-like plains, with
existing sea-shells lying on their surface, which
front the long line of the Patagonian coast, sweep
EXPLORING THE SANTA CRUZ. 233
up on each side of the valley of Santa Cruz. No
possible action of any flood could thus have mod-
elled the land, either within the valley or along
the open coast; and by the formation of such step-
like plains or terraces the valley itself has beca
hollowed out. Although we know that there are
tides, which run within the NaiTows of the Strait
of Magellan at the rate of eight knots an hour, yet
we must confess that it makes the head almost
giddy to reflect on the number of years, century
after century, which the tides, unaided by a heavy
suif, must have required to have corroded so vast
an area and thickness of solid basaltic lava. Nev-
ertheless, we must believe that the sti'ata under-
mined by the waters of this ancient strait were
broken up into huge fragments, and these lying
scattered on the beach were reduced first to small-
er blocks, then to pebbles, and lastly to the most
impalpable mud, which the tides drifted far into
the Eastern or Western Ocean.
With the change in the geological structure of
the plains the character of the landscape likewise
altered. While rambling up some of the narrow
and rocky defiles, I could almost have fancied my-
self transported back again to the barren valleys
of the island of St. Jago. Among the basaltic cliffs
I found some plants which I had seen nowhere
else, but others I recognised as being wanderers
from Tierra del Fuego. These porous rocks serve
as a resei-voir for the scanty rain water; and con-
sequently, on the line where the igneous and sedi-
mentary formations unite, some small springs (most
rare occurrences in Patagonia) burst forth ; and
they could be distinguished at a distance by the
circumscribed patches of bright gi'een herbage.
April 21 til. — The bed of the river became rather
narrower, and hence the stream more rapid. It
V 2
234 SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA.
here ran at the rate of six knots an hour. From
this cause, and from the many great angular frao--
ments, tracking the boats became both dangerous
and laborious.
This day I shot a condor. It measured from tip
to tip of the wings eight and a half feet, and from
beak to tail four feet. This bird is known to have
a wide geographical range, being found on the
west coast of South America, from the Strait of
Magellan along the Cordillera as far as eight de-
gi'ees N. of the equator. The steep cliff near the
mouth of the Rio Negro is its northern limit on the
Patagonian coast ; and they have there wandered
about four hundred miles from the great central
line of their habitation in the Andes. Further
south, among the bold precipices at the head of
Port Desire, the condor is not uncommon ; yet
only a few stragglers occasionally visit the sea-
coast. A line of cliff near the mouth of the Santa
Cruz is frequented by these birds, and about eighty
miles up the river, where the sides of the valley
are formed by steep basaltic precipices, the condor
reappears. From these facts, it seems that the
condors require perpendicular cliffs. In Chile,
they haunt, during the greater part of the year, the
lower country near the shores of the Pacific, and
at night several roost together in one ti'ee ; but in
the early part of summer, they retire to the most
inaccessible parts of the inner Cordillera, there to
breed in peace.
With respect to their propagation, I was told by
the country people in Chile that the condor makes
no sort of nest, but in the months of November and
December lays two large white eggs on a shelf of
bare rock. It is said that the young condors can-
not fly for an entire year ; and long after they are
THE COXDOR. 235
able, they continue to roost by nif^ht, and hunt hj
clay with their parents. The old birds generally
live in pairs ; but among the inland basaltic cliffs
of the Santa Cruz, I found a spot where scores
must usually haunt. On coming suddenly to the
brow of the precipice, it was a grand spectacle to
see between twenty and thirty of these great birds
start heavily from their resting-place, and wheel
away in majestic circles. From the quantity of
dung on the rocks, they must long have frequented
this cliff" for roosting and breeding. Having gorged
themselves with carrion on the plains below, they
retire to these favourite ledges to digest their food.
From these facts, the condor, like the gallinazo,
must to a certain degree be considered as a grega-
rious bird. In this part of the countiy they live al-
together on the guanacos which have died a natural
death, or, as more commonly happens, have been
killed by the pumas. I believe, from what I saw
in Patagonia, that they do not on ordinary occa-
sions extend their daily excursions to any great
distance from their regular sleeping-places.
The condors inay oftentimes be seen at a great
height, soaring over a certain spot in the most
graceful circles. On some occasions I am sure that
they do this only for pleasure, but on others, the
Chilcno countryman tells you that they are watch-
ing a dying animal, or the puma devouring its prey.
If the condors glide down, and then suddenly all
rise together, the Chileno knows that it is the puma
which, watching the carcass, has sprung out to drive
away the robbers. Besides feeding on carrion, the
condors frequently attack young goats and lambs ;
and the shepherd dogs are trained, whenever they
pass over, to run out, and, looking upwards, to bark
violently. The Chilenos destroy and catch num-
bers. Two methods are used : one is to place a
2Jb SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA.
carcass on a level piece of ground, within an en-
closure of sticks, with an opening, and when the
condors are goi-ged, to gallop up on horseback to
the entrance, and thus enclose them ; for when this
bird has not space to run, it cannot give its body-
sufficient momentum to rise from the ground. The
second method is to mark the trees in which, fre-
quently to the number of five or six together, they
roost, and then at night to climb uj^ and noose them.
They are such heavy sleepers, as I have myself
witnessed, that this is not a difficult task. At Valpa-
raiso, I have seen a living condor sold for sixpence,
but the common price is eight or ten shillings.
One which I saw brought in had been tied with
rope, and was much injured ; yet the moment the
line was cut by which its bill was secured, although
surrounded by people, it began ravenously to tear
a piece of can-ion. In a garden at the same place
between twenty and thirty were kept alive. They
were fed only once a week, but they appeared in
pretty good health.* The Chileno countrymen as-
sert that the condor will live, and retain its vigour,
between five and six weeks without eating : I can-
not answer for the truth of this, but it is a cruel ex-
periment, which very likely has been tried.
When an animal is killed in the country, it is well
known that the condors, like other carrion-vultures,
soon gain intelligence of it, and congregate in an
inexplicable manner. In most cases it must not
be overlooked that the birds have discovered their
prey, and have picked the skeleton clean, before the
flesh is in the least degree tainted. Remembering
the experiments of M. Audubon on the little smell-
ing powers of carrion-hawks, I tried in the above-
* I noticed that several hours before any one of the condors
died, all the lice with which it was infested crawled to the out-
side feathers. I was assured that this always happened.
CARRION-VULTURES. 237
mentioned garden the following experiment : the
condors were tied, each by a rope, in a long row
at the bottom of a wall ; and having folded up a
piece of meat in white paper, I walked backwards
and forwards, carrying it in my hand at the distance
of about three yards from them, but no notice what-
ever was taken. I then threw it on the ground,
within one yard of an old male bird ; he looked at
it for a moment with attention, but then regarded
it no more. With a stick I pushed it closer and
closer, until at last he touched it with his beak ; the
paper was then instantly torn off with fury, and at
the same moment every bird in the long row be-
gan struggling and flapping its wings. Under the
same circumstances, it would have been quite im-
possible to have deceived a dog. The evidence in
favour of and against the acute smelling powers
of carrion-vultures is singularly balanced. Profess-
or Owen has demonstrated that the olfactory nerves
of the turkey-buzzard (Cathartes aura) are highly
developed ; and on the evening when Mr. Owen's
paper was read at the Zoological Society, it was
mentioned by a gentleman that he had seen the
carrion-hawks in the West Indies on two occasions
collect on the roof of a house when a corpse had
become offensive from not having been buried : in
this case, the intelligence could hardly have been
acquired by sight. On the other hand, besides the
experiments of Audubon and that one by myself,
Mr. Bachman has tried in the United States many
varied plans, showing that neither the turkey-buz-
zard (the species dissected by Professor Owen) nor
the gallinazo find their food by smell. He covered
portions of highly oftensive offal with a thin canvass
cloth, and strewed pieces of meat on it ; these the
carrion-vultures ate up, and then remained quietly
standing, with their beaks within the eighth of an
238 SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA.
inch of the putrid mass, without discovering it. A
small rent was made in the canvass, and the ofFal
was immediately discovered ; the canvass was re-
placed by a fresh piece, and meat again put on it,
and was again devoured by the vultures without
their discovering the hidden mass on which they
were trampling. These facts are attested by the
signatures of six gentlemen, besides that of Mr.
Bachmam*
Often, when lying down to rest on the open plains,
on looking upwards, I have seen carrion-hawks sail-
ing through the air at a great height. Where the
country is level, I do not believe a space of the heav-
ens, of more than fifteen degrees above the horizon,
is commonly viewed with any attention by a person
either walking or on horseback. If such be the case,
and the vulture is on the wing at a height of be-
tween three and four thousand feet, before it could
come within the range of vision, its distance in a
straight line from the beholder's eye would be rather
more than two British miles. Might it not thus
readily be overlooked 1 When an animal is killed
by the sportsman in a lonely valley, may he not all
the while be watched from above by the shai-p-
sighted bird 1 And will not the manner of its de-
scent proclaim throughout the disti'ict to the whole
family of carrion-feeders that their prey is at hand?
When the condors are wheeling in a flock round
and round any spot, their flight is beautiful. Ex-
cept when rising from the ground, I do not recol-
lect ever having seen one of these birds flap its
wings. Near Lima, I watched several for nearly
half an hour, without once taking off" my eyes : they
moved in large curves, sweeping in circles, descend-
ing and ascending witliout giving a single flap. As
they glided close over my head, I intently watched
* Loudon's Magazine of Nat. Hist., vol. vii.
CARRION-VULTURES. 239
from an oblique position the outlines of the separate
and great terminal feathers of each wing ; and these
separate feathers, if there had been the least vibra-
tory movement, would have appeared as if blended
together; but they were seen distinct against the
blue sky. The head and neck were moved fre-
quently, and apparently with force ; and the extend-
ed wings seemed to form the fulcrum on which the
movements of the neck, body, and tail acted. If
the bird wished to descend, the wings were for a
moment collapsed ; and when again exjaanded with
an altered inclination, the momentum gained by
the rapid descent seemed to urge the bird upwards
wdth the even and steady movement of a paper kite.
In the case of any bird soaring, its motion must be
sufficiently rapid, so that the action of the inclined
surface of its body on the atmosphere may counter-
balance its gravity. The force to keep up the mo-
mentum of a body moving in a horizontal plane in
the air (in which there is so little friction) cannot
be great, and this force is all that is wanted. The
movement of the neck and body of the condor, we
must suppose, is sufficient for this. However this
may be, it is ti-uly wonderful and beautiful to see
so great a bird, hour after hour, without any ap-
parent exertion, wheeling and gliding over mount-
ain and river.
Ajnil 29th. — From some high land we hailed with
joy the white summits of the Cordillera, as they
were seen occasionally peeping through their dusky
envelope of clouds. During the few succeeding
days we continued to get on slowly, for we found
the river course very tortuous, and strewed with
immense fragments of various ancient slaty rocks,
and of granite. The plain bordering the valley
had here attained an elevation of about 1100 feet
240 SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA.
above the river, and its character was much altered.
The well-rounded pebbles of porphyry were min-
gled with many immense angular fragments of
basalt and of primary rocks. The first of these er-
ratic boulders which I noticed were sixty-seven
miles distant from the nearest mountain ; another
which I measured was five yards square, and pro-
jected five feet above the gravel. Its edges wei'e
so angular, and its size so great, that I at first mis-
took it for a rock in situ, and took out my compass
to observe the direction of its cleavage. The plain
here was not quite so level as that nearer the coast,
but yet it betrayed no signs of any great violence.
Under these circumstances it is, I believe, quite
impossible to explain the transportal of these gi-
gantic masses of rock, so many miles from their
parent-source, on any theory except by that of
floating icebergs.
During the two last days we met with signs of
horses, and with several small articles which had
belonged to the Indians — such as parts of a mantle
and a bunch of ostrich feathers — but they appear-
ed to have been lying long on the ground. Be-
tween the place where the Indians had so lately
crossed the river and this neighbourhood, though
so maihy miles apai't, the country appears to be
quite unfrequented. At first, considering the abun-
dance of the guanacos, I was surprised at this ; but
it is explained by the stony nature of the plains,
which would soon disable an unshod horse from
taking part in the chase. Nevertheless, in two
places in this very central region I found small
heaps of stones, which I do not think could have
been accidentally thrown together. They were
placed on points projecting over the edge of the
highest lava cliff, and they resembled, but on a
small scale, those near Port Desire.
DESCENT OF THE SANTA CIIUZ. 241
May Ath. — Captain Fitz Roy deteiinined to take
the boats no higher. The river had a winding
course, and was very rapid ; and the appearance
of" the country offered no temptation to proceed
any further. Everywhere we met with the same
productions, and the same dreary landscape. We
were now one hundred and forty iniles distant
from the Atlantic, and about sixty from the near-
est arm of the Pacific. The valley in this upper
part expanded into a wide basin, bounded on the
north and south by the basaltic platforms, and
fronted by the long range of the snow-clad Cordil-
lera. But we viewed these grand mountains with
regret, for we were obliged to imagine their nature
and productions, instead of standing, as we had
hoped, on their summits. Besides the useless loss
of time which an attempt to ascend the river any
higher would have cost us, we had already been
for some days on half allowance of bread. This,
although really enough for reasonable men, was,
after a hard day's march, rather scanty food : a
light stomach and an easy digestion are good things
to talk about, but very unpleasant in practice.
5th. — Before sunrise we commenced our de-
scent. We shot down the stream with great ra-
pidity, generally at the rate of ten knots an hour.
In this one day we effected what had cost us five
and a half hard days' labour in ascending. On the
Sth we reached the Beagle, after our twenty-one
days' expedition. Every one, excepting myself,
had cause to be dissatisfied ; but to me the ascent
afforded a most interesting section of the great ter-
tiary formation of Patagonia.
On March 1st, 1833, and again on March l&th^
1834, the Beagle anchored in Berkeley Sound, in
East Falkland Island. This archipelago is situ-
VoL. 1—16 X
242 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
ated in nearly the same latitude with the mouth of
the Strait of Magellan ; it covers a space of one
hundred and twenty by sixty geogi-aphical miles,
and is a little more than half the size of Ireland.
After the possession of these miserable islands had
been contested by France, Spain, and England,
they were left uninhabited. The government of
Buenos Ayres then sold them to a private individ-
ual, but likewise used them, as old Spain had done
before, for a penal settlement. England claimed
her right and seized them. The Englishman who
was left in charge of the flag was consequently
murdered. A British officer was next sent, un-
supported by any power ; and when we arrived,
we found him in charge of a population of which
rather more than half were runaway rebels and
murderers.
The theatre is worthy of the scenes acted on it.
An undulating land, with a desolate and wretched
aspect, is everywhere covered by a peaty soil and
wiry grass, of one monotonous brown colour.
Here and there a peak or ridge of gray quartz
rock breaks througli the smooth surface. Every
one has heard of the climate of these regions ; it
may be compared to that which is experienced at
the height of between one and two thousand feet
on the mountains of North Wales ; having, how-
ever, less sunshine and less frost, but more wind
and rain.*
l<6th. — I will now describe a short excursion
which I made round a part of this island. In the
* From accounts published since our voyage, and more espe-
cially from several interesting letters from Captain Sulivan, R.N.,
employed on the survey, it appears that we took an exaggerated
view of the badness of the climate of these islands. But when I
reflect on the almost universal covering of peat, and on the fact
of wheat seldom ripening here, I can hardly believe that the cli-
mate in summer is so fine and dry as it has lately been repre-
HUNTING WILD CATTLE. 243
myrning I started with six horses and two Gau-
chos : the latter were capital men for the purpose,
and well accustomed to living on their own re-
sources. The weather was very boisterous and
cold, with heavy hail-storms. We got on, howev-
er, pretty well, but, except the geology, nothing
eould be less interesting than our day's ride. The
country is uniformly the same undulating moor-
land ; the surface being covered by light brown
withered grass and a few very small shrubs, all
springing out of an elastic peaty soil. In the val-
leys here and there might be seen a small flock of
wild geese, and everywhere the gi'ound was so
soft that the snipe were able to feed. Besides
these two birds there were few others. There is
one main range of hills, nearly two thousand feet
in height, and composed of quartz rock, the rug-
ged and barren crests of which gave us some
trouble to cross. On the south side we came to
the best country for wild cattle ; we met, however,
no great number, for they had been lately much
harassed.
In the evening we came across a small herd.
One of my companions, St. Jago by name, soon
separated a fat cow ; he threw the bolas, and it
struck her legs, but failed in becoming entangled.
Then dropping his hat to mark the spot where the
balls were left, while at full gallop he uncoiled his
lazo, and after a most severe chase again came up
to the cow, and caught her round the horns. The
other Gaucho had gone on ahead with the spare
horses, so that St. Jago had some difficulty in kill-
ing the furious beast. He managed to get her on
a level piece of ground, by taking advantage of her
as often as she rushed at him ; and when she would
not move, my horse, from having been ti'ained,
would canter up, and with his chest give her a vi-
244 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
olent push. But when on level ground it does not
appear an easy job for one man to kill a beast mad
with terror. Nor would it be so, if the horse, when
left to itself without its rider, did not soon learn,
for its own safety, to keep the lazo tight ; so that,
if the cow or ox moves forward, the horse moves
just as quickly forward; otherwise it stands mo-
tionless, leaning on one side. This horse, howev-
er, was a young one, and would not stand still, but
gave in to the cow as she struggled. It was admi-
rable to see with what dexterity St. Jago dodged
behind the beast, till at last he contrived to give
the fatal touch to the main tendon of the hind leg ;
after which, without much difficulty, he drove his
knife into the head of the spinal marrow, and the
cow dropped as if struck by lightning. He cut off
pieces of flesh with the skin to it, but without any
bones, sufficient for our expedition. We then rode
on to our sleeping-place, and had for supper " carne
con cuero," or meat roasted with the skin on it.
This is as superior to common beef as venison is to
mutton. A large circular piece taken from the
back is roasted on the embers, with the hide down-
wards, and in the form of a saucer, so that none of
the gravy is lost. If any worthy alderman had
supped with us that evening, " came con cuero,"
without doubt, would soon have been celebrated in
London.
During the night it rained, and the next day
(17th) was very stormy, with much hail and snow.
We rode across the island to the neck of land which
joins the Rincon del Tore (the great peninsula
at the S.W. extremity) to the rest of the island.
From the great number of cows which have been
killed, there is a largo proportion of bulls. These
wander about single, or two and three together,
and are very savage. I never saw such magnifi-
CATCHING A DULL. 245
cent beasts ; tliey equalled in the size of their huge
heads and necks the Grecian marble sculptures.
Capt. Sulivan informs me that the hide of an avei--
age-sized bull weighs forty-seven pounds, whereas
a hide of this weight, less thoroughly dried, is con-
sidered as a very heavy one at Monte Video. The
young bulls generally run away for a short dis-
tance ; but the old ones do not stir a step, except
to rush at man and horse; and many horses have
been thus killed. An old bull crossed a boggy
stream, and took his stand on the opposite side to
us ; we in vain tried to drive him away, and fail-
ing, were obliged to make a large circuit. The
Gauchos, in revenge, determined to emasculate him,
and render him for the future harmless. It was
very interesting to see how art completely mastei'-
ed force. One lazo was thrown over his horns as
he rushed at the horse, and another round his hind
legs : in a minute the monster was stretched pow-
erless on the ground. After the lazo has once been
drawn tightly round the horns of a furious animal,
it does not at first appear an easy thing to disen-
gage it again without killing the beast ; noi", I ap-
prehend, would it be so if the man was by himself.
By the aid, however, of a second person throwing
his lazo so as to catch both hind legs, it is quickly
managed : for the animal, as long as its hind legs
are kept outstretched, is quite helpless, and the
first man can with his hands loosen his lazo from
the horns, and then quietly mount his horse ; but
the moment the second man, by backing ever so
little, relaxes the strain, the lazo slips off the legs
of the struggling beast, which then rises free, shakes
himself, and vainly rushes at his antagonist.
During our whole ride we saw only one troop
of wild horses. These animals, as well as the cat-
tle, were introduced by the French in 1764, since
X2
246 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
which time both have greatly increased. It is a
curious fact that the hoi'ses have never left the
eastern end of the island, although there is no nat-
ural boundary to prevent them from roaming, and
that part of the island is not more tempting than
the rest. The Gauchos whom I asked, though as-
serting this to be the case, were unable to account
for it, except from the strong attachment which
horses have to any locality to which they are accus-
tomed. Considering that the island does not ap-
pear fully stocked, and that there are no beasts of
prey, I was particularly curious to know what has
checked their originally rapid increase. That in
a limited island some check would sooner or later
supei-vene, is inevitable ; but why has the increase
of the horse been checked sooner than that of the
cattle 1 Capt. Sulivan has taken much pains for
me in this inquiry. The Gauchos employed here
attribute it chiefly to the stallions constantly roam-
ing from place to place, and compelling the mares
to accompany them, whether or not the young foals
are able to fdllow. One Gaucho told Capt. Suli-
van that he had watched a stallion for a whole hour,
violently kicking and biting a mare till he forced
her to leave her foal to its fate. Capt. Sulivan can
60 far corroborate this curious account, that he has
several times found young foals dead, whereas he
has never found a dead calf Moreover, the dead
bodies of full-grown horses are more frequently
found, as if more subject to disease or accidents
than those of the cattle. From the softness of the
ground their hoofs often grow irregularly to a
great length, and this causes lameness. The pre-
dominant colours are roan and iron-grey. All the
horses bred here, both tame and wild, are rather
small-sized, though generally in good condition ;
and they have lost so much strength that they are
WILD CATTLE. 247
unfit to be used in taking wild cattle with the lazo :
in consequence, it is necessary to go to the great
expense of importing fresh horses from the Plata.
At some future period the southern hemisphere
probably will have its breed of Falkland ponies,
as the northern has its Shetland breed.
The cattle, instead of having degenerated like
the horses, seem, as before remarked, to have in-
creased in size ; and they are much more numer-
ous than the horses. Capt. Sulivan informs me
that they vary much less in the general form of
their bodies and in the shape of their horns than
English cattle. In colour they differ much ; and
it is a remai-kable circumstance, that in different
parts of this one small island different colours pre-
dominate. Round Mount Usborne, at a height of
from 1000 to 1500 feet above the sea, about half
of some of the herds are mouse or lead-coloured,
a tint which is not cominon in other parts of the
island. Near Port Pleasant dark brown prevails,
whereas south of Choiseul Sound (which almost di-
vides the island into two parts) white beasts with
black heads and feet are the most common : in all
parts black and some spotted animals may be ob-
ser\'ed. Capt. Sulivan remarks, that the difference
in prevailing colours was so obvious, that, in look-
ing for the herds near Port Pleasant, they appear-
ed from a long distance like black spots, whilst
south of Choiseul Sound they appeared like white
spots on the hill-sides. Capt. Sulivan thinks that
the herds do not mingle ; and it is a singular fact
that the mouse-coloured cattle, though living on the
high land, calve about a month earlier in the sea-
son than the other coloured beasts on the lower
land. It is interesting thus to find the once domes-
ticated cattle breaking into three colours, of which
some one colour would in all probability ultimate-
248 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
ly prevail over the others, if the herds were left
undisturbed for the next several centuries.
The rabbit is another animal which has been in-
troduced, and has succeeded very well, so that they
abound over large parts of the island. Yet, like
the horses, they are confined within certain limits;
for they have not crossed the central chain of hills,
nor would they have extended even so far as its
base, if, as the Gauchos informed me, small colo-
nies had not been carried there. I should not
have supposed that these animals, natives of nor-
thern Africa, could have existed in a climate so
humid as this, and which enjoys so little sunshine
that even wheat ripens only occasionally. It is
asserted that in Sweden, which any one would
have thought a more favourable climate, the rabbit
cannot live out of doors. The fii'st few pair, more-
over, had here to contend against pre-existing en-
emies, in the fox and some largo hawks. The
French naturalists have considered the black vari-
ety a distinct species, and called it Lepus Magellanic
cus.* They imagined that Magellan, when talking
of an animal under the name of " conejos" in the
Strait of Magellan, referred to this species ; but he
was alluding to a small cavy, which to this day is
thus called by the Spaniards. The Gauchos laugh-
ed at the idea of the black kind being different from
the grey, and they said that at all events it had not
extended its range any further than the grey kind;
that the two were never found separate; and that
they readily bred together, and produced piebald
* Lesson's Zoology of the Voyage of the Coquille, torn, i., p.
168. All the earlier voyagers, and especially Bougainville, dis-
tinctly state that the wolf-like fox was the only native animal on
the island. The distniction of the rabbit as a species is taken
from peculiarities m the fur, from the shape of the head, and from
the shortness of the ears. I may here observe, that the difference
between the Irish and English hare rests upon nearly similar
characters, only more strongly marked.
WOLF-LIKE FOX. 249
offspring. Of" the latter I now possess a specimen,
and it is marked about the head differently from
the French specific description. This circum-
stance shows how cautious naturalists should be in
making species ; for even Cuvier, on looking at the
skull of one of these rabbits, thought it was proba-
bly distinct !
The only quadruped native to the island* is a
large wolf-like fox (Canis antarcticus), which is
common to both East and West Falkland. I have
no doubt it is a peculiar species, and confined to
this archipelago ; because many sealers, Gauchos,
and Indians, who have visited these islands, all main-
tain that no such animal is found in any part of
South America. INIolina, from a similarity in hab-
its, thought that this was the same with his " cul-
peu;"t but I have seen both, and they are quite
distinct. These wolves ai-e well known, from
Byron's account of their tameness and curiosity,
which the sailors, who ran into the water to avoid
tfiem, mistook for fierceness. To this day their
manners remain the same. They have been ob-
served to enter a tent, and actually pull some meat
from beneath the head of a sleeping seaman. The
Gauchos also have frequently in the evening killed
them, by holding out a piece of meat in one hand,
and in the other a knife ready to stick them. As
far as I am aware, there is no other instance in any
part of the world of so small a mass of broken
land, distant from a continent, possessing so large
an aboriginal quadruped peculiar to itself. Their
* I have reason, however, to suspect that there is a field-mouse.
The common European rat and mouse have roamed far from the
habitations of the settlers. The common hog has also run wild
on one islet : all are of a black colour : the boars are very fierce,
and liave great tusks.
t The " culpeu" is the Canis Magellanicus brought home by
Captain King from the Strait of Magellan. It is common in Chile.
250 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
numbers have rapidly decreased ; they are already
banished from that half of the island which lies to
the eastward of the neck of land between St. Sal-
vador Bay and Berkeley Sound. Within a very
few years after these islands shall have become reg-
ularly settled, in all probability this fox will be
classed with the dodo, as an animal which has per-
ished from the face of the earth.
At night (17th) we slept on the neck of land at
the head of Choiseul Sound, which forms the south-
west peninsula. The valley was pretty well shel-
tered from the cold wind, but there was very little
brushwood for fuel. The Gauchos, however, soon
found what, to my great surprise, made nearly as
hot a fire as coals : this was the skeleton of a bul-
lock lately killed, from which the flesh had been
picked by the carrion-hawks. They told me that
in winter they often killed a beast, cleaned the
flesh from the bones with their knives, and then
with these same bones roasted the meat for their
suppers.
ISth. — It rained during nearly the whole da.y.
At night we managed, however, with our saddle-
cloths, to keep ourselves pretty well dry and warm ;
but the ground on which we slept was on each oc-
casion nearly in the state of a bog, and there was
not a dry spot to sit down on after our day's ride.
I have in another part stated how singular it is that
there should be absolutely no ti'ees on these islands,
although Tierra del Fuego is covered by one large
forest. The largest bush in the island (belonging
to the family of Compositas) is scarcely so tall as
our gorse. The best fuel is afforded by a green
little bush about the size of common heath, which
has the useful property of buraing while fresh and
green. It was very surprising to see the Gauchos,
in the midst of rain and everything soaking wet,
HUNTING WILD CATTLE. 251
with nothing more than a tinder-box and piece of
rag, immediately make a fire. They sought be-
neath the tufts of grass and bushes for a few dry
twigs, and these they rubbed into fibres ; then sur-
rounding them with coarser twigs, something like
a bird's nest, they put the rag with its spark of fire
in the middle and covered it up. The nest being,
then held up to the wind, by degrees it smoked
more and more, and at last burst out in flames. I
do not think any other method would have had a
chance of succeeding with such damp materials.
19th. — Each moniing, from not having ridden for
some time previously, I was very stiff. I was sur-
prised to hear the Gauchos, who have from infancy
almost lived on horseback, say that, under similar
circumstances, they always suffer. St. Jago told
me, that having been confined for three months by
illness, he went out hunting wild cattle, and in con-
sequence, for the next two days, his thighs were so
stiff that he was obliged to lie in bed. This shows
that the Gauchos, although they do not appear to
do so, yet really must exert much muscular effort
in riding. The hunting wild cattle, in a country
so difficult to pass as this is on account of the
swampy gi-ound, must be very hard work. The
Gauchos say they often pass at full speed over
ground which would be impassable at a slower
pace ; in the same manner as a man is able to skate
over thin ice. When hunting, the party endeavours
to get as close as possible to the herd without be-
ing discovered. Each man carries four or five
pair of the bolas ; these he throws one after the
other at as many cattle, which, when once entan-
gled, are left for some days, till they become a lit-
tle exhausted by hunger and struggling. They are
then let free and driven towards a small herd of
tame animals, which have been brought to the spot
252 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
on purpose. From their pre\'ious treatment, being
too much teiTified to leave the herd, they are easily-
driven, if their strength last out, to the settlement.
The weather continued so very bad, that we de-
termined to make a push and try to reach the ves-
sel before night. From the quantity of rain which
had fallen, the surface of the whole country was
swampy. I suppose my horse fell at least a dozen
times, and sometimes the whole six horses were
floundering in the mud together. All the little
streams are bordered by soft peat, which makes it
very difficult for the horses to leap them without
falling. To complete our discomfozts, we were
obliged to cross the head of a creek of the sea, in
which the water was as high as our horses' backs ;
and the little waves, owing to the violence of the
wind, broke over us, and made u-s very wet and
cold. Even the iron-framed Gauchos professed
themselves glad when they reached the settlement,
after our little excursion.
The geological structure of these islands is in
most respects simple. The lower country consists
of clay-slate and sandstone, containing fossils, very
closely related to, but not identical with, those
found in the Silurian formations of Europe; the
hills are formed of white granular quartz rock.
The strata of the latter are frequently arched with
perfect symmetry, and the appearance of some of
the masses is in consequence most singular. Per-
nety* has devoted several pages to the description
of a Hill of Ruins, the successive strata of which
he has justly compared to the seats of an amphi-
theatre. The quartz rock must have been quite
pasty when it underv/ent such remarkable flexures
without being shattered into fragments. As the
* Pernety, Voyage aux Isles Malouines, p. 526.
STREAMS OF STONES. 253
quartz insensibly passes into the sandstone, it seems
probable that the former owes its origin to the
sandstone having been heated to such a degree
that it became viscid, and upon cooling crystallized.
While in the soft state it must have been pushed
up through the overlying beds.
In many parts of the island the bottoms of the
valleys are covered in an extraordinary manner by
myriads of gi-eat loose angular fragments of the
quartz rock, forming "streams of stones." These
have been mentioned with surprise by every voy-
ager since the time of Pernety. The blocks are
not water-worn, their angles being only a little
blunted ; they vary in size from one or two feet in
diameter to ten, or even more than twenty times
as much. They are not thrown together into ir-
regular piles, but are spread out into level sheets
or great streams. It is not possible to ascertain
their thickness, but the water of small streamlets
can be heard trickling through the stones many
feet below the surface. The actual depth is prob-
ably great, because the crevices between the lower
fragments must long ago have been filled up with
sand. The width of these sheets of stones varies
from a few hundred feet to a mile ; but the peaty
soil daily encroaches on the borders, and even forms
islets wherever a few fragments happen to lie close
together. In a valley south of Berkeley Sound,
which some of our party called the " great valley of
fragments," it was necessary to cross an uninter-
rupted band half a mile wide, by jumping from one
pointed stone to another. So large were the frag-
ments, that, being overtaken by a shower of rain, I
readily found shelter beneath one of them.
Their little inclination is the most remarkable
circumstance in these "streams of stones." On
the hill-sides I have seen them sloping at an angle
254 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
of ten degi-ees with the horizon ; but in some of
the level, broad-bottomed valleys, the inclination
is only just sufficient to be clearly perceived. On
so rugged a surface there was no means of meas-
uring the angle ; but, to give a common illustra-
tion, I may say that the slope would not have
checked the speed of an English mail-coach. In
some places, a continuous stream of these frag-
ments followed up the course of a valley, and even
extended to the very crest of the hill. On these
crests huge masses, exceeding in dimensions any
small building, seemed to stand arrested in their
headlong course : there, also, the curved strata of
the archways lay piled on each other, like the
mins of some vast and ancient cathedral. In en-
deavouring to describe these scenes of violence,
one is tempted to pass from one simile to another.
We may imagine that streams of white lava had
flowed from many parts of the mountains into the
lower country, and that when solidified they had
been rent by some enormous convulsion into myr-
iads of fragments. The expression " streams of
stones," which immediately occurred to every one,
conveys the same idea. These scenes are on the
spot rendered more striking by the contrast of the
low, rounded forms of the neighbouring hills.
I was interested by finding on the highest peak
of one range (about 700 feet above the sea) a great
arched fragment, lying on its convex side, or back
downwards. Must we believe that it was fairly
pitched up in the air, and thus turned 1 Or, with
more probability, that there existed formerly a part
of the same range more elevated than the point on
which this monument of a great convulsion of na-
ture now lies. As the fragments in the valleys are
neither rounded, nor the crevices filled up with
sand, we must infer that the period of violence
STREAMS OF STONES. 255
was subsequent to the land having been raised
above the waters of the sea. In a transverse sec-
tion within these valleys the bottom is neai'ly level,
or rises but very little towards either side. Hence
the fragments appear to have travelled from the
head of the valley ; but in reality it seems more
probable that they have been hurled down from
the ncai^est slopes, and that since, by a vibratory
movement of overwhelming force,* the fragments
have been levelled into one continuous sheet. If,
during the earthquaket which in 1835 overthrew
Concepciou, in Chile, it was thought wonderful
that small bodies should have been pitched a few
inches from the ground, what must we say to a
movement which has caused fragments many tons
in weight to move onwards like so much sand on
a vibrating board, and find their level 1 I have
seen, in the Cordillera of the Andes, the evident
marks where stupendous mountains have been
broken into pieces like so much thin crust, and the
strata thrown on their vertical edges ; but never
did any scene like these " streams of stones" so
forcibly convey to my mind the idea of a convul-
sion, of which in historical records we might in
vain seek for any counterpart : yet the progress
of knowledge will probably some day give a sim-
ple explanation of this phenomenon, as it already
has of the so long thought inexplicable transportal
of the erratic boulders which are strewed over the
plains of Europe.
* " Nous n'avons pas ete moins saisis d'etonnenient k la vue de
I'innombrable qiiantite de pierres de toutes grandeurs, boulever-
sees les unes sur les autres, et cependant rangdes, comma si elles
avoient ete amoncelees negligemment pour remplir des ravins.
On ne se lassoit pas d'admirer les eft'ets prodigieux de la nature."
— Pernety, p. 52G.
t An iiihabitant of Mendoza, and hence well capable of judging,
assured me that, during the several years he had resided on these
islands, he had never felt the shghtest shock o''"n earthquake.
256 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
I have little to remark on the zoology of these
islands. I have before described the carrion-vul-
ture, or Polyborus. There are some other hawks,
owls, and a few small land-birds. The water-fowl
are particularly numerous, and they must formerly,
from the accounts of the old navigators, have been
much more so. One day I observed a cormorant
playing with a fish which it had caught. Eight
times successively the bird let its prey go, then
dived after it, and although in deep water, brought
it each time to the surface. In the Zoological
Gardens I have seen the otter treat a fish in the
same manner, much as a cat does a mouse : I do
not know of any other instance where Dame Nature
appears so wilfully cruel. Another day, having
placed myself between a penguin (Aptenodytes
demersa) and the water, I was much amused by
watching its habits. It was a brave bird ; and till
reaching the sea, it regularly fought and drove me
backwards. Nothing less than heavy blows would
have stopped him ; every inch he gained he firmly
kept, standing close before me erect and deter-
mined. When thus opposed, he continually rolled
his head from side to side, in a very odd manner,
as if the power of distinct vision lay only in the
anterior and basal part of each eye. This bird is
commonly called thejackass penguin, from its habit,
while on shore, of throwing its head backwards,
and making a loud, strange noise, very like the
braying of an ass ; but while at sea, and undis-
turbed, its note is very deep and solemn, and is
often heard in the night-time. In diving, its little
wings are used as fins; but on the land, as front
legs. When crawling, it may be said on four legs,
through the tussucks or on the side of a grassy cliff",
it moves so very quickly that it might easily be
mistaken for a quadruped. When at sea and fish-
ing, it comes^ to the surface for the purpose of
HABITS OF SOME BIRDS. 257
breathing with such a spring, and dives again so
instantaneously, that I defy any one at first sight to
be sure that it was not a fish leaping for sport.
Two kinds of geese frequent the Falklands.
The upland species (Anas Magellanica) is common,
in pairs and in small flocks, throughout the island.
They do not migrate, but build on the small out-
lying islets. This is supposed to be from fear of
the foxes : and it is pei'haps from the same cause
that these birds, though very tame by day, are shy
and wild in the dusk of the evening. They live
entirely on vegetable matter. The rock-goose, so
called from living exclusively on the sea-beach
(Anas antarctica), is common both here and on the
west coast of America, as far north as Chile. In
the deep and retired channels of Tieri'a del Fuego,
the snow-white gander, invariably accompanied by
his darker consort, and standing close by each other
on some distant rocky point, is a common feature
in the landscape.
In these islands agreatloggerheaded duck or goose
(Anas brachyptera), which sometimes weighs twen-
ty-two pounds, is very abundant. These birds were
in former days called, from their extraordinary
manner of paddling and splashing upon the water,
race-horses ; but now they are named, much more
appropriately, steamers. Their wings are too
small and weak to allow of flight, but by their aid,
partly swimming and partly flapping the surface
of the water, they move very quickly. The man-
ner is something like that by which the common
house-duck escapes when pui'sued by a dog ; but I
am nearly sui"e that the steamer moves its wings
alternately, instead of both together, as in other
birds. These clumsy, loggerheaded ducks make
such a noise and splashing, that the effect is ex-
ceedingly curious.
Vol. 1—17 Y
258 FALKLAND IcLANDcJ.
Thus we find in South America three birds
which use their wings for other pui-poses besides
flight ; the penguin as fins, the steamer as paddles,
and the ostrich as sails ; and the Apteryx of New
Zealand, as well as its gigantic extinct prototype
the Deinomis, possess only rudimentary represent-
atives of wings. The steamer is able to dive only
to a very short distance. It feeds entirely on shell-
fish from the kelp and tidal rocks ; hence the beak
and head, for the purpose of breaking them, are
surprisingly heavy and strong : the head is so
strong that I have scarcely been able to fracture it
with my geological hammer ; and all our sports-
men soon discovered how tenacious these birds
were of life. When in the evening pluming them-
selves in a flock, they make the same odd mixture
of sounds which bullfrogs do within the tropics.
In Tierra del Fuego, as well as at the Falkland
Islands, I made many observations on the lower
marine animals,* but they are of little general in-
terest. I will mention only one class of facts, re-
lating to certain zoophytes in the more highly or-
ganized division of that class. Several genera
(Flustra, Eschara, Cellaria, Crisia, and others)
* I was surprised to find, on counting the eggs of a large white
Doris (this sea-slug was three and a half inches long), how extra-
ordinarily numerous they were. From two to five eggs (each
three thousandths of an inch in diameter) were contamed in a
spherical little case. These were arranged two deep in transverse
rows forming a riband. The riband adhered by its edge to the
rock in an oval spire. One which I found measured nearly
twenty inches in length and half in breadth. By counting how
many balls were contained in a tenth of an inch in the row, and
how many rows in an equal length of the riband, on the most
moderate computation there were six hundred thousand eggs.
Yet this Doris was certainly not very common : although I was
often searching under the stones, I saw only seven individuals.
No fallacy is more common with naturalists than that the numbers of
an individual species depend on its powers of propagation.
ZOOPHYTES, 259
agree in having singular moveable organs (like
those of Flustra avicularia, found in the European
seas) attached to their cells. The organ, in the
greater number of cases, very closely resembles
the head of a vulture ; but the lower mandible can
be opened much wider than in a real bird's beak.
The head itself possesses considerable powers of
movement, by means of a short neck. In one
zoophyte the head itself was fixed, but the lower
jaw free : in another it was replaced by a triangu-
lar hood, with a beautifully-fitted trapdoor, which
evidently answered to the lower mandible. In the
greater number of species, each cell was provided
with one head, but in others each cell had two.
The young cells at the end of the branches of
these corallines contain quite immature polypi, yet
the vulture-heads attached to them, though small,
are in every respect perfect. When the polypus
Avas removed by a needle from any of the cells,
these organs did not appear in the least affected.
When one of the vulture-like heads was cut off
from a cell, the lower mandible retained its power
of opening and closing. Perhaps the most singular
part of their structure is, that when there were
more than two rows of cells on a branch, the cen-
ti'al cells were furnished with these appendages,
of only one fourth the size of the outside ones.
Their movements varied according to the species ;
but in some I never saw the least motion ; while
others, with the lower mandible generally wide
open, oscillated backwards and forwards at the
rate of about five seconds each turn ; others moved
rapidly and by starts. When touched with a nee-
dle, the beak generally seized the point so firmly
that die whole branch might be shaken.
These bodies have no relation whatever with
the production of the eggs or gemmules, as they
260 FALKLAND ISLANDS.
are formed before the young polypi appear in the
cells at the end of the growing branches ; as they
move independently of the polypi, and do not ap-
pear to be in any way connected with them ; and
as they differ in size on the outer and inner rows
of cells, I have little doubt that, in their functions,
they are related rather to the homy axis of the
branches than to the polypi in the cells. The
fleshy appendage at the lower extremity of the
sea-pen (described at Bahia Blanca) also forms part
of the zoophyte, as a whole, in the same manner as
the roots of a tree form part of the whole tree, and
not of the individual loaf or flower-buds.
In another elegant little coralline (Crisia'?), each
cell was furnished with a long -toothed bristle,
which had the power of moving quickly. Each of
these bristles and each of the vulture-like heads
generally moved quite independently of the others,
but soinetimes all on both sides of a branch, some-
times only those on one side, moved together coin-
stantaneously ; sometimes each moved in regular or-
der one after another. In these actions we appa-
rently behold as perfect a transmission of will in the
zoophyte, though composed of thousands of distinct
polyj)i, as in any single animal. The case, indeed,
is not different from that of the sea-pens, which,
when touched, drew themselves into the sand on
the coast of Bahia Blanca. I will state one other
instance of uniform action, though of a very differ-
ent nature, in a zoophyte closely allied to Clytia,
and therefore very simply organized. Having kept
a large tuft of it in a basin of salt-water, when it
was dark I found that as often as I rubbed any
part of a branch, the whole became strongly phos-
phorescent with a green light : I do not think I
ever saw any object more beautifully so. But the
remarkable circumstance was, that the flashes of
COMPOUND ANIMALS. 261,
light always proceeded up the branches, from the
base towards the extremities.
The examination of these compound animals was
always very interesting to me. What can be more
remarkable than to see a plant-like body producing
an egg, capable* of swimming about, and of choos-
ing a proper place to adhere to, which then sprouts
into branches, each crowded with innumerable dis-
tinct animals, often of complicated organizations 1
The branches, moreover, as we have just seen,
sometimes possess organs capable of movement and
independent of the polypi. Surprising as this uniun
of separate individuals in a common stock must al-
ways appear, every tree displays the same fact, for
buds must be considered as individual plants. It
is, however, natural to consider a polypus, furnished
with a mouth, intestines, and other organs, as a dis-
tinct individual, whereas the individuality of a leaf-
bud is not easily realized ; so that the union of
separate individuals in a common body is more
sti-iking in a coralline than in a tree. Our concep-
tion of a compound animal, where in some respects
the individuality of each is not completed, may be
aided by reflecting on the production of two dis-
tinct creatures by bisecting a single one with a knife,
or where Nature herself performs the task of bisec-
tion. We niay consider the polypi in a zoophyte,
or the buds in a tree, as cases where the division
of the individual has not been completely effected.
Certainly in the case of trees, and judging from
analogy in that of corallines, the individuals pi'opa-
gated by buds seem more intimately related to each
other, than eggs or seeds are to their parents. It
seems now pretty well established that plants prop-
agated by buds all partake of a common duration
of life ; and it is familiar to every one, what sin-
gular and numerous peculiarities are transmitted
Y J?
262 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
with certainty by buds, layers, and grafts, which by
seminal proi^agation never or only casually reap-
pear.
CHAPTER X. *
Tierra del Fuego, first arrival — Good Success Bay — An Account
of the Fuegians on board — Interview with the Savages — Scen-
ery of the Forests — Cape Horn — Wig^vam Cove — Miserable
Condition of the Savages — Famines—Cannibals — Matricide —
Religious Feelings — Great Gale — Beagle Channel — Ponsonby
Sound— Build Wigwams and settle the Fuegians — Bifurcation
of the Beagle Channel — Glaciers— Return to the Ship— Second
Visit in the Ship to the Settlement — Equality of Condition
amongst the Natives.
TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
December 11th, 1832. — Having now finished with
Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, I will describe
our first arrival in TieiTa del Fuego. A little after
noon we doubled Cape St. Diego, and entered the
famous strait of Le Maire. We kept close to the
Fuegian shore, but the outline of the rugged, in-
hospitable Staten-land was visible amidst the clouds.
In the afternoon we anchored in the bay of Good
Success. Wliile entering, we were saluted in a
manner becoming the inhabitants of this savage
land. A group of Fuegians, partly concealed by
the entangled forest, were perched on a wild point
ovei'hanging the sea ; and as we passed by, they
sprang up, and waving their tattered cloaks, sent
forth a loud and sonorous shout. The savages fol-
lowed the ship, and just before dark we saw their
fire, and again heard their wild cry. The harbour
consists of a fine piece of water, half surrounded
by low, rounded mountains of clay-slate, which are
covered to the water's edge by one dense gloomy
forest. A single glance at the landscape was suf-
ficient to show me how widely different it was from
INTERVIEW WITH THE NATIVES. 2G3
aiiything I had ever beheld. At night it blew a
gale of mnd, and heavy squalls from the mountaias
swept past us. It would have been a bad time out
at sea, and we, as well as others, may call this
Good Success Bay.
In the morning the Captain sent a party to com-
municate \vith the Fuegians. When we came
within hail, one of the four natives who were pres-
ent advanced to receive us, and began to shout
most vehemently, wishing to direct us where to
land. When we were on shore the party looked
rather alarmed, but continued talking and making
gestures with great rapidity. It was, Avithout ex-
ception, the most curious and interesting spectacle
I ever beheld : I could not have believed how wide
was the difference between savage and civilized
man : it is greater than between a wild and do-
mesticated animal, inasmuch as in man there is a
greater power of improvement. The chief spokes-
man was old, and appeared to be the head of the
family ; the three others were powerful young men,
about six feet high. The women and children had
been sent away. These Fuegians are a very dif-
ferent race from the stunted, miserable wretches
farther westward ; and they seem closely allied to
the famous Patagonians of the Strait of Magellan.
Their only gannent consists of a mantle made of
guanaco skin, with the wool outside : this they wear
just thrown over their shoulders, leaving their per-
sons as often exposed as covered. Their skin is
of a dirty, coppeiy red colour.
The old man had a fillet of white feathers tied
round his head, which partly confined his black,
coarse, and entangled hair. His face was crossed
by two bi'oad transverse bars ; one, painted bright
red, reached from ear to ear, and included the up-
per lip ; the other, white like chalk, extended above
2G4 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
and pai'allel to the first, so that even his eyelids
were thus coloured. The other two men were or-
namented by streaks of black powder made of
charcoal. The party altogether closely resembled
the devils which come on the stage in plays like
Der Freischutz.
Their very attitudes were abject, and the ex-
pression of their countenances distrustful, surprised,
and startled. After we had presented them wdth
some scarlet cloth, which they immediately tied
round their necks, they became good friends. This
was shovel! by the old man patting our breasts, and
making a chuckling kind of noise, as people do
when feeding chickens. I walked with the old
man, and this demonstration of friendship was re-
peated several times ; it was concluded by three
hard slaps, which were given me on the breast and
back at the same time. He then bared his bosom
for me to return the compliment, which being done,
he seemed highly pleased. The language of these
people, according to our notions, scarcely deserves
to be called articulate. Captain Cook has com-
pared it to a man clearing his throat, but certainly
no European ever cleared his throat with so many
hoarse, guttural, and clicking sounds.
They are excellent mimics : as often as we cough-
ed or yawned, or made any odd motion, they im-
mediately imitated us. Some of our party began
to squint and look awry ; but one of the young Fu-
egians (whose whole face was painted black, ex-
cepting a white band across his eyes) succeeded in
making far more hideous giimaces. They could
repeat with perfect coiTectness each word in any
sentence we addressed them, and they remember-
ed such words for some time. Yet we Europeans
all know how difficult it is to distinguish apart the
sounds in a foreign language, Which of us. for
POWERS OF MIMICRY OF THE NATIVES. 20')
instance, co-ulJ follow an American Indian tlirongh
a sentence of more than three words'? All savages
appear to possess, to an uncommon degree, this
power of mimicry. I was told, almost in the same
words, of the same ludicrous habit among the Caf-
fres : the Austi'alians, likewise, have long been no-
torious for being able to imitate and describe the
gait of any man, so that he may be recognised.
How can this faculty be explained 1 Is it a conse-
quence of the more practised habits of perception
and keener senses, common to all men in a savage
state, as compared with those long civilized 1
When a song was sti'uck up by our party, I
thought the Fuegians would have fallen down with
astonishment. With equal surprise they viewed
our dancing ; but one of the young men, when ask-
ed, had no objection to a little waltzing. Little
accustomed to Europeans as they appeared to be,
yet they knew and dreaded our fire-arms ; nothing
wovild tempt them to take a gun in their hands.
They begged for knives, calling them by the Span-
ish word " cuchilla." They explained also what
they wanted, by acting as if they had a piece of
blubber in their mouth, and then pretending to cut
instead of tear it.
I have not as yet noticed the Fuegians whom we
had on board. During the fonner voyage of the
Adventure and Beagle in 1826 to 1830, Captain
Fitz Roy seized on a party of natives as hostages
for the loss of a boat, which had been stolen, to the
great jeopardy of a party employed on the survey ;
and some of these natives, as well as a child whom
he bought for a pearl button, he took with him to
England, determining to educate them and instruct
them in religion at his own expense. To settle
these natives in their own country was one chief
inducement to Captain Fitz Rov to undertake our
Z
266 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
present voyage ; and before the Admiralty had re-
solved to send out this expedition, Captain Fitz
Roy had generovisly chartered a vessel, and would
himself have taken them back. The natives were
accompanied by a missionary, R. Matthews, of
whom and of the natives Captain Fitz Roy has
published a full and excellent account. Two men,
one of whom died in England of the smallpox, a
boy and a little girl, were onginally taken; and we
had now on board, York Minster, Jemmy Button
(whose name expresses his purchase-money), and
Fuegia Basket. York Minster was a full-gi-own,
short, thick, powerful man : his disposition was re-
served, taciturn, morose, and when excited, violent-
ly passionate ; his affections were very strong to-
wards a few friends on board ; his intellect good.
Jemmy Button was a universal favourite, but like-
wise passionate ; the expression of his face at once
showed his nice disposition. He was meiTy, and
often laughed, and was remarkably sympathetic
with any one in pain : when the water was rough,
I was often a little sea-sick, and he used to come
to me and say, in a plaintive voice, " Poor, poor
fellow !" but the notion, after his aquatic life, of a
man being sea-sick, was too ludicrous, and he was
generally obliged to turn on one side to hide a smile
or laugh, and then he would repeat his " Poor, poor
fellow!" He was of a patiiotic disposition; and
he liked to praise his own tribe and country, in
which he truly said there were " plenty of trees,"
and he abused all the other tribes : he stoutly de-
clared that there was no Devil in his land. Jem-
my was short, thick, and fat, but vain of his per-
sonal appearance ; he used always to wear gloves;
his hair was neatly cut, and he was distressed if his
well-polished shoes were dirtied. He was fond of
admiring himself in a looking-glass ; and a merry-
NATIVES ON BOARI>. 267
facetl little Indian boy from the Rio Negro, whom
wo had for some months on board, soon perceived
this, and used to mock him : Jemmy, who was al-
ways rather jealous of the attention paid to this lit-
tle boy, did not at all like this, and used to say, with
rather a contemptuous twist of his head, " Too
much skylark." It seems yet wonderful to me,
when I think over all his many good qualities, that
he should have been of the same race, and doubt-
less 23artaken of the same character, with the mis-
erable, degraded savages whom we first met here.
Lastly, Fuegia Basket was a nice, modest, reserved
young girl, with a rather pleasing but sometimes
sullen expression, and very^ quick in learning any-
thing, especially languages. This she showed in
picking up some Portuguese and Spanish when
left on shore for only a short time at Rio de Janei-
ro and Monte Video, and in her knowledge of Eng-
lish. York Minster was veiy jealous of any atten-
tion paid to her ; for it was clear he determined to
marry her as soon as they were settled on shore.
Although all three could both speak and under-
stand a good deal of English, it was singulai'ly dif-
ficult to obtain much information from them con-
cerning the habits of their countrymen : this was
paitly owing to their apparent difficulty in under-
standing the simplest alternative. Every one ac-
customed to very young children knows how sel-
dom one can get an answer even to so simple a
question as whether a thing is black or white ; the
idea of black or white seems alternately to fill their
minds. So it was with these Fuegians, and hence
it was generally impossible to find out, by cross-
questioning, whether one had rightly understood
anything which they had asserted. Their sight
was remarkably acute : it is well knowni that sail-
ors, from long practice, can make out a distant
268 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
object much better than a landsman; but both
York and Jemmy were much superior to any sail-
or on board : several times they have declared
what some distant object has been, and though
doubted by every one, they have proved right
when it has been examined through a telescope.
They were quite conscious of this power ; and
Jemmy, when he had any little quaiTel with the offi-
cer on watch, would say, " Me see ship, me no tell."
It was interesting to watch the conduct of the
savages, when we landed, towards Jemmy Button :
they immediately perceived the difference between
him and ourselves, and held much conversation one
with another on the subject. The old man ad-
dressed a long harangue to Jemmy, which, it seems,
was to invite him to stay with them ; but Jemmy
understood very little of their language, and was,
moreover, thoroughly ashamed of his countrymen.
When York Minster afterwards came on shore,
they noticed him in the same way, and told him he
ought to shave ; yet he had not twenty dwarf hairs
on his face, whilst we all wore our untrimmed
beards. They examined the colour of his skin,
and compared it with ours. One of our arms being
bared, they expressed the liveliest surpi'ise and
admiration at its whiteness, just in the same way
in which I have seen the ourang-outang do at the
Zoological Gardens. We thought that they mis-
took two or three of the officers, who were rath-
er shorter and fairer, though adorned with large
beards, for ladies of our party. The tallest amongst
the Fuegians was evidently much pleased at his
height being noticed. When placed back to back
with the tallest of the boat's crew, he tried his best
to edge on higher ground, and to stand on tip-
toe. He opened his mouth to show his teeth, and
turned his face for a side view ; and all this was
SCENKRY OF THE MuUNTAIiV:?. 269
done with such alacrity, that I dare say he thought
himself the handsomest man in TieiTa del Fuego.
After our first feeling of grave astonishment was
over, nothing could be' more ludicrous than the odd
mixture of surprise and imitation which these sav-
ages every moment exhibited.
The next day I attempted to penetrate some
way into the country. Tierra del Fuego may be
described as a mountainous land, partly submerged
in the sea, so that deep inlets and bays occupy the
place where valleys should exist. The mountain
sides, except on the exposed western coast, are
covered from the water's edge upwards by one
great forest. The trees reach to an elevation of
between 1000 and 1500 feet, and are succeeded by
a band of peat, with minute alpine plants ; and this,
again, is succeeded by the line of perpetual snow,
which, according to Captain King, in the Strait of
Magellan descends to between 3000 and 4000 feet.
To find an acre of level land in any pait of the
country is most rare. I recollect only one little flat
piece near Port Famine, and another of rather
larger extent near Goeree Road. In both places,
and everywhere else, the surface is covered by a
thick bed of swampy peat. Even within the forest,
the ground is concealed by a mass of slowly putre-
fying vegetable matter, which, from being soaked
with water, yields to the foot.
Finding it nearly hopeless to push my way
throughthe wood, I followed the course of a mount-
ain torrent. At first, from the waterfalls and num-
ber of dead trees, I could hardly crawl along ; but
the bed of the stream soon became a little more
open, from the floods having swept the sides. I
continued slowly to advance for an hour along the
broken and rocky banks, and was amply repaid by
Z 2
270 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
the grandeur of the scene. The gloomy depth of
the ravine well accorded with the universal signs
of violence^ On every side were lying iiTegular
masses of rock and torn-ujj trees ; other trees,
though still erect, were decayed to the heart and
ready to fall. The entangled mass of the thriving
and the fallen reminded me of the forests within the
tropics — yet there was a difference ; for in these
still solitudes, Death, instead of Life, seemed the
predominant spirit. I followed the watercourse
till I came to a spot where a gi-eat slip had cleared
a straight space down the mountain side. By this
road I ascended to a considerable elevation, and
obtained a good view of the surrounding woods.
The trees all belong to one kind, the Fagus betu-
loides ; for the number of the other species of Fa-
gus and of the Winter's Bark is quite inconsider-
able. This beech keeps its leaves throughout the
year ; but its foliage is of a peculiar brownish-green
colour, with a tinge of yellow. As the whole land-
scape is thus coloured, it has a sombre, dull ap-
pearance ; nor is it often enlivened by the rays of
the sun.
Dccemher 2Qth. — One side of the harbour is
formed by a hill about 1500 feet high, which Cap-
tain Fitz Roy has called after Sir J. Banks, in
commemoration of his disastrous excursion, which
proved fatal to two men of his party, and nearly so
to Dr. Solander. The snow-storm, which was the
cause of their misfortune, happened in the middle
of January, corresponding to our July, and in the
latitude of Durham \ I was anxious to reach the
summit of this moimtain to collect alpine plants ;
for flowers of any kind in the lower parts are few
in number. We followed the same watercourse as
on the previous day, till it dwindled away, and we
were then compelled to crawl blindly among the
SCENERY OF THE MOUNTAINS. 271
trees. These, from the effects of the elevation and
of the impetuous winds, were low, thick, and
crooked. At length we reached that which from
a distance appeared like a carpet of line gi'een turf,
but which, to our vexation, turned out to be a com-
pact mass of little beech-trees about four or live
feet high. They were as thick together as box in
the border of a garden, and we were obliged to
struggle over the flat but treacherous surface.
After a little more trouble we gained the peat, and
then the bare slate rock.
A ridge connected this hill with another, distant
some miles, and more lofty, so that patches of
snow wei'e lying on it. As the day was not far
advanced, I determined to walk there and collect
plants along the road. It would have been very
hard work, had it not been for a well-beaten and
straight path made by the guanacos ; for these an-
imals, like sheep, always follow the same line.
When we rtiached the hill, we found it the highest
in the immediate neighbourhood, and the waters
flowed to the sea in opposite directions. We ob-
tained a wide view over the surrounding country :
to the north a swampy moorland extended, but to
the south wc had a scene of savage magnificence,
well becoming Tierra del Fuego. There was a
degree of mysterious gi-andeur in mountain behind
mountain, with the deep intervening valleys, all
covered by one thick, dusky mass of forest. The
atmosphere, likewise, in this climate, where gale
succeeds gale, with rain, hail, and sleet, seems
blacker than anywhere else. In the Strait of Ma-
gellan, looking due southward from Port Famine,
the distant channels between the mountains ap-
peared, fi-om their gloominess, to lead beyond the
confines of this world.
Dcccvibcr 2lsf. — The Beagle got under way;
272 TIEKKA DEL FUEGO.
and on the succeeding day, favoured to an uncom-
mon degi'ee by a fine easterly breeze, we closed
in with the Barnevelts, and running past Cape
Deceit, with its stony peaks, about three o'clock
doubled the weather-beaten Cape Horn. The
evening was calm and bright, and we enjoyed a
fine view of the surrounding isles. Cape Horn,
however, demanded his tribute, and before night
sent us a gale of wind directly in our teeth. We
stood out to sea, and on the second day again
made the land, when we saw on our weather-bow
this notorious promontory in. its proper form —
veiled in a mist, and its dim outline surrounded by
a storm of wind and water. Great black clouds
were rolling across the heavens, and squalls of rain,
with hail, swept by us with such extreme violence,
that the captain determined to run into Wigwam
Cove. This is a snug little harbour, not far from
Cape Horn ; and here, at Christmas-eve, we an-
chored in smooth water. The only thing which
reminded us of the gale outside was, every now
and then, a puff from the mountains, which made
the ship surge at her anchors.
December 2oth. — Close by the cove, a pointed
hill, called Kater's Peak, rises to the height of 1700
feet. The surrounding islands all consist of coni-
cal masses of greenstone, associated sometimes
wdth less regular hills of baked and altered clay-
slate. This part of Tierra del Fuego may be con-
sidered as the extremity of the submerged chain
of mountains already alluded to. The cove takes
its name of " Wigwam" from some of the Fuegian
habitations ; but every bay in the neighbourhood
might be so called with equal propriety. The in-
habitants, living chiefly upon shell-fish, are obliged
constantly to change their place of residence ; but
they return at intervals to the same spots, as is
WRETCHED STATE OF THE NATIVES. 273
evident from the piles of old shells, which must
often amount to many tons in weight. These
heaps can be distinguished at a long distance by
the bright green colour of certain plants which in-
variably grow on them. Among these may be
enumerated the wild celery and scurvy-grass, two
very serviceable plants, the use of which has not
been discovered by the natives.
The Fuegian wigwam resembles, in size and
dimensions, a haycock. It merely consists of a
few broken branches stuck in the ground, and very
imperfectly thatched on one side with a few tufts
of grass and rushes. The whole cannot be the
work of an hour, and it is only used for a few
days. At Goeree Roads I saw a place where one
of these naked men had slept, which absolutely
offered no more cover than the fonn of a hare.
The man was evidently living by himself, and
York Minster said he was "very bad man," and
that probably he had stolen something. On the
west coast, however, the wigwams are rather bet-
ter, for they are covered with seal-skins. We were
detained here several days by the bad weather.
The climate is certainly wi-etched : the summer
solstice was now passed, yet every day snow fell
on the hills, and in the valleys there was rain, ac-
companied by sleet. The thermometer generally
stood about 45°, but in the night fell to 38^ or 40^
From the damp and boisterous state of the atmo-
sphere, not cheered by a gleam of sunshine, one
fancied the climate even worse than it really was.
While going one day on shore near Wollaston
Island, we pulled alongside a canoe with six Fue-
gians. These were the most abject and miserable
creatures I anyv/here beheld. On the east coast
the natives, as we have seen, have guanaco cloaks,
and on the west they possess seal-skins. Amongst
Vol.. I—IS
274 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
these central tribes the men generally have an
otter-skin, or some small scrap about as large as a
pocket-handkerchief, which is barely sufficient to
cover their backs as low down as their loins. It
is laced across the breast by strings, and, accord-
ing as the wind blowa, it is shifted from side to
side. But these Fuegians in the canoe were quite
naked, and even one full-grown woman was abso-
lutely so. It was raining heavily, and the fresh
water, together with the spray, trickled down her
body. In another harbour, not far distant, a woman,
who was suckling a recently-born child, came one
day alongside the vessel, and remained there out
of mere curiosity, whilst the sleet fell and thawed
on her naked bosom, and on the skin of her naked
baby ! These poor wretches were stunted in their
growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white
paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair en-
tangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures
violent. Viewing such men, one can hardly make
one's self believe that they are fellow-creatures
and inhabitants of the same world. It is a com-
mon subject of conjecture what pleasure in life
some of the lower animals can enjoy ; how much
more reasonably the same question may be asked
with respect to these barbarians ! At night, five or
six human beings, naked, and scarcely protected
from the wind and rain of this tempestuous climate,
sleep on the wet ground coiled up like animals.
Whenever it is low water, winter or summer, night
or day, they must rise to pick shell-fish from the
rocks ; and the women either dive to collect sea-
eggs, or sit patiently in their canoes, and with a
baited hair-line, without any hook, jerk out little fish.
If a seal is killed, or the floating cai'cass of a putrid
whale discovered, it is a feast ; and such miserable
food is assisted by a few tasteless berries and fungi.
FAMINE AMONG THE INDIANS. 275
They often sufter from famine: I heard Mr.
Low, a sealmg-master, intimately acquainted with
the natives of this country, give a curious account
of the state of a party of one hundred and fifty na-
tives on the west coast, who were very thin and in
great distress. A succession of gales prevented
the women from getting shell-fish on the rocks, and
they could not go out in their canoes to catch seal.
A small party of these men one morning set out,
and the other Indians explained to him that they
were going a four days' journey for food : on their
return, Low went to meet them, and he found them
excessively tired, each man carrying a great square
piece of putrid whale's blubbei", with a hole in the
middle, through which they put their heads, like
the Gauchos do through their ponchos or cloaks.
As soon as the blubber was brought into a wigwam,
an old man cut off' thin slices, and muttering over
them, broiled them for a minute, and distributed
them to the famished party, who during this time
preserved a profound silence. Mr. Low believes
that whenever a whale is cast on shore, the natives
bury large pieces of it in the sand, as a resource
in time of famine ; and a native boy, whom he had
on board, once found a stock thus buried. The
different tribes, when at war, are cannibals. From
the concurrent, but quite independent evidence of
the boy taken by Mr. Low, and of Jemmy Button,
it is certainly true, that, when pressed in winter by
hunger, they kill and devour their old women be-
fore they kill their dogs : the boy, being asked by
Mr. Low why they did this, answered, " Doggies
catch otters, old women no." This boy described
the manner in which they are killed by being held
over smoke and thus choked; he imitated their
screams as a joke, and described the parts of their
bodies which are considered best to eat. Horrid
276 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
as sucli a death by the hands of their friends and
relatives must be, the fears of the old women, when
hunger begins to press, are more painful to think
of; we were told that they then often run away
into the mountains, but that they are pursued by
the men, and brought back to the slaughter-house
at their own firesides !
Captain Fitz Roy could never ascertain that the
Fuegians have any distinct belief in a future life.
The}^ sometimes bury their dead in caves, and
sometimes in the mountain forests ; we do not
know what ceremonies they perform. Jemmy
Button would not eat land-birds, because " eat
dead men :" they are unwilling even to mention
their dead fiiends. We have no reason to believe
that they perform any sort of religious worship ;
though perhaps the muttering of the old man be-
fore he distributed the puti-id blubber to his fam-
ished party may be of this nature. Each family
or tribe has a wizard or conjuring doctor, whose
office we could never clearly ascertain. Jemmy
believed in dreams, thougli not, as I have said, in
the devil : I do not think that our Fuegians were
much more suj^erstitious than some of the sailors ;
for an old quarter-master firmly believed that the
successive heavy gales which we encountered off
Cape Horn were caused by our having the Fue-
gians on board. The nearest approach to a reli-
gious feeling which I heard of, was shown by York
Minster, who, when Mr. Bynoe shot some very
young ducklings as specimens, declared in the most
solemn manner, " Oh, Mr. Bynoe, much rain, snow,
blow much." This Vv'as evidently a retributive pun-
ishment for wasting human food. In a wild and
excited manner he also related that his brother,
one day, whilst returning to pick up some dead
birds which he had left on the coast, observed some
RELIGION OF THE FUEGIANS. 277
leathers blown by the wind. His brother said
(York imitating his manner), "What thatl" and
crawling onwards, he peeped over the clift", and
saw " wild man" picking his birds ; he crawled a
little nearer, and then hurled down a great stone
and killed him. York declaimed for a long time
afterwards storms raged, and much rain and snow
fell. As far as we could make out, he seemed to
consider the elements themselves as the avenging
agents : it is evident in this case how naturally, in
a race a little more advanced in culture, the ele-
ments would become personified. What the " bad
wild men" were has always appeared to me most
mysterious : from what Y^ork said, when we found
the place like the form of a hare, where a single
man had slept the night before, I should have thought
that they were thieves who had been driven from
their tribes ; but other obscure speeches made me
doubt this: I have sometimes imagined that the
most probable explanation was that they were in-
sane.
The different tribes have no government or chief;
yet each is suiTounded by other hostile tribes,
speaking different dialects, and separated from each
other only by a deserted border or neutral territory :
the cause of their warfare appears to be the means
of subsistence. Theiv country is a broken mass of
wild rocks, lofty hills, and useless forests ; and these
are viewed through mists and endless stonns. The
habitable land is reduced to the stones on the beach;
in search of food they are compelled unceasingly to
wander from spot to spot, and so steep is the coast,
that they can only move about in their wi'etched
canoes. They cannot know the feeling of having a
];ome, and still less that of domestic affection ; for
the husband is to the wife a brutal master to a la-
borious slave. Was a more horrid deed ever per-
A A
278 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
petrated than that witnessed on the west coast by
Byron, who saw a wretched mother pick up her
bleeding, dying infant-boy, whom her husband had
mercilessly dashed on the stones for dropping a
basket of sea-eggs ! How little can the higher
powers of the mind be brought into play : what is
there for imagination to picture, for reason to com-
pare, for judgment to decide upon ] to knock a
limpet from the rock does not require even cunning,
that lowest power of the mind. Their skill in some
respects may be compared to the instinct of ani-
mals, for it is not improved by experience : the
canoe, their most ingenious work, poor as it is, has
remained the same, as we know from Drake, for
the last two hundred and fifty years.
Whilst beholding these savages, one asks, Whence
have they come? W^hat could have tempted, or
what change compelled a tribe of men to leave the
fine regions of the north, to travel down the Cor-
dillera or backbone of America, to invent and build
canoes, which are not used by the tribes of Chile,
Peru, and Brazil, and then to enter on one of the
most inhospitable countries within the limits of the
globe ] Although such reflections must at first
seize on the mind, yet we may feel sure that they
are partly erroneous. There is no reason to believe
that the Fuegians decrease in number ; therefore
we must suppose that they enjoy a suflftcient share
of happiness, of whatever kind it may be, to render
life worth having. Nature, by making habit omnip-
otent, and its effects hereditary, has fitted the Fue-
gian to the climate and the productions of his mis-
erable country.
After having been detained six days in Wigwam
Cove by very bad weather, we put to sea on the
30th of December. Captain Fitz Roy wished to
A VIOLENT GALE. 279
get westward to land York and Fuegia in their
own country. When at sea, we had a constant
succession of gales, and the current was against us :
we drifted to 57° 23' south. On the 11th of Jan-
uary, 1833, by caiTying a press of sail, we fetched
within a few miles of the gi'eat rugged mountain
of York Minster (so called by Captain Cook, and
the origin of the name of the elder Fuegian), when
a violent squall compelled us to shorten sail and
stand out to sea. The surf was breaking fearfully
on the coast, and the spray was carried over a cliff
estimated at 200 feet in height. On the 12th the
gale was very heavy, and we did not know exactly
where we were : it was a most unpleasant sound
to hear constantly repeated, " Keep a good lookout
to leeward." On the 13th the storm raged with its
full fury : our horizon was narrowly limited by the
sheets of spray borne by the wind. The sea looked
ominous, like a dreary waving plain with patches
of drifted snow : whilst the ship laboured heavily,
the albatross glided with its expanded wings right
up the wind. At noon a gi-eat sea broke over us,
and filled one of the whale-boats, which was obliged
to be instantly cut away. The poor Beagle trem-
bled at the shock, and for a few minutes would
not obey her helm ; but soon, like a good ship that
she was, she righted and came up to the wind again.
Had another sea followed the first, our fate would
have been decided soon, and forever. We had
now been twenty-four days trying in vain to get
westward ; the men were worn out with fatigue,
and they had not had for many nights or days a
dry thing to put on. Captain Fitz Roy gave up
the attempt to get westward by the outside coast.
In the evening we i^an in behind False Cape Horn,
and dropped our anchor in forty-seven fathoms, fire
flashing from the windlass as the chain rushed
280 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
round it. How delightful was that still night, after
having been so long involved in the din of the war-
ring elements !
January loth, 1833. — The Beagle anchored in
Goeree Roads. Captain Fitz Roy having resolved
to settle the Fuegians, according to their wishes, in
Ponsonby Sound, four boats were equipped to car-
ry them there through the Beagle Channel. This
channel, which was discovered by Captain Fitz
Roy during the last voyage, is a most remarkable
feature in the geography of this, or, indeed, of any
other country : it may be compared to the valley
of Lochness in Scotland, with its chain of lakes
and friths. It is about one hundred and twenty
miles long, with an average breadth, not subject to
any very great variation, of about two miles ; and
is throughout the gi'eater part so perfectly straight,
that the view, bounded on each side by a line of
mountains, gradually becomes indistinct in the long
distance. It crosses the southern part of Tierra
del Fuego in an east and west line, and in the mid-
dle is joined at right angles on the south side by an
irregular channel, which has been called Ponsonby
Sound. This is the residence of Jemmy Button's
tribe and family.
19th. — Three whale-boats and the yawl, with a
paity of twenty-eight, started under the command
of Captain Fitz Roy. In the afternoon we enter-
ed the eastern inouth of the channel, and shortly
afterwai'ds found a snug little cove concealed by
•some surrounding islets. Here we pitched our
tents and lighted our fires. Nothing could look
more comfortable than this scene. The glassy wa-
ter of the little harbour, with the branches of the
ti'ees hanging over the rocky beach, the boats at
anchor, the tents supported by the crossed oars, and
the smoke curling up the wooded valley, formed a
BEHAVIOUR OI' THE FUECIANS. 281
picture of quiet retirement. The next day (20th)
we smoothly glided onwards in our little fleet, and
came to a more inhabited distiict. Few, if any of
these natives, could ever have seen a white man ;
certainly nothing could exceed their astonishment
at the apparition of the four boats. Fires were
lighted on every point (hence the name of Tien-a
del Fuego, or the land of Are), both to attract our
attention, and to spread far and wide the news.
Some of the men ran for miles along the shore. I
shall never forget how wild and savage one group
appeared : suddenly four or five men came to the
edge of an overhanging cliff; they were absolutely
naked, and their long hair streamed about their
faces ; they held rugged staffs in their hands, and,
springing from the ground, they waved their anns
round their heads, and sent forth the most hideous
yells.
At dinner-time we landed among a party of Fu-
egians. At first they were not inclined to be friend-
ly ; for, until the Captain pulled in ahead of the
other boats, they kept their slings in their hands.
We soon, however, delighted them by trifling pres-
ents, such as tying red tape round their heads.
They liked our biscuit : but one of the savages
touched with his finger some of the meat preserved
in tin cases which I was eating, and feeling it soft
and cold, showed as much disgust at it as I should
have done at putrid blubber. Jemmy was thor-
oughly ashamed of his countrymen, and declared
his own tribe were quite different, in which he was
wofully mistakeii. It was as easy to please as it
was difficult to satisfy these savages. Young and
old, men and children, never ceased repeating the
word " yammerschooner," which means "give me."
After pointing to almost every object, one after the
other, even to the buttons on our coats, and saying
A A 2
282 TIEilKA DEL FUEGO.
their favourite word in as many intonations as pos-
sible, they would then use it in a neuter sense,
and vacantly repeat " yammerschooner." After
yammerschooncring for any article very eagerly,
they would by a simple artifice point to their young-
women or little children, as much as to say, " If
you will not give it me, surely you will to such as
these."
At night we endeavoured in vain to find an un-
inhabited cove, and at last were obliged to bivouac
not far from a party of natives. They were very
inoffensive as long as they were few in numbers,
but in the morning (21st), being joined by others,
they showed symptoms of hostility, and we thought
that we should have come to a skirmish. A Euro-
pean labours under great disadvantages when treat-
ing with savages like these, who have not the least
idea of the power of fire-arms. In the very act of
levelling his musket he appears to the savage far
inferior to a man arined with a bow and arrow, a
spear, or even a sling. Nor is it easy to teach them
our superiority except by striking a fatal blow.
Like wild beasts, they do not appear to compare
numbers ; for each individual, if attacked, instead
of retiring, will endeavour to dash your brains out
with a stone, as certainly as a tiger under similar
circumstances would tear you. Captain Fitz Roy,
on one occasion, being very anxious, from good
reasons, to frighten away a small party, first flour-
ished a cutlass near them, at which they only laugh-
ed ; he then twice fired his pistol close to a native.
The man both times looked astounded, and care-
fully but quickly rubbed his head ; he then stared
a while, and gabbled to his companions, but he
never seemed to think of running away. We can
hardly put oui'selves in the position of these sav-
ages, and understand their actions. In the case of
HOSTILE TUIBE;^. 283
this Fuegian, the possibility of such a sound as the
report of a gun close to his ear could never have
entered his mind. He perhaps, literally, did not for
a second know whether it was a sound or a blow,
and therefore very naturally rubbed his head. In a
similar manner, when a savage sees a mark struck
by a bullet, it may be some time before he is able at
all to understand how it is effected ; for the fact of
a body being invisible from its velocity would, per-
haps, be to him an idea totally inconceivable. More-
over, the extreme force of a bullet, that penetrates
a hard substance without tearing it, may convince
the savage that it has no force at all. Certainly I
believe that many savages of the lowest grade, such
as these of Tierra del Fuego, have seen objects
struck, and even small animals killed by the mus-
ket, without being in the least aware how deadly
an instrument it is.
22d. — After having passed an unmolested night,
in what would appear to be neutral territory be-
tween Jemmy's tribe and the people whom we saw
yesterday, we sailed pleasantly along. I do not
know anything which shows more clearly the hos-
tile state of the different tribes than these wide
border or neutral tracts. Although Jemmy Button
well knew the force of our party, he was at first un-
willing to land amidst the hostile tribe nearest to his
own. He often told us how the savage Oens men,
" when the leaf red," crossed the mountains from
the eastern coast of Tierra del Fuego, and made in-
roads on the natives of this part of tlie country. It
was most curious to watch him when thus talking,
and see his eyes gleaming and his whole face as-
sume a new and wild expression. As we proceed-
ed along the Beagle Channel, the scenery assumed
a peculiar and very magnificent character ; but the
effect was much lessened from the lowness of the
284 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
point of view in a boat, and from looking along the
valley, and thus losing all the beauty of a succes-
sion of ridges. The mountains were here about
three thousand feet high, and terminated in sharp
and jagged points. They rose in one unbroken
sweep from the water's edge, and were covered to
the height of fourteen or fifteen hundred feet by
the dusky-coloured forest. It was most curious to
observe, as far as the eye could range, how level
and truly horizontal the line on the mountain side
was at which trees ceased to grow : it precisely
resembled the high- water mark of drift-weed on a
sea-beach.
At night we slept close to the junction of Pon-
sonby Sound with the Beagle Channel. A small
family of Fuegians, who were living in the cove,
were quiet and inoffensive and soon joined our
party round a blazing fire. We were well clothed,
and though sitting close to the fire, were far from
too warm ; yet these naked savages, though further
off, were observed, to our great sui*prise, to be
streaming with pei'spiration at undergoing such a
roasting. They seemed, however, very well pleas-
ed, and all joined in the chorus of the seamen's
songs ; but the manner in which they were invari-
ably a little behindhand was quite ludicrous.
During the night the news had spread, and ear-
ly in the morning (23d) a fresh party arrived, be-
longing to the Tekenika, or Jemmy's tribe. Sev-
eral of them had run so fast that their noses were
bleeding, and their mouths fi'othed from the rapid-
ity with which they talked ; and with their naked
bodies all bedaubed with black, white,* and red,
* This substance, when dry, is tolerably compact, and of little
specific gravity. Professor Ehrenberg has examined it. He states
(Konig Akad. der Wissen : Berlin, Feb., 1845) that it is composed
of infusoria, including fourteen polygastrica and four phytolitha-
ria. He says that they are all inhabitants of fresh water. This is
SETTLEMENT AT VVOOLLYA. 285
they looked like so many demoniacs who had been
fighting. We then proceeded (accompanied by
twelve canoes, each holding four or five people)
down Ponsonby Sound to the spot where poor
Jemmy expected to find his mother and relatives.
He had already heard that his father was dead ;
but as he had had a "dream in his head" to that
effect, he did not seem to care much about it, and
repeatedly comforted himself with the very natural
reflection, " Me no help it." He was not able to
learn any particulars regarding his father's death,
as his relations would not speak about it.
Jemmy was now in a district well known to him,
and guided the boats to a quiet, pretty cove named
Woollya, surrounded by islets, every one of which
and every point had its proper native name. We
found here a family of Jemmy's tribe, but not his
relations ; we made friends with them, and in the
evening they sent a canoe to inform Jemmy's
mother and brothers. The cove was bordered by
some acres of good sloping land, not covered (as
elsewhere) either by peat or by forest-trees. Cap-
tain Fitz Roy originally intended, as before stated,
to have taken York INIinster and Fuegia to their o^vn
tribe on the west coast ; but as they expressed a
wish to remain here, and as the spot was singular-
ly favourable, Captain Fitz Roy determined to
settle here the whole party, including Matthews
the missionary. Five days were sj)ent in building
for them three large wigwams, in landing their
goods, in digging two gardens, and sowing seeds,
a beautiful example of the results obtainable through Professor
Ehrenberg's microscopic researches ; for Jemmy Button told me
that it is always collected at the bottoms of mountain brooks. It
is, moreover, a strikmg fact in the geographical distribution of
the infusoria, which are well known to have very wide ranges,
that all the species in this substance, although brought from the
extreme southern point of Tierra del Fuego, are old, known forms.
286 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
The next morning after our arrival (the 24th)
the Fuegians began to pour in, and Jemmy's moth-
er and brothers arrived. Jemmy recognised the
stentorian voice of one of his brothers at a prodi-
gious distance. The meeting was less interesting
than that between a horse, turned out into a field,
when he joins an old companion. There was no
demonstration of affection ; they simply stared for
a short time at each other, and the mother imme-
diately went to look after her canoe. We heard,
however, through York, that the mother had been
inconsolable for the loss of Jemmy, and had search-
ed everywhere for him, thinking that he might
have been left after having been taken in the boat.
The women took much notice of and were very
kind to Fuegia. We had already perceived that
Jemmy had almost forgotten his own language. I
should think there was scarcely another human be-
ing with so small a stock of language, for his Eng-
lish was very imperfect. It was laughable, but
almost pitiable, to hear him sjjeak to his wild
brother in English, and then ask him in Spanish
(" no sabe ?") whether he did not vmderstand him.
Everything went on peaceably during the three
next days, whilst the gardens were digging and
wigwams building. We estimated the number of
natives at about one hundred and twenty. The
women worked hard, whilst the men lounged about
all day long, watching us. They asked for every-
thing they saw, and stole what they could. They
were delighted at our dancing and singing, and
were particularly interested at seeing us wash in
a neighbouring brook ; they did not pay much at-
tention to anything else, not even to our boats.
Of all the things which York saw during his ab-
sence from his country, nothing seems more to have
astonished him than an ostrich near Maldonado :
SETTLEMENT AT WOOLLYA. 287
breathless with astonishment, he came running
to Mr. Bynoe, with whom ho was out walking,
" Oh, Mr. Bynoe, oh, bird all same horse !" Much
as our white skins surprised the natives, by Mr.
Low's account a negro cook to a sealing vessel did
so more eifectually ; and the poor fellow was so
mobbed and shouted at, that he would never go on
shore again. Everything went on so quietly, that
some of the officers and myself took long walks in
the surrounding hills and woods. Suddenly, how-
ever, on the 27th, every woman and child disap-
peared. We were all uneasy at this, as neither
York nor Jemmy could make out the cause. It
was thought by some that they had been frighten-
ed by our cleaning and firing off our muskets on
the previous evening ; by others, that it was owing
to offence taken by an old savage, who, when told
to keep further off, had coolly spit in the sentry's
face, and had then, by gestures acted over a sleep-
ing Fuegian, plainly showed, as it was said, that
he should like to cut up and eat our man. Caji-
tain Fitzroy, to avoid the chance of an encounter,
which would have been fatal to so many of the
Fuegians, thought it advisable for us to sleep at a
cove a few miles distant. Matthews, with his usual
quiet fortitude (remai'kable in a man apparently
possessing little energy of character), determined
to stay with the Fuegians, who evinced no alarm
for themselves; and so we left them to pass their
first awful night.
On our return in the morning (28th) we were de-
lighted to find all quiet, and the men employed in
their canoes spearing fish. Captain Fitz Roy de-
termined to send the yawl and one whaleboat back
to the ship, and to proceed with the two other
boats, one under his o^vn command (in which he
most kindly allowed me to accompany him), and
288 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
one under Mr. Hammond, to survey the western
parts of the Beagle Channel, and afterwards to re-
turn and visit the settlement. The day, to our as-
tonishment, was overpoweringly hot, so that our
skins were scorched : with this beautiful weather,
the view in the middle of the Beagle Channel was
very remarkable. Looking towards either hand,
no object intercepted the vanishing points of this
long canal between the mountains. The circum-
stance of its being an arm of the sea was rendered
very evident by several huge whales* spouting in
different directions. On one occasion I saw two
of these monsters, probably male and female, slow-
ly swimming one after the other, within less than
a stone's throw of the shore, over which the beech-
tree extended its branches.
We sailed on till it was dark, and then pitched
our tents in a quiet creek. The greatest luxury
was to find for our beds a beach of pebbles, for
they were dry, and yielded to the body. Peaty
soil is damp ; rock is uneven and hard ; sand gets
into one's meat, when cooked and eaten boat-fash-
ion ; but when lying in our blanket-bags, on a good
bed of smooth pebbles, we passed most comforta-
ble nights.
It was my watch till one o'clock. There is some-
thing vei-y solemn in these scenes. At no time
does the consciousness in what a remote corner of
the world you are then standing come so strongly
before the mind. Everything tends to this effect ;
the stillness of the night is interrupted only by the
heavy breathing of the seamen beneath the tents,
and sometimes by the cry of a night-bird. The oc-
* One day, off the east coast of Tierra del Fuego, we saw a
grand sight in several spermaceti whales jumping upright quite
out of the water, with the exception of their tail-fins. As they
fell down sideways, they splashed the water high up, and the
sound reverherated like a distant broadside,
GLACIERS ENTERING THE SEA. 289
casional barking of a dog, heard in the distance, re-
minds one that it is the land of the savage.
January 29th. — Early in the morning we aiTived
at the point where the Beagle Channel divides into
two arms, and we entered the northern one. The
scenery hero becomes even grander than before.
The lofty mountains on the north side compose the
granitic axis, or backbone of the country, and bold-
ly rise to a height of between thi'ee and four thou-
sand feet, with one peak above six thousand feet.
They are covered by a wide mantle of perpetual
snow, and numerous cascades pour their waters,
through the woods, into the narrow channel below.
In many parts, magnificent glaciers extend from the
mountain side to the water's edge. It is scarcely
possible to imagine anything more beautiful than
the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially
as contrasted with the dead white of the upper ex-
panse of snow. The fragments which had fallen
from the glacier into the water were floating away,
and the channel, with its icebergs, pi'esented, for the
space of a mile, a miniature likeness of the Polar
Sea. The boats being hauled on shore at our din-
neV-hour, we were admiring from the distance of half
a mile a perpendicular cliff of ice, and were wishing
that some more fragments would fall. At last,
down came a mass with a roaring noise, and imme-
diately we saw the smooth outline of a wave trav-
elling towards us. The men ran down as quickly
as they could to the boats, for the ch'ance of their
being dashed to pieces was evident. One of the
seamen just caught hold of the bows as the curling
breaker reached it: he was knocked over and over,
but not hurt; and the boats, though thrice lifted on
high and let fall again, received no damage. This
was most fortunate for us, for we were a hundred
miles distant from the ship, and we should have
Vol. 1—19 B b
290 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
been left without provisions or fire-arms. I had
previously observed that some large fragments of
rock on the beach had been lately displaced ; but
until seeing this wave, I did not understand the
cause. One side of the creek w^as formed by a
spur of mica-slate ; the head by a cliff of ice about
forty feet high ; and the other side by a promon-
tory fifty feet high, built up of huge rouncfed frag-
ments of granite and mica-slate, out of v^rhich old
trees vv^ere growing. This promontory was evi-
dently a moraine, heaped up at a period when the
glacier had greater dimensions.
When we reached the western mouth of this
northem branch of the Beagle Channel, we sailed
amongst many unknown desolate islands, and the
weather was wretchedly bad. We met with no
natives. The coast was almost everywhere so steep
that we had several times to pull many miles before
we could find space enough to pitch our two tents :
one night we slept on large round boulders, with
putrefying sea- weed between them ; and when the
tide rose, we had to get up and move our blanket-
bags. The farthest point westward which we reach-
ed was Stewart Island, a distance of about one hun-
dred and fifty miles from our ship. We returned
into the Beagle Channel by the southern arm, and
thence proceeded, with no adventure, back to Pon-
sonby Sound.
February 6th. — We an-ived at Woollya. Mat-
thews gave so bad an account of the conduct of
the Fuegians, that Captain Fitz Roy determined to
take him back to the Beagle ; and ultimately he
was left at New Zealand, where his brother was a
missionary. From the time of our leaving, a reg-
ular system of plunder commenced ; fresh parties
of the natives kept an'iving : York and Jemmy lost
many things, and Matthews almost everything which
FUEGIANS. 291'
had not been concealed under gi'ound. Every arti-
cle seemed to have been torn up and divided by the
natives. Matthews described the watch he was obli-
ged always to keep as most harassing; night and day
he was surrounded by the natives, who tried to tire
him out by making an incessant noise close to his
head. One day an old man, whom Matthews ask-
ed to leave his wigwam, immediately returned with
a large stone in his hand : another day a whole
party came armed with stones and stakes, and some
of the younger men and Jemmy's brother were
crying : Matthews met them with presents. An-
other party showed by signs that they wished to
strip him naked and pluck all the hairs out of his
face and body. I think we arrived just in time to
save his life. Jemmy's relatives had been so vain
and foolish, that they had showed to strangers their
plunder, and their manner of obtaining it. It was
quite melancholy leaving the three Fuegians with
their savage countrymen ; but it was a gi-eat com-
fort that they had no personal fears. York, being
a powerful, resolute man, was pretty sure to get on
well, together with his wife Fuegia. Poor Jem-
my looked rather disconsolate, and would then, I
have little doubt, have been glad to have returned
with us. His own brother had stolen many things
from him; and as he remarked, "what fashion call
that]" he abused his countrymen, "all bad men, no
sabe (know) nothing," and, though I never heard
him swear before, " d — d fools." Our three Fu-
egians, though they had been oidy three years with
civilized men, would, I am sure, have been glad to
have retained their new habits ; but this was obvi-
ously impossible. I fear it is more than doubtful
whether their visit will have been of any use to
them.
In the evening, with Matthews on board, we
292 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
made sail back to the ship, not by the Beagle
Channel, but by the southern coast. The boats
were heavily laden and the sea rough, and we had
a dangerous passage. By the evening of the 7th
we were on board the Beagle after an absence of
twenty days, during which time we had gone three
hundred miles in the open boats. On the 11th,
Captain Fitz Roy paid a visit by himself to the
Fuegians, and found them going on well, and that
they had lost very few more things.
On the last day of Febinjary in the succeeding
year (1834), the Beagle anchored in a beautiful lit-
tle cove at the eastern entrance of the Beagle Chan-
nel. Captain Fitz Roy determined on the bold,
and, as it proved, successful attempt to beat against
the westei-ly winds by the same route which we
had followed in the boats to the settlement at Wool-
lya. We did not see many natives until we were
near Ponsonby Sound, where we were followed by
ten or twelve canoes. The natives did not at all
understand the reason of our tacking, and, instead
of meeting us at each tack, vainly strove to follow
us in our zigzag course. I was amused at finding
what a difference the circumstance of being quite
superior in force made, in the interest of beholding
these savages. While in the boats I got to hate
the very sound of their voices, so much trouble did
they give us. The first and last word was " yam-
merschooner." AVlien, entering some quiet little
cove, we have looked round and thought to pass a
quiet night, the odious word " yammerschooner"
has shi-illy sounded from some gloomy nook, and
then the little signal-smoke has curled uj) to spread
the news far and wide. On leaving some place we
have said to each other, " Thank Heaven, we have
at last fairly left these wretches!" when one more
FtlEGIANS. 298
faint halloo from an all-powerful voice, heard at a
prodigious distance, would reach our ears, and
clearly could we distinguish "yammerschooner."
.But now, the moreFuegians the merrier; and very
merry work it was. Both parties laughing,- won-
dering, gajiing at each other ; we pitying them for
giving us good fish and crabs for rags, &c. ; they
grasping at the chance of finding people so foolish
as to exchange such splendid ornaments for a good
supper. It was most amusing to sec the undis-
guised smile of satisfaction with which one young
woman, with her face painted black, tied several
bits of scarlet cloth round her head with rushes.
Her husband, who enjoyed the very universal priv-
ilege in this country of possessing two wives, evi-
dently became jealous of all the attention paid to
his young wife, and, after a consultation with his
naked beauties, was paddled away by them.
Some of the Fuegians plainly showed that they
had a fair notion of barter. I gave one man a
large nail (a most valuable present) without ma-
king any signs for a return ; but he immediately
picked out two fish, and handed them up on the
point of his spear. If any present was designed
for one canoe, and it fell near another, it was in-
variably given to the right owner. The Fuegian
boy whom Mr. Low had on board, showed, by
going into the most violent passion, that he quite
understood the reproach of being called a liar,
which in truth he was. We were this time, as on
all former occasions, much surprised at the little
notice, or, rather, none whatever, which was taken
of many things, the use of which must have been
evident to the natives. Simple circumstances —
such as the beauty of scai'let cloth or blue beads,
the absence of women, our care in washing our-
selves — excited their admiration far more than any
B B 2
S94 TIERRA DEL PUEGO.
grand or complicated object, such as our ship.
Bougainville has well remarked concerning these
people, that they treat the " chef-d'oeuvres de I'in-
dustrie humaine, corame ils traitent les loix de la
nature at ses phenomenes."
On the 5th of March we anchored in the cove
at Woollya, but we saw not a soul there. We
were alarmed at this, for the natives in Ponsonby
Sound showed by gestures that there had been
fighting ; and we afterwards heard that the dreaded
Oens men had made a descent. Soon a canoe,
with a little flag flying, was seen approaching,
with one of the men in it washing the paint off" his
face. This man was poor Jemmy, now a thin,
haggard savage, with long, disordered hair, and
naked, except a bit of a blanket round his waist.
We did not I'ecognise him till he was close to us ;
for he was ashamed of himself, and turned his back
to the ship. We had left him plump, fat, clean,
and well dressed ; I never saw so complete and
grievous a change. As soon, however, as he was
clothed, and the first flurry was over, things wore
a good appearance. He dined with Captain Fitz
Roy, and ate his dinner as tidily as formerly. He
told us he had " too much" (meaning enough) to
eat, that he was not cold, that his relations were
very good people, and that he did not wish to go
back to England : in the evening we found out the
cause of this great change in Jemmy's feelings, in
the arrival of his young and nice-looking wife.
With his usual good feeling, he brought two beau-
tiful otter-skins for two of his best friends, and some
spear-heads and an-ows made with his own hands
for the Captain. He said he had built a canoe for
himself, and he boasted that he could talk a little
of his own language ! But it is a most singular
fact, that he appears to have taught all his tribe
FAREWELL VISIT TO WOOLLYA. 295
some English : an old man spontaneously an-
nounced " Jemmy Button's wife." Jemmy bad lost
all his property. He told us that York Minster
had built a large canoe, and with his wife Fuegia,*
had several months since gone to his own country,
and had taken farewell by an act of consummate
villany : he persuaded Jemmy and his mother to
come with him, and then on the way deserted them
by night, stealing every article of their property.
Jemmy went to sleep on shore, and in the morn-
ing returned, and remained on board till the ship
got under weigh, which frightened his wife, who
continued crying violently till he got into his canoe.
He returned loaded with valuable property. Ev-
ery soul on board was heartily sorry to shake hands
with him for the last time. I do not now doubt
that he will be as hajipy as, perhaps happier than,
if he had never left his own country. Every one
inust sincerely hope that Captain Fitz Roy's noble
hope may be fulhlled, of being rewarded for the
many generous sacrifices which he made for these
Fuegians by some shipwi'ecked sailor being pro-
tected by the descendants of Jemmy Button and
his tribe ! When Jemmy reached the shore, he
lighted a signal fire, and the smoke curled up, bid-
ding us a last and long farewell, as the ship stood
on her course into the open sea.
The perfect equality among the individuals com-
posing the Fuegian tribes must for a long time re-
tard their civilization. As we see those animals,
* 'Captain Sulivan, who, since his voyage in the Beagle, has
been employed on the survey of the Falkland Islands, heard from
a sealer in (1842 '.), that when in the western part of the Strait of
Magellan, he was astonished by a native woman coming on board
who could talk some English. Without doubt this was Fuegia
Basket. She lived (I fear the term probably bears a double inter-
pretation) some days on board.
296 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
whose instinct compels them to Hve in society and
obey a chief, are most capable of improvement, so
is it with the races of mankind. Whether we look
at it as a cause or a consequence, the more civil-
ized always have the most artificial governments.
For instance, the inhabitants of Otaheite, who,
when first discov^ered, were governed by heredi-
tary kings, had arrived at a far higher grade than
another branch of the same people, the New Zea-
landers, who, although benefited by being com-
pelled to turn their attention to agriculture, were
republicans in the most absolute sense. In Tierra
del Fuego, until some chief shall arise ^vith power
sufficient to secure any acquired advantage, such as
the domesticated animals, it seems scarcely possi-
ble that the political state of the country can be
improved. At present, even a piece of cloth given
to one is torn into shreds and distributed, and no
one individual becomes richer than another. On
the other hand, it is difficult to understand how a
chief can ai'ise till there is property of some sort
by which he might manifest his superiority and in-
crease his power.
I believe, in this extreme part of South Ameri-
ca, man exists in a lower state of improvement than
in any part of the world. The South Sea Island-
ers of the two races inhabiting the Pacific are
comparatively civilized. The Esquimaux, in his
subtei'ranean hut, enjoys some of the comforts of
life, and in his canoe, when fully equipped, man-
ifests much skill. Some of the tribes of Southern
Africa, prowling about in search of roots, and liv-
ing concealed on the wild and arid plains, are suf-
ficiently wretched. The Australian, in the simpli-
city of the arts of life, comes nearest the Fuegian :
he can, however, boast of his boomerang, his spear
and throwing-stick, his method of climbing trees,
STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 297
of tracking animals, and of hunting. Although the
Australian may be superior in acquirements, it by-
no means follows that he is likewise sujoerior in
mental capacity : indeed, from what I saw of the
Fuegians when on board, and from what I have
read of the Australians, I should think the case
was exactly the reverse.
CHAPTER XI.
Strait of Magellan — Port Famine — Ascent of Mount Tarn — For
ests — Edible Fungus — Zoology— Great Sea-weed — Leave Tier-
ra del Fuego— Climate — Fruit-trees and Productions of the
southern Coasts — Height of Snow-line on the Cordillera — De-
scent of Glaciers to the Sea — Icebergs formed — Transportal of
Boulders — Climate and Productions of the Antarctic Islands —
Preservation of frozen Carcasses — Recapitulation.
STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. CLIMATE OF THE SOUTH-
ERN COASTS.
In the end of May, 1834, we entered for the
second time the eastern mouth of the Strait of Ma-
gellan. The country on both sides of this part of
tlie Strait consists of nearly level plains, like those
of Patagonia. Cape Negro, a little within the
second naiTOws, may be considered as the point
where the land begins to assume the marked fea-
tures of Tierra del Fuego. On the east coast,
south of the Strait, broken park-like scenery in a
like manner connects these two countries, which
are opposed to each other in almost every feature.
It is truly surprising to find in a space of twenty
miles such a change in the landscape. If we take
a rather greater distance, as between Port Famine
and Gregory Bay, that is, about sixty miles, the
difference is still more wonderful. At the former
place, we have rounded mountains concealed by
impeiTious forests, which are drenched with the
298 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
rain, brought by an endless succession of gales ;
while at Cape Gregory there is a clear and bright
blue sky over the dry and sterile plains. The at-
mospheric currents,* although rapid, turbulent,
and unconfined by any apparent limits, yet seem
to follow, like a river in its bed, a regularly deter-
mined course.
During our previous visit (in January), we had
an interview at Cape Gregory with the famous so-
called gigantic Patagonians, who gave us a cordial
reception. Their height appears greater than it
really is, from their large guanaco mantles, their
long flowing hair, and general figure : on an aver-
age, their height is about six feet, with some men
taller, and only a few shorter ; and the women are
also tall ; altogether they are certainly the tallest
race which we anywhere saw. In features they
strikingly resemble the more northern Indians
whom I saw with Rosas, but they have a wilder
and more formidable appearance : their faces wei'e
much painted with red and black, and one man
was ringed and dotted with white like a Fuegian.
Capt. Fitz Roy offered to take any three of them
on board, and all seemed determined to be of the
three. It was long before we could clear the boat ;
at last we got on board with our three giants, who
dined with the Captain, and behaved quite like
gentlemen, helping themselves with knives, forks,
and spoons : nothing was so much relished as su-
gar. This tribe has had so much communication
with sealers and whalers, that most of the men can
* The south-westerly breezes are generally very dry. January
29th, being at anchor under Cape Gregory : a very hard gale from
W. by S., clear sky with few cumuli; temperature 57°, dew-
point 36°, difference 21°. On January 15th, at Port St. Julian:
in the morning light winds with much rain, followed by a very
heavy squall with rain ; settled into heavy gale with large cumu-
li ; cleared up, blowing very strong from S.S.W. Temperature
60O, dew-point 42°, difference 18°.
STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 299
speak a little English and Spanish ; and they are
half civilized, and proportionally demoralized.
The next morning a large party went on shore
to barter for skins and ostrich feathers ; fire-arms
being refused, tobacco was in greatest request, far
more so than axes or tools. The whole population
of the toldos, men, women, and children, were ar-
ranged on a bank. It was an amusing scene, and
it was impossible not to like the so-called giants,
they were so thoroughly good-humoured and un-
suspecting : they asked us to come again. They
seem to like to have Europeans to live with them ;
and old Maria, an important woman in the tribe,
once begged Mr. Low to leave any one of his
sailors with them. They spend the greater part
of the year here ; but in summer they hunt along
the foot of the Cordillera : sometimes they travel
as far as the Rio Negro, 750 miles to the north.
They are well stocked with horses, each man hav-
ing, according to Mr. Low, six or seven, and all the
women, and even children, their one own horse.
Li the time of Sarmiento (1580), these Indians had
bows and aiTows, now long since disused ; they
then also possessed some horses. This is a very
curious fact, showing the extraordinarily rapid
multiplication of horses in South America. The
horse was first landed at Buenos Ayres in 1537,
and the colony being then for a time deserted, the
horse ran wild ;* in 15S0, only forty-three years
afterwards, we hear of them at the Strait of Magel-
lan ! Mr. Low informs me that a neighbouring
tribe of foot-Indians is now changing into horse-
Indians : the tribe at Gregory Bay giving them
their worn-out horses, and sending in winter a few
of their best skilled men to hunt for them.
Jzinc 1st. — We anchored in the fine bay of Port
* Rengger, Natur. der Saeugethiere von Paraguay. S. 334.
300 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
Famine. It was now the beginning of winter, and
I never saw a more cheerless prospect; the dusky-
woods, piebald with snow, could be only seen in-
distinctly through a drizzling, hazy atmosphere.
We were, however, lucky in getting two tine days.
On one of these, Mount Sarmiento, a distant mount-
ain 6800 feet high, presented a very noble spectacle.
I was frequently surprised, in the scenery of Tier-
ra del Fuego, at the little apparent elevation of
mountains really lofty. I suspect it is owing to a
cause which would not at first be imagined, name-
ly, that the whole mass, from the summit to the
water's edge, is generally in full view. I remem-
ber having seen a mountain, first from the Beagle
Channel, where the whole sweep, from the summit
to the base, was full in view, and then from Pon-
sonby Sound across several successive ridges ;
and it was curious to observe in the latter case, as
each fresh ridge afforded fresh means of judging
of the distance, how the mountain rose in height.
Before reaching Port Famine, two men were
seen running along the shore and hailing the ship.
A boat was sent for them. They turned out to be
two sailors who had run away from a sealing vessel,
and had joined the Patagonians. These Indians
had treated them with their usual disinterested,
hospitality. They had parted company through
accident, and were then proceeding to Port Fam-
ine, in hopes of finding some ship. I dare say they
were worthless vagabonds, but I never saw more
miserable looking ones. They had been living for
some days on muscle-shells and berries, and their
tattered clothes had been burned by sleeping so
near their fires. They had been exposed night
and day, without any shelter, to the late incessant
gales, with rain, sleet, and snow, and yet they were
in trood health. >
PORT FAMINE. 301"
During our stay at Port Famine, the Fuegians
twice came and plagued us. As there were many
instruments, clothes, and men on shore, it was
thought necessary to frighten them away. The
first time a few great guns wei'e fired when they
were far distant. It was most ludicrous to watch
through a glass the Indians, as often as the shot
struck the water, take up stones, and, as a bold
defiance, throw them towards the ship, though
about a mile and a half distant ! A boat was then
sent •with orders to fire a few musket-shots wide
of them. The Fuegians hid themselves behind
the trees, and for every discharge of the muskets
they fired their arrows ; all, however, fell short of
the boat, and the ofiicer, as he pointed at them,
laughed. This made the Fuegians frantic with
passion, and they shook their mantles in vain rage.
At last, seeing the balls cut and strike the trees,
they ran away, and we were left in peace and
quietness. During the former voyage the Fuegi-
ans were here very troublesome, and, to frighten
them, a rocket was fired at night over their wig-
wams : it answered effectually, and one of the offi-
cers told me that the clamour first raised, and the
barking of the dogs, was quite ludicrous in contrast
with the profound silence which in a minute or two
afterwards prevailed. The next moniing not a sin-
gle Fuegian was in the neighbourhood.
Wlien the Beagle was here, in the month of
Febi'uary, I started one moi'ning at four o'clock to
ascend Mount Tarn, which is 2600 feet high, and
is the most elevated point in this immediate district.
We went in a boat to the foot of the mountain (but,
imluckily, not to the best part), and then began our
ascent. The forest commences at the line of high-
water mark, and, during the first two hours, I gave
over all hopes of reaching the summit. So thick
C c
302 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
was the wood, that it was necessary to have con-
stant recourse to the compass ; for every landmark,
though in a mountainous country, was completely
shut out. In the deep ravines, the death-like scene
of desolation exceeded all description; outside it
was blowing a gale, but in these hollows not even
a breath of wind stiiTed the leaves of the tallest
trees. So gloomy, cold, and wet was every part,
that not even the fungi, mosses, or ferns could
flourish. In the valleys it was scarcely possible to
crawl along, they were so completely bamcaded
by great mouldering trunks, which had fallen down
in every direction. When passing over these nat-
ural bridges, one's course was often arrested by
sinking knee deep into the rotten wood ; at other
times, when attempting to lean against a firm tree,
one was staitled by finding a mass of decayed mat-
ter ready to fall at the slightest touch. We at last
found ourselves among the stunted trees, and then
soon reached the bare ridge, which conducted us
to the summit. Here was a view characteristic of
Tierra del Fuego ; iiTegular chains of hills, mottled
with patches of snow, deep yellowish-green valleys,
and arms of the sea intersecting the land in many
directions. The strong wind was piercingly cold,
and the atmosphere rather hazy, so that we did
not stay long on the top of the mountain. Our
descent was not quite so laborious as our ascent,
for the weight of the body forced a passage, and
all the slips and falls were in the right direction.
I have already mentioned the sombre and dull
character of the evergi'een forests,* in which two
* Captain Fitz Roy informs me that in April (our October) the
leaves of those trees which grow near the base of the mountains
change colour, l)ut not those on the more elevated parts. I remem-
ber having read some observations, showing that in England the
leaves fall earlier in a warm and fine autumn, than in a late and
THE FUNGUS. 303
or tbree species of trees grow, to the exclusion of
all others. Above the forest land there are many
dwarf alpine plants, which all spring from the mass
of peat, and help to compose it : these plants are
very remarkable, from their close alliance with the
species growing on the mountains of Europe, though
so many thousand miles distant. The central part
of Tierra del Fuego, where the clay-slate forma-
tion occurs, is most favourable to the gi'owth of
trees ; on the outer coast the poorer granitic soil,
and a situation more exposed to the violent winds,
do not allow of their attaining any great size.
Near Port Famine I have seen more large trees
than anywhere else : I measured a Winter's Bark
which was four feet six inches in girth, and sever-
al of the beech were as much as thirteen feet. Cap-
tain King also mentions a beech which was seven
feet in diameter seventeen feet above the roots.
There is one vegetable production deserving no-
tice fi-om its importance as an article of food to the
Fuegians. It is a globular bright-yellow fungus,
which gi'ows in vast num-
bers on the beech -trees.
When young, it is elastic
and turgid, with a smooth
surface ; but when mature,
it shrinks, becomes tough-
er, and has its entire sur-
face deeply pitted or honey-
combed, as represented in
the accompanying woodcut.
This fungus belongs to a new and curious genus ;*
cold one. The change in the colour being here retarded in the
more elevated, and therefore colder sitnations, must be owing to
the same general law of vegetation. The trees of Tierra del Fu-
ego during no part of the year entirely shed their leaves.
* Described from my specimens, and notes by the Rev. J. M.
Berkeley, in the Linnean Transactions (vol. xix., p. 37), undex the
304 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
I found a second species on another species of
beech in Chile; and Di*. Hooker informs me, that just
lately a third species has been discovered on a third
species of beech in Van Diemen's Land. How
singular is this relationship between parasitical fun-
gi and the trees on which they grow in distant parts
of the world ! In TieiTa del Fuego, the fungus, in
its tough and mature state, is collected in large quan-
tities by the women and children, and is eaten un-
cooked. It has a mucilaginous, slightly sweet taste,
with a faint smell like that of a mushroom. With
the exception of a few berries, chiefly of a dwarf
arbutus, the natives eat no vegetable food besides
this fungvis. In New Zealand, before the introduc-
tion of the potato, the roots of the fern were large-
ly consumed; at the present time, I believe, Tier-
ra del Fuego is the only country in the world where
a cryptogamic plant aftbrds a staple article of food.
The zoology of Tierra del Fuego, as might have
been expected from the nature of its climate and
vegetation, is very poor. Of mammalia, besides
whales and seals, there is one bat, a kind of mouse
(Reithrodon chinchilloides), two true mice, a cte-
nomys allied to or identical with the tucutuco, two
foxes (Canis Magellanicus and C. Azarae), a sea-
otter, the guanaco, and a deer. Most of these ani-
mals inhabit only the drier eastern parts of the
country ; and the deer has never been seen south
of the Strait of Magellan. Observing the general
correspondence of the cliffs of soft sandstone, mud,
and shingle, on the opposite sides of the Strait, and
on some intervening islands, one is strongly tempted
to believe that the land was once joined, and thus
allowed animals so delicate and helpless as the tu-
cutuco and Reithrodon to pass over. The coiTe-
name of Cyttaria Darwinii : the Chilian species is the C. Berte
roii. This genus is allied to Bulgaria.
ZOOLOGY ORNITHOLOGY. 305
spondence of the clifts is far from proving any junc-
tion, because such clifts generally are formed by
the intersection of sloping deposits, which, before
the elevation of the land, had been accumulated
near the then existing shores. It is, however, a re-
markable coincidence, that in the two large islands-
cut off by the Beagle Channel from the rest of Ti-
erra del Fuego, one has cliffs composed of matter
that may be called stratified alluvium, which front
similar ones on the opposite side of the channel,
while the other is exclusively bordered by old crys-
talline rocks : in the former, called Navarin Island,
both foxes and guanacos occur ; but in the latter,
Hoste Island, although similar in every respect, and
only separated by a channel a littlo more than half
a mile wide, I have the word of Jemmy Button for
saying that neither of these animals are found.
The gloomy woods are inhabited by few birds :
occasionally the plaintive note of a white-tufted
tyrant flycatcher (Myiobius albiceps) may be heard,
concealed near the summit of the most lofty trees ;
and more rarely the loud, strange cry of a black
woodpecker, with a fine scarlet crest on its head.
A little, dusky-coloured wren (Scytalopus Magel-
lanicus) hops in a skulking manner among the en-
tangled mass of the fallen and decaying trunks.
But the creeper (Oxyurus tupinieri) is the com-
monest bird in the country. Throughout the beech
forests, high up and low down, in the most gloomy,
wet, and impenetrable ravines, it may be met with.
This little bird no doubt appeal's more numerous
than it really is, from its habit of following with
seeming curiosity any person who enters these
silent woods : continually uttering a harsh twitter,
it flutters froni tree to tree, within a few feet of the
intruder's face. It is far from wishing for the
modest concealment of the true creeper (Certhia
Vol. 1—20 C c 2
306 TIF.RRA DEL FUEGO.
familiaris) ; nor does it, like that bird, run up the
trunks of trees, but industriously, after the manner
of a willow- wren, hops about, and searches for in-
sects on every twig and bi-anch. In the more open
parts, three or four species of finches, a thrush, a
starling (or Icterus), two Opetiorhynchi, and sev-
eral hawks and owls occur.
The absence of any species whatever in the
whole class of Reptiles is a marked feature in the
zoology of this country, as well as in that of the
Falkland Islands. I do not ground this statement
merely on my own observation, but I heard it from
the Spanish inhabitants of the latter ]ilace, and
from Jemmy Button with regard to Tierra del
Fuego. On the banks of the Santa Cruz, in 50°
south, I saw a fi-og ; and it is not improbable that
these animals, as well as lizards, may be found as
far south as the Strait of Magellan, where the
country retains the character of Patagonia ; but
within the damp and cold limit of Tierra del
Fuego not one occurs. That the climate would
not have suited some of the orders, such as lizards,
might have been foreseen ; but with respect to
frogs, this was not so obvious.
Beetles occur in very small luimbers : it was
long before I could believe that a country as large
as Scotland, covered with vegetable productions
and with a variety of stations, could be so unpro-
ductive. The few which I found were alpine spe-
cies (Harpalidaj and Heteromidas) living under
stones. The vegetable-feeding Chrysomelidas, so
eminently characteristic of the Tropics, are here
almost entirely absent ;* I saw very few flies, but-
* I believe I must except one alpine Haltica, and a single speci-
men of a Melasoma. Mr. Waterhouse informs me, that of the
Harpalidse there are eight or nine species — the forms of the greater
number being very peculiar ; of Heteromera, four or five species ;
of Rhyncophora, six or seven ; and of the following families one
GREAT SEA-WEED. 307'
tei-flies, or bees, and no crickets or Orthoptera. In
the pools of water I found but few aquatic beetles,
and not any fresh-water shells : Succinea at first
appears an exception ; but here it must be called
a terrestrial shell, for it lives on the damp herbage
far from water. Land-shells could be procured
only in the same alpine situations with the beetles.
I have already contrasted the climate, as well as
the general appearance of Tierra del Fuego, with
that of Patagonia, and the difference is strongly
exemplified in the entomology. I do not believe
they have one specTies in common ; certainly the
general character of the insects is widely different.
If we turn from the land to the sea, we shall
find the latter as abundantly stocked with living
creatures as the former is poorly so. In all parts
of the world a rocky and partially protected shore
perhaps supports, in a given space, a greater num-
beiv of individual animals than any other station.
There is one marine production, which, from its
importance, is worthy of a particular history. It is
the kelp, or Macrocystis pyrifera. This plant grows
on every rock from low-water mark to a great
depth, both on the outer coast and within the chan-
nels.* I believe, during the voyages of the Ad-
ventui'e and Beagle, not one rock near the surface
was discovered which was not buoyed by this float-
species in each : Staphylinidae, ElateridEe, Cebrionidae, Melolon-
thiiiae. The species in the other orders are even fewer. In all
the orders, the scarcity of the individuals is even more remarkable
than that of the species. Most of the Coleoptera have been care-
fully described by Mr. Waterhouse in the Annals of Nat. Hist.
* Its geographical range is remarkably wide ; it is found from
the extreme southern islets near Cape Horn, as far north on the
eastern coast (according to information given me by Mr. Stokes)
as lat. 43°, but on the western coast, as Dr. Hooker tells me, it
extends to the R. San Francisco in California, and perhaps even
to Kamtschatka. We thus have an immense range in latitude ;
and as Cook, who must have been well acquainted with the spa.
cies, found it at Kerguelen Land, no less than 140° in longitude.
308 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
ing weed. The good service it thus affords to ves-
sels navigating near this stormy land is evident ;
and it certainly has saved many a one from being
"wrecked. I know few things more surprising than
to see this plant gi-owing and flourishing amidst
those great breakers of the Western Ocean, which
no mass of rock, let it be ever so hard, can long
resist. The stem is round, slimy, and smooth, and
seldom has a diameter of so much as an inch. A
few taken together are sufficiently strong to support
the weight of the large loose stones to which, in
the inland channels, they grovf attached ; and yet
some of these stones were so heavy that, when
drawn to the surface, they could scarcely be lifted
into a boat by one person. Captain Cook, in his
second voyage, says that this plant at Kerguelen
Land rises from a greater depth than twenty-four
fathoms ; " and as it does not grow in a perpen-
dicular direction, but makes a very acute angle
with the bottom, and much of it afterward spreads
many fathoms on the siu-face of the sea, I am well
warranted to say that some of it grows to the length
of sixty fathoms and upwards." I do not suppose
the stem of any other plant attains so great a length
as three hundred and sixty feet, as stated by Cap-
tain Cook. Captain Fitz Roy, moreover, found it
growing* up from the greater depth of forty-five
fathoms. The beds of this sea-weed, even when
not of great breadth, make excellent natural float-
ing breakwaters. It is quite curious to see, in an
exposed harbour, how soon the waves from the
* Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, vol. i., p. 3C3. It ap-
pears that sea-weed grows extremely quick. Mr. Stephenson
found (Wilson's Voyage round Scotland, vol. ii., p. 228) that a rock
uncovered only at spring-tides, which had been chiselled smooth
in November, on the following May, that is, within six months
afterwards, was thickly covered with Fucus digitatus two feet,
and F. esculentus six feet in length.
GREAT SEA-WEED. 309
open sea, as tliey travel through the straggling
stems, sink in height, and pass into smooth watci".
The number of living creatures of all Orders,
whoso existence intimately depends on the kelp,
is wonderful. A gi'eat volume might be written
describing the inhabitants of one of these beds of
sea-weed. Almost all the leaves, excepting those
that float, on the surface, are so thickly incrusted
with corallines as to be of a white colour. We
find exquisitely delicate structures, some inhabited
by simple hydra-like poh^ji, others by more or-
ganized kinds, and beautiful compound Ascidia3.
On the leaves, also, various patelliform shells,
Trochi, uncovered molluscs, and some bivalves are
attached. Innumerable Crustacea frequent every
part of the plant. On shaking the great entangled
roots, a pile of small fish, shells, cuttle-fish, crabs of
all orders, sea-eggs, star-fish, beautiful Holuthuria?,
Planarice, and crawling nereidous animals of a mul-
titude of forms, all fall out together. Often as I
recurred to a branch of the kelp, I never failed to
discover animals of new and curious stractures.
In Chiloe, where the kelp does not tlmve very
well, the numerovis shells, corallines, and Crustacea
are absent ; but thei'e yet remain a few of the
Flustracea^, and some compound Ascidia3 ; the lat-
ter, however, are of different species from those in
Tierra del Fuego : we here see the fucus possess-
ing a wider range than the animals which use it as
an abode. I can only compare these great aquatic
forests of the southern hemisphere with the ter-
restrial ones in the intertropical regions. Yet if
in any country a forest was destroyed, I do not
believe nearly so many species of animals would
perish as would here from the destruction of the
kelp. Amidst the leaves of this plant numerous
species of fish live, which nowhere else could find
310 TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
food or shelter ; with their destruction the many
cormorants and other fishing birds, the otters, seals,
and porpoises, would soon perish also ; and lastly,
the Fuegian savage, the miserable lord of this
miserable land, would redouble his cannibal feast,
decrease in numbers, and perhaps cease to exist.
June Sth. — We weighed anchor early in the
morning and left Port Famine. Captain Fitz Roy
determined to leave the Strait of Magellan by the
Magdalen Channel, which had not long been dis-
covered. Our course lay due south, down that
gloomy passage which I have before alluded to, as
appearing to lead to another and worse world.
The wind was fair, but the atmosphere was very
thick, so that we missed much curious scenery.
The dark, ragged clouds were rapidly driven over
the mountains, from their summits nearly down to
their bases. The glimpses which we caught through
the dusky mass were highly interesting ; jagged
points, cones of snow, blue glaciers, strong out-
lines, marked on a lurid sky, were seen at different
distances and heights. In the midst of such scen-
ery we anchored at Cape Turn, close to Mount
Sarmiento, which was then hidden in the clouds.
At the base of the lofty and almost perpendicular
sides of our little cove there was one deserted wig-
wam, and it alone reminded us that man sometimes
wandered into these desolate regions, but it would
be difficult to imagine a scene where he seemed to
have fewer claims or less authority. The inanimate
works of nature — rock, ice, snow, wind, and water
— all waning with each other, yet combined against
man — here reigned in absolute sovereignty.
June 9th. — In the morning we were delighted
by seeing the veil of mist gradually rise from Sar-
miento, and display it to our view. This mountain,
which is one of the highest in Tierra del Fuego,
A DESOLATE COAST. 311
has an altitude of G800 feet. Its base, for about
an eighth of its total height, is clothed by dusky
woods, and above this a held of snow extends to
the summit. These vast piles of snow, which
never melt, and seem destined to last as long as
the world holds together, present a noble and even
sublime spectacle. The outline of the mountain
was admirably clear and defined. Owing to the
abundance of light reflected from the white and
glittering surface, no shadows were cast on any
part ; and those lines which intersected the sky
could alone be distinguished : hence the mass stood
out in the boldest relief. Several glaciers de-
scended in a winding course from the upper great
expanse of snow to the sea-coast: they may be
likened to great frozen Niagaras ; and perhaps
these cataracts of blue ice are full as beautiful as
the moving ones of water. By night we reached
the western part of the channel, but the water was
so deep that no anchorage could be found. We
were, in consequence, obliged to stand off and on in
this narrow arm of the sea during a pitch-dark
night of fourteen hours long.
June iWi, — In the morning we made the best of
our way into the open Pacific. The western coast
generally consists of low, rounded, qviite baiTen
hills of granite and greenstone. Sir J. Narborough
called one part South Desolation, because it is " so
desolate a land to behold :" and well indeed might
he say so. Outside the main islands there are
numberless scattered rocks on which the long swell
of the open ocean incessantly rages. We passed
out between the E. and W. Furies ; and a little far-
ther northward there are so many breakers that the
sea is called the Milky Way. One sight of such a
coast irs enough to make a landsman dream for a week
about shipwrecks, peril, and death ; and with this
sight we bade farewell forever to Tieri-a del Fuego.
312 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS OF
The following discussion on the climate of the
southern parts of the continent with relation to its
productions, on the snow-line, on the extraordi-
narily low descent of the glaciers, and on the zone
of perpetual congelation in the antarctic islands,
inay be passed over by any one not interested in
these curious subjects, or the final recapitulation
alone may be read. I shall, however, here give
only an abstract, and must refer for details to the
thirteenth chapter and the Appendix of the for-
mer edition of this work.
On the Climate and Productions of Tierra del
Fuego and of the Southwest Coast. — The follow-
ing table gives the mean temperature of Tierra del
Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and, for comparison,
that of Dublin :
Latitude.
Tierra del Fuego . 53° 38' S.
Falkland Islands . 51o 30' S.
Dublin 530 21' N.
Hence we see that the central part of Tierra del
Fuego is colder in winter, and no less than 9^°
less hot in summer, than Dublin. According to
Von Buch, the mean temperature of July (not the
hottest month in the year) at Saltenfiord in Norv\'ay,
is as high as 57°-8, and this place is actually 13°
nearer the pole than Port Famine !* Inhospitable
as this climate appears to our feelings, evergreen
trees flourish luxuriantly under it. Humming-
birds may be seen sucking the flowers, and paiTots
feeding on the seeds of the Winter's Bark, in lat.
* With respect to Tierra del Fuego, the results are deduced
from the observations by Capt. King (Geographical Journal, 1830),
and those taken on board the Beagle. For the Falkland Islands,
I am indebted to Capt. Sulivan for the mean of the mean tem-
perature (reduced from careful observation at midnight, 8 A.M.,
noon, and 8 P.M.) of the three hottest months, viz., December,
January, and February. The temperature of Dublin is taken
fiom Barton.
Summer
Wmter
Mean of Su
Temp.
Temp.
merandWinl
50°
33O.O8'
41°-54'
51°
50°- 54'
390-2'
490-37'
TIERRA DEL FUEGO AND THE WEST COAST. 313
55° S. I have already remarked to what a degree
the sea swarms with living creatures ; and the shells
(such as the Patellce, Fissurella?, Chitons, and Bar-
nacles), according to Mr. G. B. Sowerby, are of a
much larger size, and of a more vigorovis growth,
than the analogous species in the northern hemi-
sphere. A large Vohita is abundant in Southern
Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. At
Bahia Blanca, in lat. 39° S.,the most abundant shells
were three species of Oliva (one of large size), one
or two Volutas, and a Terebra. Now these are
amongst the best characterized tropical forms. It
is doubtful whether even one small species of Oliva
exists on the southern shores of Europe, and there
are no species of the two other genera. If a ge-
ologist were to find in lat. 39°, on the coast of Por-
tugal, a bed containing numerous shells belonging
to three species of Oliva, to a Voluta, and Terebra,
he would probably assert that the climate at the
period of their existence must have been troj^ical ;
but, judging from South America, such an infer-
ence might be eiToneous.
The equable, humid, and windy climate of Tierra
del Fuego extends, with only a small increase of
heat, for many degrees along the west coast of the
continent. The forests, for 600 miles northward
of Cape Horn, have a very similar aspect. As a
proof of the equable climate, even for 300 or 400
miles still furtlier northward, I may mention that
in Chiloe (corresponding in latitude with the nor-
thern parts of Spain) the peach seldom produces
fruit, whilst strawberries and apples thrive to per-
fection. Even the crops of barley and wheat* are
often brought into the houses to be dried and ri-
pened. At Valdivia (in the same latitude of 40°,
314 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.
with Madrid), grapes and figs ripen, but are not
common ; olives seldom ripen even partially, and
oranges not at all. These fruits, in corresponding
latitudes in Europe, are well known to succeed to
perfection ; and even in this continent, at the Rio
Negro, under nearly the same parallel with Val-
divia, sweet potatoes (convolvulus) are cultivated ;
and grapes, figs, olives, oranges, water and musk
melons, produce abundant fruit. Although the
humid and equable climate of Chiloe, and of the
coast northward and southward of it, is so unfa-
vourable to our fruits, yet the native forests, from
lat. 45° to 38°, almost rival in luxuriance those of
the glowing intertropical regions. Stately trees of
many kinds, with smooth and highly -coloured
barks, are loaded by parasitical monocotyledonous
plants ; large and elegant ferns are numerous, and
arborescent grasses entwine the trees into one en-
tangled mass to the height of thirty or forty feet
above the ground. Palm-trees grow in lat. 37° ;
an arborescent grass, very like a bamboo, in 40° ;
and another closely allied kind, of great length, but
not erect, flourishes even as far south as 45°.
An equable climate, evidently due to the large
ai'ea of sea compared with the land, seems to ex-
tend over the greater part of the southern hemi-
sphere ; and as a consequence, the vegetation par-
takes of a semi-tropical character. Tree-ferns
thrive luxuriantly in Van Diemen's Land (lat. 45°),
and I measured one trunk no less than six feet in
circumference. An arborescent fern was found by
Forster in New-Zealand in 46°, where orchideous
plants are parasitical on the trees. In the Auck-
land Islands, ferns, according to Dr. Dieftenbach,*
have trunks so thick and high that they may be
* See the German translation of this Journal ; and for the other
facts, Mr. Brown's Appendix to Flinders's Voyage.
HEIGHT OF THE SNOW-LINE. 315
almost called tree-ferns ; and in these islands, and
even as far south as lat. 55'^ in the Macquarrie Isl-
ands, parrots abound.
On, the Height of the Snoui-Une, and on the De-
scent of the Glaciers, i?i South A^nenca. — For the
detailed authorities for the following table I must
refer to the former edition :
Latitude. "f'f'ow"lme.' Observer.
Equatorial reg-ion . mean result 15,748 Humboldt.
Bolivia, lat. 160 to l&o s. . . 17,000 Pentland.
Central Chile, lat .330 S. . . 14,500 to 15,000 Gillies, and the Author.
Chiloe, lat. 410 to 430 S. . . 6,000 j Officers of the Beagle,
' ' \ and the Author.
Tierra del Fuego, 54° S. . . 3,500 to 4,000 King.
As the height of the plane of perpetual snow seems
chiefly to be determined by the exti-eme heat of
the summer rather than by the mean temperature
of the year, we ought not to be surprised at its de-
scent in the Strait of Magellan, where the summer
is so cool, to only 3500 or 4000 feet above the level
of the sea ; although in Norway we must travel to
between lat. 67° and 70° N., that is, about 14°
nearer the pole, to meet with perpetual snow at
this low level. The difference in height, namely,
about 9000 feet, between the snow-line on the Cor-
dillera behind Chiloe (with its highest points I'an-
ging from only 5600 to 7500 feet) and in central
Chile* (a distance of only 9° of latitude), is truly
wonderful The land from the southward of Chi-
loe to near Concepcion (lat. 37°), is hidden by one
dense forest dripping with moisture. The sky is
cloudy, and we have seen how badly the fruits of
Southern Europe succeed. In central Chile, on
the other hand, a little northward of Concepcion,
* On the Cordillera of central Chile, I believe the snovv-jine
varies exceedingly in height in different summers. I was assured
that during one very dry and long summer all the snow disappear-
ed from Aconcagua, although it attains the prodigious height of
23,000 feet. It is probable that nmch of the snow at these great
heights is evaporated rather than thawed.
316 DESCENT OF GLACIERS.
the sky is generally clear, rain does not fall for the
seven summer months, and Southern European
fruits succeed admirably ; and even the sugar-cane
has been cultivated.* No doubt the plane of per-
petual snow undergoes the above remarkable flex-
ure of 9000 feet, unparalleled in other parts of the
world, not far from the latitude of Concepcion,
where the land ceases to be covered with forest-
trees ; for trees in South America indicate a rainy
climate, and rain a clouded sky and little heat in
summer.
The descent of glaciers to the sea must, I con-
ceive, mainly depend (subject, of course, to a prop-
er supply of snow in the upper region) on the low-
ness of the line of pei-petual snow on steep mount-
ains near the coast. As the snow-line is so low in
Tierra del Fuego, we might have expected that
many of the glaciers would have reached the sea.
Nevertheless, I was astonished when I first saw a
range, only from 3000 to 4000 feet in height, in
the latitude of Cumberland, with every valley filled
with streams of ice descending to the seacoast.
Almost every ami of the sea which penetrates to
the interior higher chain, not only in TieiTa del
Fuego, but on the coast for 650 miles northwards,
is terminated by " tremendous and astonishing gla-
ciers," as described by one of the officers on the
survey. Great masses of ice frequently fall from
these icy cliffs, and the crash reverberates like the
broadside of a man-of-war through the lonely chan-
nels. These falls, as noticed in the last chapter,
produce gi'eat waves, which break on the adjoining
coasts. It is known that earthquakes fi-equently
cause masses of earth to fall from sea-cliffs : how
* Miers's Chile, vol. i., p. 415. It is said that the sugar-cane
grew at Ingenio, lat. 32° to 33° but not in sufficient quantity to
make the manufacture profitable. In the valley of Quillota, south
ol' Ingenio, I saw some large date pahn-tiees.
FLOATING ICEBERGS. 317
terrific, then, would bo the effect of a severe shock
(and such occur here*) on a body like a glacier,
already in motion, and traversed by fissures ! I
can readily believe that the water would be fairly
beaten back out of the deepest channel, and then
returning with an overwhelming force, would whirl
about huge masses of rock like so much chaff". In
Eyre's Sound, in the latitude of Paris, there are
immense glaciers, and yet the loftiest neighbouring
mountain is only 6200 feet high. In this sound,
about fifty icebergs were seen at one time floating
outwards, and one of them must have been at least
1G8 feet in total height. Some of the icebergs
were loaded with blocks, of no inconsiderable size,
of granite and other rocks, diff"erent from the clay-
slate of the suiioundmg moimtain^. The glacier
46° 40'.
* Bulkeley's and Cuminins's Faithful Narrative of the Loss of
the Wager. The earthquake happened August 25, 1741,
D D 2
318 ERRATIC BOULDERS.
furthest from the Pole, surveyed during the voy-
ages of the Adventure and Beagle, is in lat. 46°
50', in the Gulf of Penas. It is 15 miles long, and
in one part 7 broad, and descends to the seacoast.
But even a few miles northward of this glacier, in
the Laguna de San Rafael, some Spanish mission-
aries* encountered " many icebergs, some great,
some small, and others middle-sized," in a narrow
arm of the sea, on the 22d of the month correspond-
ing with our June, and in a latitude corresponding
with that of the Lake of Geneva !
In Europe, the most southern glacier which
comes down to the sea is met with, according to
Von Buch, on the coast of Norway, in lat. 67°.
Now this is more than 20° of latitude, or 1230 miles,
nearer the pole than the Laguna de San Rafael.
The position of the glaciers at this place and in the
Gulf of Penas may be put even in a more striking
point of view, for they descend to the seacoast
within 7^° of latitude, or 450 miles, of a harbour,
where three species of Oliva, a Voluta, and a
Terebra are the commonest shells, within less than
9° from where palms grow, within 4^° of a region
where the jaguar and puma range over the plains,
less than 2^° from arborescent grasses, and (looking
to the westward in the same hemisphere) less than
2° from orchideous parasites, and within a single
degree of tree-fems !
These facts are of high geological interest with
respect to the climate of the northern hemisphere,
at the period when boulders were transported. I
will not here detail how simply the theory of ice-
bergs being charged with fragments of rock ex-
plains the origin and position of the gigantic boul-
ders of eastern Tierra del Fuego, on the high plain
of Santa Cruz, and on the island of Chiloe. In
* Agiieros, Desc. Hist, de Chiloe, p. 227.
ERRATIC BOULDERS. 319
Tierra del Fuego, the greater number of boulders
lie on the lines of old sea-channels, now converted
into dry valleys by the elevation of the land. They
are associated with a great unstratifled formation of
mud and sand, containing rounded and angular
fragments of all sizes, which has originated* in the
repeated ploughing up of the sea-bottom by the
stranding of icebergs, and by the matter transport-
ed on them. Few geologists now doubt that those
eri-atic boulders which lie near lofty mountains
have been pushed forward by the glaciers them-
selves, and that those distant from mountains, and
embedded in subaqueous deposits, have been con-
veyed thither either on icebergs, or frozen in coast-
ice. The connection between the transportal of
boulders and the presence of ice in some form, is
strikingly shown by their geographical distribution
over the earth. In South America they are not
found further than 48° of latitude, measured from
the southern pole ; in North America it appears
that the limit of their transportal extends to 53|°
from the northern pole ; but in Europe to not more
than 40*^ degrees of latitude, measured from the
same point. On the other hand, in the intertropi-
cal parts of America, Asia, and Africa, they have
never been observed ; nor at the Cape of Good
Hope, nor in Australia.t
On the Climate and Productions of the Antarctic
Islands. — Considering the rankness of the vegeta-
tion in Tierra del Fuego, and on the coast north-
ward of it, the condition of the islands south and
* Geological Transactions, vol. vi., p. 415.
t I have given details (the first, I believe, published) on this
subject in the first edition, and in the Appendix to it. I have
there shown that the apparent exceptions to the absence of er-
ratic boulders in certain hot countries are due to erroneous ob-
servations : several statements there given I have since founcl
confirmed by various authors.
320 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS OF
south-west of America is truly surprising. Sand-
wich Land, in the latitude of the north part of
Scotland, was found by Cook, during the hottest
month of the year, " covered many fathoms thick
with everlasting snow;" and there seems to be
scarcely any vegetation. Georgia, an island 96
miles long and 10 bi'oad, in the latitude of York-
shire, " in the very height of summer is in a man-
ner wholly covered with frozen snow." Tt can
boast only of moss, some tufts of grass, and wild
burnet : it has only one land-bird [Anthus corren-
dera), yet Iceland, which is 10*^ nearer the pole, has,
according to Mackenzie, fifteen land-birds. The
South Shetland Islands, in the same latitude as the
southern half of Norway, possess only some lich-
ens, moss, and a little grass ; and Lieut. Kendall*
found the bay, in which he was at anchor, begin-
ning to freeze at a period corresponding with our
8th of September. The soil here consists of ice
and volcanic ashes interstratified ; and at a little
depth beneath the surface it must remain perpetu-
ally congealed, for Lieut. Kendall found the body
of a foreign sailor, which had long been buried,
with the flesh and all the features' perfectly pre-
served. It is a singular fact, that on the two great
continents in the northern hemisphere (but not in
the broken land of Europe between them) we have
the zone of perpetually frozen under-soil in a low
latitude — namely, in 56° in North America at the
depth of three feet,t and in 62° in Siberia at the
depth of twelve to fifteen feet — as the result of a
directly opposite condition of things to those of
the southern hemisphere. On the northern con-
tinents the winter is rendered excessively cold by
* Geographical Journal, 1830, p. C5, 66.
t Eichardson's Append, to Back's Exped., and Humboldt's
Fragm. Asiat., torn, ii., p. 386.
THE ANTARCTIC ISLANDS. 321
the radiation from a large area of land into a clear
sky, nor is it moderated by the warmth- bringing
currents of the sea ; the short summer, on the oth-
er hand, is hot. In the Southern Ocean the winter
is not so excessively cold, but the summer is far
less hot, for the clouded sky seldom allows the sun
to warm the ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat ;
and hence the mean temperature of the year, which
regulates the zone of perpetually congealed under-
soil, is low. It is evident that a rank vegetation,
which does not so much require heat as it does pro-
tection from intense cold, would approach much
nearer to this zone of perpetual congelation under
the equable climate of the southern hemisphere
than under the extreme climate of the northern
continents.
The case of the sailor's body perfectly preserved
in the icy soil of the South Shetland Islands (lat.
62° to 63° S.), in a rather lower latitude than that
(lat. 64° N.) under which Pallas found the frozen
rhinoceros in Siberia, is very interesting. Although
it is a fallacy, as I have endeavoured to show in a
former chapter, to suppose that the larger quadru-
peds require a luxuriant vegetation for their sup-
port, nevertheless it is important to find in the South
Shetland Islands a frozen under-soil within 360
miles of the forest-clad islands near Cape Horn,
where, as far as the hulk of vegetation is concerned,
any number of great quadrupeds might be support-
ed. The perfect preservation of the carcasses of
the Siberian elephants and rhinoceroses is certain-
ly one of the most wonderful facts in geology ; but
independently of the imagined difficulty of supply-
ing them with food from the adjoining countries,
the whole case is not, I think, so perplexing as it
has generally been considered. The plains of Si-
beria, like those of the Pampas, appear to have
Vol. 1—21
322 PRESERVATION OF BKEEETuXri.
been formed under the sea, into which rivers
brought down the bodies of many animals ; of the
greater number of these, only the skeletons have
been preserved, but of others the perfect carcass.
Now it is known that in the shallow sea on the
arctic coast of America the bottom freezes,* and
does not thaw in spring so soon as the surface of
the land ; moreover, at greater depths, where the
bottom of the sea does not freeze, the mud a few
feet beneath the top layer might remain even in
summer below 32°, as is the case on the land with
the soil at the depth of a few feet. At still greater
depths, the temperature of the mud and water
would probably not be low enough to preserve the
flesh ; and hence, carcasses drifted beyond the shal-
low parts near an arctic coast would have only
their skeletons preserved : now in the extreme
northern parts of Siberia bones are infinitely nu-
merous, so that even islets are said to be almost
composed of them ;t and those islets lie no less
than ten degrees of latitude north of the place
where Pallas found the frozen rhinoceros. On the
other hand, a carcass washed by a flood into a shal-
low part of the Arctic Sea, would be preserved
for an indefinite period, if it were soon afterwards
covered with mud sufficiently thick to prevent the
heat of the summer-water penetrating to it, and if,
when the sea-bottom was upraised into land, the
covering was sufficiently thick to prevent the heat
of the summer air and sun thawing and corrupt-
ing it-
Recapitulation. — I will recapitulate the principal
facts with regard to the climate, ice-action, and
* Messrs. Dease and Simpson, in Geograph. Journ., vol. viii.,
p. 218 and 220.
t Cuvier (Ossemens Fossiles, torn, i., p. 151), from Billings's
Voyage. ' .
IIECAI'ITULATIUN. 323
organic productions of the southern hemisphere,
transposing the places in imagination to Europe,
with which we are so much better acquainted.
Then, near Lisbon, the commonest sea-shells,
namely, three species of Oliva, a Voluta, and Ter-
ebra, would have a tropical character. In the
southern provinces of France, magnificent forests,
intwined by arborescent grasses, and with the trees
loaded with parasitical plants, would hide the face
of the land. The puma and the jaguar would
haunt the Pyrenees. In the latitude of Mont
Blanc, but on an island as far westward as central
North America, tree-ferns and parasitical Orchi-
dea3 would thrive amidst the thick woods. Even
as far north as central Denmark, humming-birds
would be seen fluttering about delicate flowers, and
parrots feeding amidst the evergreen woods ; and
in the sea there we should have a Voluta, and all
the shells of large size and vigorous growth. Nev-
ertheless, on some islands only 360 miles northward
of our new Cape Horn in Denmark, a carcass bu-
ried in the soil (or if washed into a shallovr sea,
and covered up with mud) would bo preserved
perpetually frozen. If some bold navigator at-
tempted to penetrate northward of these islands,
he would run a thousand dangers amidst gigantic
icebergs, on some of which he would see great
blocks of rock borne far away from their original
site. Another island of large size in the latitude
of southern Scotland, but twice as far to the west,
would be " almost wholly covei'ed with everlasting
snow," and would have each bay terminated by ice-
cliffs, whence great masses would be yearly de-
tached : this island would boast only of a little
moss, grass, and burnet, and a titlark would be its
only land inhabitant. From our new Cape Horn
in Denmark, a chain of mountains, scarcely half
324 RECAPITULATION.
the height of the Alps, would run in a straight line
due southward ; and on its western flank, every
deep creek of the sea, or fiord, would end in "bold
and astonishing glaciers." These lonely channels
would frequently reverberate with the falls of ice,
and so often would great waves rush along their
coasts ; numerous icebergs, some as tall as cathe-
drals, and occasionally loaded with no " inconsid-
erable blocks of rock," would be stranded on the
outlying islets ; at intervals violent earthquakes
would shoot prodigious masses of ice into the wa-
ters 'below. Lastly, some missionaries, attempting
to penetrate a long arm of the sea, would behold
the not lofty surrounding mountains sending down
their many grand icy streams to the seacoast, and
their progress in the boats would be checked by
the innumerable floating icebergs, some small and
some great ; and this would have occurred on our
twenty-second of June, and where the Lake of
Geneva is now spread out !*
■* In the former edition and Appendix, I have given some facts
on the transportal of erratic boulders and icebergs in the Antarc-
tic Ocean. This subject has lately been treated excellently by
Mr. Hayes, in the Boston Journal (vol. iv., p. 426). The author
does not appear aware of a case published by me (Geographical
Journal, vol. ix., p. 528), of a gigantic boulder embedded in an ice-
berg in the Antarctic Ocean, almost certainly one hundred miles
distant from any land, and perhaps much more distant. In the
Appendix I have discussed at length the probability (at that time
hardly thought of) of icebergs, when stranded, grooving and pol-
ishing rocks, like glaciers. This is now a very commonly re-
ceived opinion ; and I cannot, still, avoid the suspicion that it is
applicable even to such cases as that of the Jura. Dr. Richardson
has assured me that the icebergs of North America push before
them pebbles and sand, and leave the submarine rocky flats quite
bare : it is hardly possible to doubt that such ledges must be pol-
ished and scored in the direction of the set of the prevailing cur-
rents. Since writing that Appendix, I have seen in North Wales
(London Phil. Mag., vol. xxi., p. 180) the adjoining action of gla-
ciers and of floating icebergs.
323
CHAPTER XII.
Valparaiso — Excursion to tlie foot of the Andes — Structure of the
Land — Ascend the Bell ofQuillota — Shattered Masses of Green-
stone— Immense Valleys — Mines— State of Miners — Santiago
— Hot Baths of Cauquenes — Gold-mines — Grinding-mills— Per-
forated Stones— Habits of the Puma — El Turco and Tapacolo
— Humming-birds.
CEJfTRAL CHILE.
July 23J. — The Beagle anchored late at night in
the bay of Valparaiso, the chief seaport of Chile.
When morning came, eveiything appeared delight-
ful. After Tierra del Fuego, the climate felt quite
delicious — the atmosphere so dry, and the heavens
so clear and blue, with the sun shining brightly,
that all nature seemed sparkling with life. The
view from the anchorage is very pretty. The town
is built at the very foot of a range of hills, about
1600 feet high, and rather steep. From its posi-
tion, it consists of one long, straggling street, which
runs parallel to the beach, and wherever a ravine
comes down, the houses are piled up on each side
of it. The rounded hills, being only partially pro-
tected by a very scanty vegetation, are worn into
numberless little gulleys, which expose a singularly
bright red soil. From this cause, and from the low,
whitewashed houses with tile roofs, the view re-
minded me of St. Cruz in Teneriffe. In a north-
easterly direction there are some fine glimpses of
the Andes : but these mountains appear much
grander when viewed from the neighbouring hills ;
the great distance at which they are situated can
then more readily be peixeived. The volcano of
Aconcagua is particularly magnificent. This huge
and irregularly conical mass has an elevation great-
er than that of Chimborazo ; for, from measure-
E E
326 CENTRAL CHILE.
ments made by the officers in the Beagle, its height
is no less than 23,000 feet. The Cordillera, how-
ever, viewed from this point, owe the greater part
of their beauty to the atmosphere through which
they are seen. When the sun was setting in the
Pacific, it was admirable to watch how clearly
their rugged outlines could be distinguished, yet
how varied and how delicate were the shades of
their colour.
I had the good fortune to find living here Mr.
Richard Corfield, an old schoolfellow and friend,
to whose hospitality and kindness I was greatly in-
debted, in having afforded me a most pleasant
residence during the Beagle's stay in Chile. The
immediate neighbourhood of Valparaiso is not
very productive to the naturalist. During the
long summer the wind blows steadily from the
southward, and a little off" shore, so that rain never
falls ; during the three winter months, however, it
is sufficiently abundant. The vegetation, in conse-
quence, is very scanty : except in some deep valleys,
there are no trees, and only a little grass and a few
low bushes are scattered over the less stee2') parts
of the hills. When we reflect that, at the distance
of 350 miles to the south, this side of the Andes is
completely hidden by one impenetrable forest, the
contrast is very remarkable. 1 took several long
walks while collecting objects of natural history.
The country is pleasant for exercise. There are
many very beautiful flowers ; and, as in most other
dry climates, the plants and shrubs possess strong
and peculiar odours — even one's clothes, by brush-
ing through them, became scented. I did notr
cease from wonder at finding each succeeding day
as fine as the foregoing. What a difference does
climate make in the enjoyment of life ! How op-
posite are the sensations when viewing black
THE VALLEY OF QUILLOTA. 327
mountains half enveloped in clouds, and seeing
another range through the light blue haze of a fine
day ! The one, for a time, may be very sublime ;
the other is all gayety and happy life.
August 1-ith. — I set out on a riding excursion,
for the purpose of geologizing the basal parts of
the Andes, which alone, at this time of the year, are
not shut up by the winter snow. Our first day's
ride was northward along the sea-coast. After
dark we reached the Hacienda of Quintero, the
estate which formerly belonged to Lord Cochrane.
My object in coming here was to see the great beds
of shells, which stand some yards above the level
of the sea, and are burned for lime. The proofs
of the elevation of this whole line of coast are un-
equivocal : at the height of a few hundred feet, old-
looking shells are numerous, and I found some at
1300 feet. These shells either lie loose on the
Surface, or are embedded in a reddish-black vege-
table mould. I was nnich surprised to find, under
the microscope, that this vegetable mould is really
marine mud, full of minute particles of organic
bodies.
loth. — We returned towards the valley of Quil-
lota. The country was exceedingly pleasant ; just
such as poets would call pastoral : gi'een open
lawns, separated by srnall valleys with rivulets, and
the cottages, we may suppose of the shepherds,
scattered on the hill-sides. We were obliged to
cross the ridge of the Chilicauquen. At its base
there were many fine evergreen forest-trees, but
these flourished only in the ravines, where there
was running water. Any person who had seen
only the countiy near Valpaj-aiso, would never have
imagined that there had been s.uch pictui'esque
spots in Chile. As soon as we reached the brow
of the Sien-a, the vallev of Quillota was immedi-
328 CENTRAL CHILE.
ately under our feet. The prospect was one of
remarkable aitificial luxuriance. The valley is
very broad and quite flat, and is thus easily irrigated
in all parts. The little square gardens are crowded
with orange and olive trees, and every sort of ve-
getable. On each side huge bare mountains rise,
and this, from the contrast, renders the patchwork
valley the more pleasing. "Whoever called " Val-
paraiso" the " Valley of Paradise," must have been
thinking of Quillota. We crossed over to the
Hacienda de San Isidro, situated at the very foot
of the Bell Mountain.
Chile, as may be seen in the maps, is a narrow
strip of land between the C ordillera and the Pacific;
and this strip is itself traversed by several movmt-
ain lines, which in this part run parallel to the
great range. Between these outer lines and the
main Cordillera, a succession of level basins, gen-
erally opening into each other by nan'ow passages,
extend far to the southward : in these the principal
towns are situated, as San Felipe, Santiago, fean
Fernando. These basins or plains, together with
the transverse flat valleys (like that of Quillota)
which connect them with the coast, I have no doubt
are the bottoms of ancient inlets and deep bays,
such as at the present day intersect every part of
TieiTa del Fuego and the western coast. Chile
must formerly have resembled the latter countiy in
the configuration of its land and water. The re-
semblance was occasionally shown strikingly when
a level fog-bank covered, as with a mantle, all the
lower parts of the country : the white vapour curl-
ing into the ravines, beautifully represented little
coves and bays ; and here and there a solitary hil-
lock peeping up, showed that it had formerly stood
there as an islet. The contrast of these flat valleys
and basins with the iiTegular moimtains gave the
BELL MOUNTArN. 329
scenery a character which to me was new and
very interestmg.
From the natural slope to seaward of these
plains, they are very easily irrio-ated, and, in conse-
quence, singularly fertile. Without this process
the land would produce scarcely anything, for du-
ring the whole summer the sky is cloudless. The
mountains and hills are dotted over with bushes
and low trees, and, excepting these, the vegetation
is very scanty. Each landowner in the valley
possesses a certain portion of hill country, where
his half-wild cattle, in considerable numbers, man-
age to find sufficient pasture. Once every year
there is a grand " rodeo," when all the cattle are
driven down, counted, and inarked, and a certain
number separated to be fattened in the imgated
fields. Wheat is extensively cultivated, and a
good deal of Indian corn : a kind of bean is, how-
ever, the staple article of food for the common
labourers. The orchards produce an overflowing
abundance of peaclres, figs, and grapes. With all
these advantages, the inhabitants of the country
ought to be much more prosperous than they are.
IQth. — The mayor-domo of the Hacienda was
good enough to give me a guide and fresh horses ;
and in the morning we set out to ascend the Cam-
pana, or Bell Mountain, which is 6400 feet high.
The paths were very bad, but both the geology
and scenery amply repaid the trouble. AVe reach-
ed, by the evening, a spring called the Agua del
Guanao, which is situated at a gi-eat height. This
must be an old name, for it is very many years
since a guanaco drank its waters. IDuring the as-
cent I noticed that nothing but bushes gi'ew on the
northern slope, whilst on the southern slope there
was a bamboo about fifteen feet high. In a few
places there were palms, and I was surprised to
E e2
330 CENTRAL CHILE.
see one at an elevation of at least 4500 feet. These
palms are, for their family, ugly trees. Their stem
is very large, and of a curious form, being thicker
in the middle than at the base or top. They are
excessively numerous in some parts of Chile, and
valuable on account of a sort of treacle made from
the sap. On one estate near Petorca they tried to
count them, but failed, after having numbered
several hundred thousand. Every year, in the early
spring, in August, very many are cut down, and,
Avhen the trunk is lying on the ground, the crown
of leaves is lopped off. The sap then immediately
begins to flow from the upper end, and continues
so doing for some months : it is, however, necessary
that a thin slice should be shaved off from that end
every morning, so as to expose a fresh surface. A
good tree will give ninety gallons, and all this
must have been contained in the vessels of the ap-
parently dry trunk. It is said that the sap flows
much more quickly on those days when the sun is
powerful; and, likewise, that it is absolutely neces-
sary to take care, in cutting down the tree, that it
should fall with its head upwards on the side of the
hill ; for if it falls down the slope, scarcely any sap
will flow, although in that case one would have
thought that the action would have been aided, in-
stead of checked, by the force of gravity. The sap
is concentrated by boiling, and is then called trea-
cle, which it very much resembles in taste.
We unsaddled our horses near the spring, and
prepared to pass the night. The evening was fine,
and the atmosphere so clear, that the masts of the
vessels at anchor in the bay of Valparaiso, although
no less than twenty-six geographical miles distant,
could be distinguished clearly as little black streaks.
A ship doubling the point under sail appeared as
fi bright white speck. Anson expresses much sur-
THE BELL OF aUILLOTA. 331
prise, in his voyage, at the distance at which his
vessels were discovered from the coast ; but he did
not sufficiently allow for the height of the land, and
the great ti'ansparency of the air.
The setting of the sun was glorious ; the valleys
being- black, whilst the snowy peaks of the Andes
yet' retained a ruby tint. When it was dark, we
made a fire beneath a little arbour of bamboos,
fried our charqui (or dried slips of beef), took our
mate, and were quite comfortable. There is an
inexpressible charm in thus living in the open air.
The evening was calm and still ; the shrill noise of
the mountain bizcacha, and the faint cry of a goat-
sucker, were occasionally to be heard. Besides
these, few birds, or even insects, frequent these
di-y, parched mountains.
Augiist 11th. — In the morning we climbed up
the rough mass of greenstone which crowns the
summit. This rock, as frequently happens, was
much shattei'ed and broken into huge angular frag-
ments. I observed, however, one remarkable cir-
cumstance, namely, that many of the surfaces pre-
sented every degTee of freshness — some appearing
as if broken the day before, whilst on others lich-
ens had either just become, or had long gi-own, at-
tached. I so fully believed that this was owing to
the frequent earthquakes, that I felt inclined to
hurry from below each loose pile. As one might
very easily be deceived in a fact of this kind, I
doubted its accuracy until ascending INIount Wel-
lington, in Van Diemen's Land, where earthquakes
do not occur, and there I saw the summit of the
mountain similarly composed and similarly shat-
tered, but all the blocks appeared as if they had
been hurled into their present position thousand
of years ago.
We spent the day on the summit, and I never
332 CENTRAL CHILE.
enjoyed one more thoroughly. Chile, bounded by
the Andes and the Pacific, was seen as in a map.
The pleasure from the scenery, in itself beautiful,
was heightened by the many reflections which
arose from the mere view of the Campana range
with its lesser parallel ones, and of the broad val-
ley of Quillota directly intersecting them. Who
can avoid wondering at the force which has up-
heaved these mountains, and even more so at the
countless ages which it must have required to
have broken through, removed, and levelled whole
masses of them 1 It is well in this case to call to
mind the vast shingle and sedimentary beds of
Patagonia, which, if heaped on the Cordillera,
would increase its height by so many thousand
feet. When in that country, I wondered how any
mountain chain could have supplied such masses,
and not have been utterly obliterated. We must
not now reverse the wonder, and doubt whether
all-powerful time can giind down mountains — even
the gigantic Cordillera — into gravel and mud.
The appearance of the Andes was different from
that which I had expected. The lower line of the
snow was of course horizontal, and to this line the
even summits of the range seemed quite parallel.
Only at long intervals, a group of points or a single
cone showed where a volcano had existed, or does
now exist. Hence the range resembled a great
solid wall, surmounted here and there by a tower,
and making a most perfect barrier to the country.
Alinost every part of the hill had been drilled
by attempts to open gold-mines : the rage for
mining has left scarcely a spot in Chile unexam-
ined. I spent the evening as before, talking round
the fire with my two companions. The Guasos
of Chile, who correspond to the Gauchos of the
Pampas, are, however, a v^ery different set of
THE GUASO. 336
beings. Chile is the more civilized of the two
countries, and the inhabitants, in consequence,
have lost much individual character. Gradations
in rank are much more strongly marked : the Guaso
does not by any means consider every man his
equal ; and I was quite surjirised to find that my
companions did not like to eat at the same time
with myself. This feeling of inequality is a neces-
sary consequence of the existence of an aristocracy
of wealth. It is said that some few of the greater
landowners possess from five to ten thousand
pounds sterling per annum : an inequality of riches
which I believe is not met with in any of the cat-
tle-breeding countries eastward of the Andes. A
traveller does not here meet that unbounded hos-
pitality which refuses all payment, but yet is so
kindly offered that no scruples can be raised in
accepting it. Almost every house in Chile will
receive you for the night, but a trifle is expected
to be given in the morning ; even a rich man will
accept two or three shillings. The Gaucho, al-
though he may be a cut-throat, is a gentleman ;
the Guaso is in few respects better, but at the same
time a vulgar, ordinary fellow. The two men, al-
though employed much in the same manner, are
different in their habits and attire ; and the pecu-
liarities of each are universal in their respective
countries. The Gaucho seems part of his horse,
and scorns to exert himself excepting when on its
back ; the Guaso may be hired to work as a la-
bourer in the fields. The former lives entirely on
animal food, the latter almost Avholly on vegeta-
ble. We do not here see the white boots, the
broad drawers, and scarlet chilipa, the picturesque
costume of the Pampas. Here, common trousers
are protected by black and green worsted leggins.
The poncho, however, is common to both. The
334 CENTRAL CHILE.
chief pride of the Guaso Hes in his spurs, which
are absurdly large. I measured one which was
six inches in the diameter of the rowel, and the
rowel itself contained upwards of thirty points.
The stirrups are on the same scale, each consisting
of a square, carved block of wood, hollowed out,
yet weighing three or four pounds. The Guaso is
perhaps more expert with the lazo than the Gaucho;
but, from the nature of the country, he does not
know the use of the bolas.
August I'Sith. — AVe descended the mountain, and
passed some beautiful little spots, with rivulets
and fine trees. Having slept at the same hacienda
as before, we rode during the two succeeding days
up the valley, and passed through Quillota, which
is more like a collection of nursery-gardens than a
town. The orchards were beautiful, presenting
one mass of peach-blossoms. I saw, also, in one
or two places, the date-palm : it is a most stately
tree ; and I should think a group of them in their
native Asiatic or African deserts must be superb.
We passed likewise San Felipe, a pretty straggling
town like Quillota. The valley in this part ex-
pands into one of those great bays or plains, reach-
ing to the foot of the Cordillera, which have been
mentioned as forming so curious a part of the
scenery of Chile. In the evening we reached the
mines of Jajuel, situated in a ravine at the flank
of the great chain. I stayed here five days. My
host, the superintendent of the mine, was a shrewd
but rather ignorant Cornish miner. He had mar-
ried a Spanish woman, and did not mean to return
home ; but his admiration for the mines of Corn-
wall remained unbounded. Amongst many other
questions, he asked me, " Now that George Rex
is dead, how many more of the family of Rexes
are yet alive ?" This Rex certainly must be a
iMI.VES IN CHILE. 335
relation of the great author Fiuis, who wrote all
books !
These mines are of copper, and the ore is all
shipped to Swansea to be smelted. Hence the
mines have an aspect singularly quiet, as compared
to those in England : here no smoke, furnaces, or
great steam-engines disturb the solitude of the
surrounding mountains.
The Chilian government, or, rather, the old Span-
ish law, encourages by every method the searching
for mines. The discoverer may work a mine on
any ground by paying five shillings ; and before
paying this he may try, even in the garden of
another man, for twenty days.
It is now well known that the Chilian method of
mining is the cheapest. My host says that the two
principal improvements introduced by foreigners
have been, first, reducing by previous roasting the
copper pyrites, which, being the common ore in
Cornwall, the English miners were astounded, on
their arrival, to find thrown away as useless : sec-
ondly, stamping and washing the scoriae from the
old furnaces, by which process particles of metal
are recovered in abundance. I have actually seen
mules carrying to the coast, for transportation to
England, a cargo of such cinders. But the first
case is much the most curious. The Chilian miners
were so convinced that copper pyrites contained
not a particle of copper, that they laughed at the
Englishmen for their ignorance, who laughed in
turn, and bought their richest veins for a few dol-
lars. It is very odd that, in a country where mining
had been extensively cai'ried on for many years, so
simple a process as gently roasting the ore to expel
the sulphur previous to smelting it had never been
discovered. A few improvements have likewise
been introduced in some of the simple machinery ;
iidO CENTRAL CHILE.
but even to the present day, water is removed from
some mines by men canying it up the shaft in
leathern bags !
The labouring men work very hard. They have
little time allowed for their meals, and during sum-
mer and winter they begin when it is light, and
leave off at dark. They are paid one pound ster-
ling a month, and their food is given them : this,
for breakfast, consists of sixteen hgs and two small
loaves of bread ; for dinner, boiled beans ; for sup-
per, broken roasted wheat grain. They scarcely
ever taste meat, as, with the twelve pounds per
annum, they have to clothe themselves and support
their families. The miners who work in the mine
itself have twenty-five shillings per month, and are
allowed a little charqui. But these men come
down from their bleak habitations only once in
every fortnight or three weeks.
During my stay here I thoroughly enjoyed
scrambling about these huge mountains. The ge-
ology, as might have been expected, was very in-
teresting. The shattered and baked rocks, trav-
ersed by innumerable dikes of gi'eenstone, showed
what commotions had formerly taken place. The
scenezy was much the same as that near the Bell
of Q.uillota — dry, baiTen mountains, dotted at in-
tervals by bushes with a scanty foliage. The cac-
tuses, or, rather, opuntias, were here very numerous.
I measured one of a spherical figure, which, inclu-
ding the spines, was six feet and four inches in
circumference. The height of the common cylin-
drical branching kind is from twelve to fifteen feet,
and the girth (with spines) of the branches between
three and four feet.
A heavy fall of snow on the mountains prevent-
ed me, during the last two days, from making some
interesting excursions. I attempted to reach a lake
MOUNTAIX SCENKRY. 337
which the inhabitants, from some unaccountable
reason, beHeve to be an ai-m of the sea. During a
very dry season, it was proposed to attempt cutting
a channel from it for the sake of the water, but the
padre, after a consultation, declared it was too
dangerous, as all Chile would be inundated, if, as
generally supposed, the lake was connected with
the Pacific. We ascended to a great height, but,
becoming involved in the snow-drifts, failed in
reaching this wonderful lake, and had some diffi-
culty in returning. I thought we should have lost
our horses ; for there was no means of guessing
how deep the drifts were, and the animals, when
led, could only jnove by jumping. The black sky
showed that a fresh snow-storm was gathering, and
we therefore were not a little glad when we es-
caped. By the time we reached the base the
storm commenced, and it was lucky for us that this
did not happen three hours earlier in the day.
August 26t/i. — We left Jajuel and again cr(
the basin of S. Felipe. The day was truly Chi-
lian : glaringly bright, and the atmosphere quite
clear. The thick and uniform covering of newly-
fallen snow rendered the view of the volcano of
Aconcagua and the main chain quite glorious. We
were now on the road to Santiago, the capital of
Chile. We crossed the Cerro del Talguen, and
slept at a little rancho. The host, talking about
the state of Chile as compared to other countries,
was very humble : " Some see with two eyes, and
some with one ; but, for my part, I do not think that
Chile sees with any."
August 21th. — After crossing many low hills we
descended into the small, land-locked plain of Gui-
tron. In the basins, such as this one, which are
elevated from one thousand to two thousand feet
above the sea, two species of acacia, which are
Vol.. 1—23 F F
338 " CENTRAL CHILE.
stunted in their forms, and stand wide apart from
each other, grow in large numbers. These trees
are never found near the sea-coast ; and this gives
another characteristic feature to the scenery of these
basins. We crossed a low ridge which separates
Guitron froin the great plain on which Santiago
stands. The view was here pre-eminently striking :
the dead level surface, covered in parts by woods
of acacia, and with the city in the distance, abut-
ting horizontally against the base of the Andes,
whose snowy peaks were bright with the evening
sun. At the first glance of this view, it was quite
evident that the plain represented the extent of a
former inland sea. As soon as we gained the lev-
el road we pushed our horses into a gallop, and
reached the city before it was dark.
I stayed a week in Santiago, and enjoyed myself
very much. In the morning I rode to various pla-
ces on the plain, and in the evening dined with
several of the English merchants, whose hospitality
at this place is well known. A never-failing source
of pleasure was to ascend the little hillock of rock
(St. Lucia) which projects in the middle of the city.
The scenery certainly is most striking, and, as I
have said, very peculiar. I am informed that this
same character is common to the cities on the great
Mexican platform. Of the town I have nothing to
say in detail : it is not so fine or so large as Buenos
Ayres, but is built after the same model. I arrived
here by a circuit to the north ; so I resolved to re-
turn to Valparaiso by a rather longer excursion to
the south of the direct road.
8eptemher bth. — By the middle of the day we
arrived at one of the suspension bridges, made of
hide, which crosses the Maypu, a large, turbulent
river a few leagues southward of Santiago. These,
bridges are very poor affairs. The road, following
HOT SPIUXCS OF CAUaUENES. 339
the curvature of the suspending ropes, is made of
bundles of sticks placed close together. It was
full of holes, and oscillated rather fearfully, even
with the weight of a man leading his horse. In
the evening we reached a comfortable farm-house,
Avhere there were several very pretty seiioritas.
They were much horrified at my having entered
one of their churches out of mere curiosity. They
asked me, " Why do you not become a Christian
— for our religion is certain V I assured them I
was a sort of Christian ; but they would not hear of
it, appealing to my own words, " Do not your pad-
res, your very bishops, marry]" The absurdity
of a bishop having a wife particularly struck them :
they scarcely kncvv' whether to be most amused or
horror-struck at such an enormity.
6tJi. — We proceeded due south, and slept at
Rancagua. The road passed over the level but
narrow plain, bounded on one side by lofty hills,
and on the other by the Cordillera. The next day
we turned up the valley of the Rio Cachapual, in
which the hot baths of Cauquenes, long celebrated
for their medicinal properties, are situated. The
.susj)ension bridges, in the less frequented parts,
are generally taken down during the winter when
the rivers are low. Sucli was the case in this val-
ley, and we were therefore obliged to cross the
stream on horseback. This is rather disagreeable,
for the foaming water, though not deep, rushes so
quickly over the bed of large rounded stones, that
one's head becomes quite confused, and it is diffi-
cult even to perceive whether the horse is moving
onward or standing still. In summer, when the
snow melts, the torrents are quite impassable ; their
strength and fury is then extremely great, as might
be plainly seen by the marks which they had left.
We reached the baths in the evening, and stayed
— vC-^
340 CENTRAL CHILE.
there five days, being confined the two last by-
heavy rain. The buildings consist of a square of
miserable little hovels, each with a single table and
bench. They are situated in a narrow deep val-
ley just without the central Cordillera. It is a qui-
et, solitary spot, with a good deal of wild beauty.
The mineral springs of Cauquenes burst forth on
a line of dislocation, crossing a mass of stratified
rock, the whole of which betrays the action of heat.
A considerable quantity of gas is continually es-
caping from the same orifices with the water.
Though the springs are only a few yards apart,
they have very different temperatures ; and this
appears to be the result of an unequal mixture of
cold water, for those with the lowest temperature
have scarcely any mineral taste. After the great
earthquake of 1822 the springs ceased, and the
water did not return for nearly a year. They were
also much affected by the earthquake of 1835, the
temperature being suddenly changed from 118° to
92'^.* It seems probable that mineral waters rising
deep from the bowels of the earth would always
be more deranged by subterranean disturbances
than those nearer the sui'face. The man who had
charge of the baths assured me that in summer the
water is hotter and more plentiful than in winter.
The former circumstance I should have expected,
from the less mixture, during the dry season, of
cold water ; but the latter statement appears very
strange and contradictory. The periodical increase
during the summer, when rain never falls, can, I
think, only be accounted for by the melting of the
snow ; yet the mountains, which are covered by
snow during that season, are three or four leagues
distant from the springs. I have no reason to
doubt the accuracy of my informer, who, having
* Caldclengh, in Philosopb. Transnct. for 1836.
•* ^■^::k*-^'-'
STATE OF .SUCIETY. 341
lived on the spot for several years, ought to be well
acquainted with, the circumstance, which, if trut-,
certainly is very curious ; for we must suppose that
the snow-water, being conducted through porous
strata to the regions of heat, is again thrown up to
the surface by the line of dislocated and injected
rocks at Cauquenes ; and the regularity of the phe-
nomenon would seem to indicate that in this dis-
trict heated rock occurred at a depth not very great.
One day I x'ode up the valley to the farthest in-
habited spot. Shortly above that point the Cacha-
pual divides into two deep, tremendous ravines,
which penetrate directly into the great range. I
scrambled up a peaked mountain, probably more
tlian six thousand feet high. Here, as indeed ev-
erywhere else, scenes of the higliest interest pre-
sented themselves. It was by one of these ravines
that Pincheira entered Chile and ravaged the
neighbouring country. This is the same man
whose attack on an estancia at the Rio Negro 1
have described. He was a renegade half-cast
Spaniard, who collected a great body of Indians
together, and established himself by a stream in the
Pampas, which ])lace none of the forces sent after
him could ever discover. From this point he used
to sally forth, and crossing the Cordillera by passes
hitherto unattempted, he ravaged the farm-houses
and drove the cattle to his secret rendezvous. Pin-
cheira was a capital horseman, and he made all
around him equally good, for he invariably shot any
one who hesitated to follow him. It was against
this man and other wandering Indian tribes that
Rosas waged the war of extermination.
Scpte7)iber I2th. — We left the baths of Cau-
quenes, and, rejoining the main road, slept at the
Rio Claro. From this place we rode to the town
of S. Fernando. Before arriving there, the last
F F 2
342 CENTRAL CHILE.
land-locked basin had expanded into a great plain,
which extended so far to the south, that the snowy-
summits of the more distant Andes were seen as if
above the horizon of the sea. S. Fernando is for-
ty leagues from Santiago, and it was my farthest
point southward, for we here turned at right an-
gles towards the coast. We slept at the gold-mines
of Yaquil, which are worked by Mr. Nixon, an
American gentleman, to whose kindness I was
much indebted during the four days I stayed at his
house. The next morning we rode to the mines,
which are situated at the distance of some leagues,
near the summit of a lofty hill. On the way we
had a glimpse of the lake Tagua-tagua, celebrated
for its floating islands, which have been described
by M. Gay.* They are composed of the stalks of
various dead plants intertwined together, and on
the surface of which other living ones take root.
Their form is generally circular, and their thick-
ness from four to six feet, of which the greater part
is immersed in the water. As the wind blows, they
pass from one side of the lake to the other, and
often carry cattle and horses as passengers.
When we arrived at the mine, I was struck by
the pale appearance of many of the men, and in-
quired from Mr. Nixon respecting their condition.
The mine is 450 feet deep, and each man brings
up about 200 pounds weight of stone. With this
load they have to climb up the alternate notches
cut in the ti'unks of trees, placed in a zigzag line
up the shaft. Even beardless young men, eighteen
and twenty years old, with little muscular devel-
opment of their bodies (they are quite naked ex-
cepting drawers), ascend with this great load from
* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, March, 1833. M. Gay, a
zealous and able naturalist, was then occupied in studying every
branch of natural history throughout the kingdom of Chile.
GOLD-MINEri OF V.AaUIL. 343
nearly the same depth. A strong man, who is not
accustomed to this labour, perspires most profuse-
ly with merely carrying up his own body. With
this very severe labour, they live entirely on boiled
beans and bread. They would prefer having bread
alone ; but tlieir masters, finding that they cannot
work so hard upon this, treat them like horses, and
make them eat the beans. Their pay is here
rather more than at the mines of Jajuel, being
from 24 to 28 shillings per month. They leave
the mine only once in three weeks, when they
stay with their families for two days. One of the
rules in this mine sounds very harsh, but answers
pretty well for the master. The only method of
stealing gold is to secrete pieces of the ore, and
take them out as occasion may offer. Whenever
the major-domo finds a lump thus hidden, its full
value is stopped out of the wages of all the men ;
who thus, without they all combine, are obliged to
keep watch over each other.
When the ore is brought to the mill, it is ground
into an impalpable powder ; the process of wash-
ing removes all the lighter particles, and amalga-
mation finally secures the gold-dust. The wash-
ing, when described, sounds a very simple process ;
but it is beautiful to see how the exact adaptation
of the current of water to the specific gravity of the
gold so easily separates the powdered raatiix from
the metal. The mud which passes from the mills
is collected into pools, where it subsides, and every
now and then is cleared out, and throwii into a
common heap. A great deal of chemical action
then commences, salts of various kinds effloresce
on the sui-face, and the mass becomes hard. After
having been left for a year or two, and then re-
washed, it yields gold ; and this process may be
repeated even six or seven times ; but the gold
344 CENTRAL CHILE.
each time becomes less in quantity, and the intei'-
vals required (as the inhabitants say, to generate
the metal) are longer. There can be no doubt that
the chemical action, already mentioned, each time
liberates fresh gold from some combination. The
discovery of a method to effect this before the first
gi'inding, would without doubt raise the value of
gold-ores many fold. It is curious to find how the
minute particles of gold, being scattered about and
not corroding, at last accumulate in some quantity.
A short time since a few miners, being out of work,
obtained permission to scrape the ground round the
house and mill : they washed the earth thus got
together, and so procured thirty dollars' worth of
gold. This is an exact counterpart of what takes
place in nature. Mountains suffer degradation and
wear away, and with them the inetallic veins which
they contain. The hardest rock is worn into im-
palpable mud, the ordinary metals oxidate, and
both are removed ; but gold, platina, and a few
others are nearly indestructible, and from their
weight, sinking to the bottom, are left behind.
After whole mountains have passed through this
grinding-mill, and have been washed by the hand
of nature, the residue becomes metalliferous, and
man finds it worth his while to complete the task
of separation.
Bad as the above treatment of the miners ap-
pears, it is gladly accepted of by them ; for the
condition of the labouring agriculturists is much
worse. Their wages are lower, and they live al-
most exclusively on beans. This poverty must be
chiefly owing to the feudal-like system on which
the land is tilled : the landowner gives a small plot
of ground to the labourer for building on and cul-
tivating, and in return has his services (or those of
a proxy) for every day of his life, without any
INDIAN KliLIC. 345
wages. Until a father has a grown-up son, who
can by his labour pay the rent, there is no one, ex-
cept on occasional clays, to take care of his own
patch of ground. Hence extreme poverty is very
common among the labouring classes in this country.
There are some old Indian ruins in this neighbour-
hood, and I was shown one of the 2:)erforated stones,
which Molina mentions as being found in many
places in considerable numbers. They are of a
circular flattened form, from five to six inches in
diameter, with a hole passing quite through the
centre. It has generally been supposed that they
were used as heads to clubs, although their form
does not appear at all well adapted for that pur-
pose. Burchell* states that some of the tribes in
Southern Africa dig up roots, by the aid of a stick
pointed at one end, the force and weight of which
is increased by a round stone with a hole in it, into
which the other end is firmly wedged. It appears
probable that the Indians of Chile formerly used
some such rude agricultural instrument.
One day, a German collector in natural history,
of the name of Renous, called, and nearly at the
same time an old Spanish lawyer. I was amused
at being told the conversation which took place
between them. Renous sjoeaks Spanish so well,
that the old lawyer mistook him for a Chilian.
Renous, alluding to me, asked him what he thought
of the King of England sending out a collector to
their country to pick up lizards and beetles, and
to break stones. The old gentleman thought se-
riously for some time, and then said, " It is not
well — hmj UH gato encerrado aqul (there is a cat
shut up here). No man is so rich as to send out
people to pick up such rubbish. I do not like it :
if one of us were to go and do such things in Eng-
* Burchell's Travels, vol. li., p. 45.
346 CENTRAL CHILE.
land, do not you think the King of England would
very soon send us out of his country V And this
old gentleman, from his profession, belongs to the
better-informed and more intelligent classes ! Re-
nous himself, two or three years before, left in a
house at S. Fernando some caterpillars, under
charge of a girl to feed, that they might turn into
buttei-flies. This was rumoured through the town,
and at last the Padres and Governor consulted to-
gether, and agi-eed it must be some heresy. Ac-
cordingly, when Renous retunied, he was arrested.
Sej}(e//ibcr 19th. — We left Yaquil, and followed
the flat valley, formed like that of Quillota, in which
the Rio Tinderidica flows. Even at these few miles
south of Santiago the climate is much damper : in
consequence, there were fine tracts of pasturage,
which were not irrigated. (20th.) We followed
this valley till it expanded into a great plain, which
reaches from the sea to the mountains west of Ran-
cagua. We shortly lost all trees and even bushes,
so that the inhabitants are nearly as badly off" for
firewood as those in Pampas. Never having heard
of these plains, I was much sui-prised at meeting
with such scenery in Chile. The plains belong to
more than one series of different elevations, and
they are traversed by broad, flat-bottomed valleys ;
both of which circumstances, as in Patagonia, be-
speak the action of the sea on gently rising land.
In the steep cliffs bordering these valleys, there are
some large caves, which no doubt were originally
formed by the waves : one of these is celebrated
under the name of Cueva del Obispo, having for-
merly been consecrated. During the day I felt very
imwell, and from that time till the end of October
did not recover.
Sej)tember 22d. — We continued to pass over
g een plains without a tree. The next day we ar-
THE I'UAIA. 347
rived at a house near Navedad, on the sea-coast,
where a rich Haciendero gave us lodgings. I
stayed here the two ensuing days, and although
very unwell, managed to collect fi'om the tertiary
formation some marine .shells.
2^th.. — Our course was now directed towards
Valpfu-aiso, which with great difficulty I reached
on the 27th, and was there confined to my bed till
the end. of October. During this time I was an
inmate in Mr. Corfield's house, whose kindness to
me I do not know how to express.
I will here add a few observations on some of
the animals and birds of Chile. The Puma, or
South American Lion, is not imcommon. This
animal has a wide geographical range, being found
from the equatorial forests, throughout the deserts
of Patagonia, as far south as the damp and cold
latitudes (53° to 54°) of Tierra del Fuego. 1 have
seen its footprints in the Cordillera of central Chile,
at an elevation of at least 10,000 feet. In La Plata
the puma preys chiefly on deer, ostriches, bizca-
cha, and other small quadrupeds ; it there seldom
attacks cattle or horses, and most rarely man. In
Chile, however, it destroys many young horses and
cattle, owing, probably, to the scarcity of other
quadrupeds : I heard likewise of two men and a
woman who had been thus killed. It is asserted
that the puma always kills its prey by springing on
the shoulders, and then drawing back the head with
one of its paws until the vertebra? break : I have
seen in Patagonia the skeletons of guanacos with
their necks thus dislocated.
The puma, alter eating its fill, covers the carcass
^rith many large bushes, and lies do^%ni to watch it.
This habit is often the cause of its being discover-
ed, for the condors, wheeling in the air, every now
348 CENTRAL CHILE.
and then descend to partake of the feast, and be-
ing angrily driven away, rise altogether on the
wing. The Chileno Guaso then knows there is a
lion watching his prey; the word is given, and men
and dogs huny to the chase. Sir F. Head says
that a Gaucho in the Pampas, upon merely seeing
some condors wheeling in the air, cried, "A lion !"
I could never myself meet with any one Avho pre-
tended to such powers of discrimination. It is as-
serted, that if a puma has once been betrayed by
thus watching the carcass, and has then been hunt-
ed, it never resumes this habit, but that, having
gorged itself, it wanders far away. The puma is
easily killed. In an open country, it is first entan-
gled with the bolas, then lazoed, and dragged along
the gi-ound till rendered insensible. At Tandeel
(south of the Plata) I was told that within three
months one hundred were thus destroyed. In Chile
they are generally driven up bushes or trees, and
are then either shot or baited to death by dogs.
The dogs employed in this chase belong to a par-
ticular breed, called Leoneros : they are weal\,
slight animals, like long-legged temers, but are
bom with a particular instinct for this sport. The
puma is described as being very crafty : when pur-
sued, it often returns on its former track, and then
suddenly making a spring on one side, waits there
till the dogs have passed by. It is a very silent an-
imal, uttering no cry even when wounded, and only
rarely during the breeding season.
Of birds, two species of the genus Pteroptochos
(megapodius and albicollis of Kittlitz) are perhaps
the most conspicuous. The former, called by the
Chilenos " el Turco," is as large as a fieldfare, to
which bird it has some alliance ; but its legs are
much longer, tail shorter, and beak stronger : its
colour is a reddish brown. The Turco is not un-
BIRDS. 349
commoti. It lives on the gi'ound, sheltered among
the thickets which are scattered over the dry and
sterile hills. With its tail erect, and stilt-like legs,
it may be seen every now and then popjjing fi-om
one bush to another with uncommon quickness. It
really requires little imagination to believe that the
bird is ashamed of itself, and is aware of its most
ridiculous figure. On first seeing it, one is tempt-
ed to exclaim, " A vilely stuffed specimen has es-
caped from some museum, and has come to life
again!" It cannot be made to take flight without
the greatest trouble, nor does it run, but only hops.
The various loud cries which it utters when con-
cealed amongst the bushes are as strange as its ap-
pearance. It is said to build its nest in a deep hole
beneath the ground. I dissected several specimens :
the gizzard, which was very muscular, contained
beetles, vegetable fibres, and pebbles. From this
character, from the length of its legs, scratching
feet, membranous covering to the nostrils, short
and arched %\'ings, this bird seems in a certain de-
gree to connect the thrushes with the gallinaceous
order.
The second species (or P. albicollis) is allied to
the first in its general form. It is called Tapacolo,
or "cover your posterior;" and well does the
shameless little bird desei-ve its name ; for it carries
its tail more than erect, that is, inclined backwards
towards its head. It is very common, and frequents
the bottoms of hedge-rows, and the bushes scatter-
ed over the barren hills, where scarcely another
bird can exist. In its general manner of feeding,
of quickly hopping out of the thickets and back
again, in its desire of concealment, un^'villingness
to take flight, and nidification, it bears a close re-
semblance to the Turco ; but its appearance is not
quite so ridiculous. The Tapacolo is ver\- craftv :
Gg
350 CENXaAL CHILE.
when frightened by any person, it will remain mo-
tionless at the bottom of a bush, and will then, af-
ter a little while, try with much address to crawl
away on the opposite side. It is also an active
bird, and continually making a noise : these noises
are various and sti'angely odd ; some are likft the
cooing of doves, others like the bubbling of water,
and many defy all similes. The counti-y people
say it changes its cry five times in the year — ac-
cording to some change of season, J suppose.*
Two species of humming-birds are common :
Trochilus forficatus is found over a space of 2500
miles on the west coast, from the hot, dry country
of Lima, to the forests of Tierra del Fuego,
where it may be seen flitting about in snow-storms.
In the wooded island of Chiloe, which has an ex-
tremely humid climate, this little bird, skipping
from side to side amid the dripping foliage, is per-
haps more abundant than almost any other kind.
I opened the stomachs of several specimens, shot
in different parts of the continent, and in all re-
mains of insects were as numerous as in the stom-
ach of a creeper. When this species migrates in
the summer southward, it is replaced by the an'i-
val of another species coming from the north.
This second kind (Trochilus gigas) is a very large
bird for the delicate family to which it belongs :
when on the wing its appearance is singvilar. Like
others of the genus, it moves from place to place
with a rapidity which may be compared to that of
Syrphus amongst flies, and Sphinx amongst moths;
* It is a remarkable fact, that Molina, though describing in de-
tail all the birds and animals in Chile, never once mentions this
genus, the species of which are so common, and so remarkable
in their habits. Was he at a loss how to classify them, and did
he consequently think that silence was the more prudent course ?
It is one more instance of the frequency of omissions by authors
on those very subjects where it might have been least expected.
HUMMING-niRDS. 351
but whilst hovering over a flower, it flaps its wings
with a very slow and powerful movement, totally
different from that vibratory one common to most
of the species which produces the humming noise.
I never saw any other bird where the force of its
wings appeared (as in a butterfly) so powerful in
proportion to the weight of its body. When hov-
ering by a flower, its tail is constantly expanded
and shut like a fan, the body being kept in a near-
ly vertical position. This action appears to steady
and support the biixl between the slow movements
of its wings. Although flying from flower to flow-
er in search of food, its stomach generally contain-
ed abundant remains of insects, which I suspect
are much more the object of its search than honey.
The note of this species, like that of nearly the
whole family, is extremely shrill.
END OF VOL. I.
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