//-^J
JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES 3
INTO THE
NATURAL HISTORY AND GEOLOGY
OF THE
COUNTRIES VISITED DURING THE VOYAGE OF
H.M.S BEAGLE ROUND THE WORLD,
V
UNDER THE
Cammantf at Cajjjt Jf^iti ^a^y ^S*
By CHARLES DARWIN, M.A., r.R.S.,
4UTH0B OF 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES,' ETC.
-jv^>
^
NEW EDITION,
NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
54 9 & 55 1 BROADWAY.
1878,
TO
CHARLES LYELL, Esq., F.R.S.,
THIS SECOND EDITION IS DEDICATED WITH GRATEFUL PLEASURE, A6
AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT THE CHIEF PART OF WHATEVER
SCIENTIFIC MERIT THIS JOURNAL AND THE OTHER WORKS OF THE
AUTHOR MAY POSSESS, HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM STUDYING THE
WELL-KNOWN AND ADMIRABLE
PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY.
\^^ ^ ^ ^
PREFACE.
I HA.VE stated in the preface to the first Edition of this work,
and in the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, that it was in
consequence of a wish expressed by Captain Fitz Roy, of having
some scientific person on board, accompanied by an oflfer from
him of giving up part of his own accommodation.s, that I volun-
teered my services, which received, through the kindness of the
hydrographer, Captain Beaufort, the sanction of the Lords of
the Admiralty. As I feel that the opportunities which I en-
joyed of studying the Natural History of the different countries
we visited, have been wholly due to Captain Fitz Roy, I hope 1
may here be permitted to repeat my expression of gratitude
to him ; and to add that, during the five years we were togetlier,
I received from him the most cordial friendship and steady
assistance. Both to Captain Fitz Roy and to all the Officers of
the Beagle * I shall ever feel most thankful for the undeviating
kindness with wdiich I was treated during our long voyage.
This volume contains, in the form of a Journal, a history of
our voyage, and a sketch of those observations in Natural
History and Geology, which I think will possess some interest
for the general reader. I have in this edition largely condensed
and corrected some parts, and have added a little to others, in
order to render the volume more fitted for popular reading ; but
I trust that naturalists will remember, that they must refer for
details to the larger publications, which comprise the scientific
results of the Expedition. The Zoology of the Voyage of
the Beagle includes an account of the Fossil Mammalia, by
Professor Owen ; of the Living Mammalia, by Mr. Waterr
house; of the Birds, by Mr. Gould; of the Fish, by the
Rev. L. Jenyns ; and of the Reptiles, by Mr. Bell. I have
appended to the descriptions of each species an account of its
liabits and range. These works, which I owe to the hiuh
* I must take this opportunity of returning my sincere thanks to Mr. Byiioo,
ihe surgeon of the Beagle, for his very kind attention to me when I was ill
It Valparaiso.
vi PilEFACn..
talents and disinterested zeal of the above distinguished authors,
could not have been undertaken, had it not been for the libe-
rality of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury,
who, through the representation of the Right Honourable the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been pleased to grant a sum
of one thousand pounds towards defraying part of the expeusea
of publication.
I have myself published separate volumes on the ' Structure
and Distribution of Coral Reefs ;' on the ' Volcanic Islands
visited during the Voyage of the Beagle ;' and on the ' Geology
of South America.* The sixth volume of the ' Geological Trans-
actions' contains two papers of mine on the Erratic Boulders
and Volcanic Phenomena of South America. Messrs. Water-
house, "VValkTer, Newman, and White, have published several
able papers on the Insects which were collected, and I trust that
many others will hereafter follow. The plants from the southern
parts of America will be given by Dr. J. Hooker, in his great
work on the Botany of the Southern Hemisphere. The Flora of
the Galapagos Archipelago is the subject of a separate memoir
by him, in the ' Linnean Transactions.' The Reverend Professor
Henslow has published a list of the plants collected by me at
the Keeling Islands ; and the Reverend J. M. Berkeley has de-
scribed my cryptogamic plants.
I shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the great assist-
ance which I have received from several other naturalists, in the
course of this and my other works ; but I must be here allowed
to return my most sincere thanks to the Reverend Professor
Henslow, who, when I was an under-graduate at Cambridge,
w^as one chief means of giving me a taste for Natural History,
— who, during my absence, took charge of the collections I sent
home, and by his correspondence directed my endeavours, — and
who, since my return, has constantly rendered me every assist-
ance which the kindest friend could offer.
Dotvn, Bromley, Kent.
June, 1845.
PREFACE. vil
POSTSCKIPT.
1 TAKE the opportunity of a new edition of my Journal to
correct a few errors. At page 83 I have stated that the
majority of the shells which were embedded with the extinct
mammals at Punta Alta, in Bahia Blancaj were still living
species. These shells have since been examined (see * Geological
Observations in South America,' p. 83) by M. Alcide d'Orbigny,
and he pronounces them all to be recent. M. Aug. Bravard has
lately described, in a Spanish work (' Observaciones Geologieas/
1857), this district, and he believes that the bones of the extinct
mammals were washed out of the underlying Pampean deposit,
and subsequently became embedded with the still existing shells ;
but I am not convinced by his remarks. M. Bravard believes
that the whole enormous Pampean deposit is a sub-aerial forma-
tion, like sand-dunes : this seems to me to be an untenable
doctrine.
At page 378 I give a list of the birds inhabiting the Galapagos
Archipelago. The progress of research has shown that some of
these birds, which were then thought to be confined to the islands,
occur on the American continent. The eminent ornithologist,
Mr. Sclater, informs me that this is the case with the Strix puncta-
lissima and Pyrocephalus nanus ; and probably with the Otus
galapagoensis and Zenaida galapagoensis : so that the number of
endemic birds is reduced to twenty-three, or probably to twenty-
one. Mr. Sclater thinks that one or two of these endemic forms
should be ranked rather as varieties than species, which always
seemed to me probable.
The snake mentioned at page 381, as being, on the authority
of M. Bibron, the same with a Chilian species, is stated by Dr.
Giinter (Zoolog. Soc, Jan. 24th, 1859) to be a peculiar species,
not known to inhabit any other country,
Feb. let, 18G0.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Ptorto Praya — Ribeira Grande — Atmospheric
Dnst with Infusoria — Habits of a Sea-slug and
Cuttle-fish — St. Paul's Rocks, non volcanic —
Singular incrustations — Insects the first Colo-
nists of Islands — Fernando Noronha — Bahia
— Burnished Rocks— Habits of a Diodon —
Pelagic Conferva} and Infusoria — Causes of
discoloured Sea Page 1
CHAPTER II.
Rio de Janeiro — Excursion north of Cape Frio
— Great Evaporation — Slavery — Botofogo
Kay — Terrestrial Planarias — Clouds on the
Corcovado — Heavy Rain — Musical Frogs —
Phosphorescent Insects — Elater, springing
powers of— Blue Haze— Noise made by a
Butterfly — Entomology — Ants— Wasp kill-
ing a Spider — Parasitical Spider — Artifices of
an Epeira — Gregarious Spider — Spider with
an umiy mmetrical Web .• 19
CHAPTER III.
Monte Video— Maldonado — Excursion to R.
Polanco— Lazo and Bolas — Partridges — Ab-
sence of Trees — Deer — Capybara, or River
Hog — Tucutuco — Molotlirus, cuckoo-like
habits — Tyrant Flycatcher— Mocking-bird —
Carrion Hawks— Tubes formed by Lightning
— House struck 39
CHAPTER IV.
Rio Negro— Estancias attacked by the Indians
— Salt Lakes — Flamingoes — R. Ne;;ro to R.
Colorado — Sacred Tree— Patagonian Hare —
Indian Families — General Rosas — Proceed to
Bahia Blanca— Sand Dunes — Negro Lieute-
nant— Bahia Blanca — Saline Incrustations —
Punta Alta— Zorillo 63
CHAPTER V.
i>ahia Blanca — Geology — Numerous gigantic
extinct Quadrupeds - Recent Extinction —
Longevity of Species — Larire Animals do not
require a luxiuiant Vegetation — Southern
Africa — Siberian Fossils — Two Species of
Ostrich — Habits of Oven-bird — Arraadilloes
— Venomous Snake, Toad, Lizard — Hyberna-
tion of Animals — Habits of Sea-Pen — Indian
Wars and Massacres — ALrrow-head — Antiqua-
rian Relic 81
CHAPTER V>I.
Set out for Buenos Ayres — Rio Sauce — Sierra
Ventana — lliird Posta — Driving Horses —
Bolas — Partridges and Foxes— Features of th»'
C-ountry — Long-legged Plover — Teru- tero —
Hailstorm — Natural Enclosures in the Sierra
Tapalguen — Flesh of Puma— Meat Diet —
Guardia del Monte — Eilects of Cattle on the
Vegetation — Cardoon — Buenos Ayres — Cor-
ibI where Cattle are slaughtered 1 1>6
CHAFFER VIL
Excursion to St. Fe— Thistle-Beds— Habits of
the Bizcacha— Little Owl— Saline Streams-
Level Plains— Mastodon — St. Fe— Change in
Landscape — Geology— Tootli of extinct Horse
— Relation of the Fossil and recentQuadrupeds
of North and South America — Effects of a
great Drought — Parana — Habits of the Jaguar
— Scisior-beak — King-fisher, Parrot, and
Scissor-ta 1 — Revolution — Buenos A>Tes —
State of Government 123
CHAPTER Vm.
Excursion to Colonia del Sacramiento — Value
of an Estancia— Cattle, how counted — Sin-
gular Breed of Oxen — Perforated Pebbles-
Shepherd- Dogs— Horses broken-in, Gauchos
Riding— Character of Inhabitants— Rio Plata
—Flocks of Butterfl es — Aeronaut Spiders-
Phosphorescence of the Sea— Port Desire—
Guanaco — Port St. Julian— Geology of Pata-
gonia— Fossil gigantic Animal — Types of
Organization constant — Change in the Zoo-
logy of America— Causes of Extinction . 142
CHAPTER IX.
Santa Cruz — Expedition up the River— Indians
— Immense Streams of Basaltic I^va— Frag-
ments not transported by tiie River — Exca-
vation of the Valley— Condor, habits of—
Cordillera — Erratic Boulders of great size—
Indian Relics— Return to the Ship— Falk-
land Islands— Wild Horses, Cattle, Rabbits—
Wolf-like Fox — Fire made of Bones — Man-
ner of hunting Wild Cattle — Geology —
Streams of Stones — Scenes of Violence-
Penguin — Geese— Eggs of Doris —Compound
Animals 1*77
CHAPTER X.
Tierra del Fuego, first arrival — Good Success
Bay — An Account of the Fuegians on board
— Interview with the Savages — Scenery of
the Forests — Cape Horn — Wigwam Cove —
Miserable Condition of tlie Savages— Famines
— Cannibals — Matricide— Religious Feeli ngs
— Great Gale — Beagle Cliannel — Ponsonby
Sound — Build Wigvvams and settle the Fue-
gians— Bifunation of the Beagle Cliannel —
Glaciers — Return to the Ship — Second Visit
in tlie Ship to the Settlement— Equality of
Condition amongst the Natives 204
CHAPTER XI.
Strait of Magellan — Port Famine — Ascent of
Mount Tarn — Forests — Rlible Fungus-
Zoology — Great Sea- weed— Leave Tierra del
Fuego— Climate — Fruit Trees and Produc-
tions of the Southern Coasts — Height of
Snow-line on the CordiUera — Descent ol
Glaciers to tlie Sea — Icebergs formed— Trans-
portal of Boulders — Climate and Produc-
tions of the Antarctic Islands — Preservation
of Frozen Carcasses— Recapitulation ... 231
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER Xir.
Valparaiso^Excursion to the Foot of the Andes
— Structure of the Lar.«l— Ascend the Bell of
Quillota — Shattered Masses of Greenstone —
Immense Valleys — Mines — State cf Miners
— Santiago — Hot-baths of Cauquenes — Gold-
mines— Grinding-mills — Perforated Stones
— Habits of the Puma — El Turco and Tapa-
«olo— Humming-birds 252
CHAPTER XHI.
Chiloe — General Aspect — Boat Excursion —
Native Indians— Castro— Tame Fox— Ascend
San Pedro — Chonos Arcliipelago— Peninsula
of Tres Montes — Granit.c Range — Boat-
\NTecked Sailors— Low's Harbour— Wild Po-
tato — Formation of Peat — Myopotamus,
Otter and Mice — Cheucau and Barking-bird
— Opetiorhynchus — Singular Cliaracter of Or-
nithology—Petrels 273
CHAPTER XIV.
San Carlos, Cliiloe — Osorno in eruption, con-
temporaneously with Aconcagua and Cose-
guina — Ride to Cucao — Impenetrable forests
— Valdi\ia— Indians— Earthquake — Concep-
cion — Great eartliquake — Rocks fissured —
Appearance of the former towns — The sea
black and boiling — Direction of the vibra-
tions— Stones twisted round— Great Wave —
Permanent elevation of the land — Area of
volcanic phenomena — 'Hie connexion be-
tween the elevatory and eruptive forces —
Cause of earthquakes — Slow elevation of
Mountain-chains 291
CHAFfER XV,
Valparaiso— Portillo pass— Sagacity of mules—
Alountain torrents — Mines, how discovered
— Proofs of the gradual elevation of the Cor-
dillera— ElTect of snow on rocks -Geological
structure of the two main ranges — Their dis-
tinct origin and upheaval — Great subsidence
— Red snow — Winds — Pinnacles of snow —
Dry and clear atmosphere — Eiectricitv —
Pampas— Zoolo^'v of the opposite sides of the
Andes — Locusts — Great bugs — Mendoza —
Uspallata Pass— Silicified trees buried as
thev grew — Incas Bridge — Badness of the
• pisses exaggerated — Cumbre — Casuchas—
Valparaiso 3;;^
CHAPTER XVI.
Doast-road to Coquimbo — Great loads carried
by the miners — Coquimbo — Earthquake—
Step-formed terraces — Absence of recent de-
posits—Contemporaneousness of the Tertiary
formations — Excursion up tlie valley — Roail
to Guasco — Deserts — Valiey of Copiap6 —
Rain and earthquakes — Hydrophobia— Tlie
Despoblado — Indian Ruins— l*robable change
of climate — River-bed arched by an earth-
quake— Cold gales of wind — Noises from a
hill — Iquique — Salt alluvium — Nitrate of
scxla — Lima— Unhealthy country — Ruins of
Callao, overthrown by an earthquake — Recent
subsidence— Elevated sliells on San Lorenzo,
their decomposition -Plain with embedded
ahells and fragments of pottery— Antiquity
cf tlio Indian Rac« ;^V7
CHAPTER XVII.
Galapagos Archipelago — The whole group vol*
canic — Number of craters — Leafless buahes—
Colony at Charles Island— James Island—
Salt-lake in crater— Natural History of the
group — Ornithology, curious finches— Rep-
tiles—Great tortoises, habits of— Marine li-
zard, feeds on sea-weed — Terrestrial lizard,
burrowing habits, herbivorous— Importance
of reptiles in the Archipelago — Fish, shells,
insects — Botany — American type of organi-
zation— Differences in the species or races on
different islands — Tameness of the birds-
Fear of man, an acquired instinct 372
CHAPTER XVIII.
Pass through the Low Archipelago— Tahiti-
Aspect— Ve;^etation on the Mountains — View
of Eimeo — Excursion into the Interior — Pro-
found Ravines — Succession of Waterfalls —
Number of wild useful Plants — Temperance
of the Inhabitants— Their moral state— Par-
liament convened — New Zealand — Bay of
Islands — Hippahs — Excursion to Waimate —
Missionary Establishment— English Weeds
now run wild — Waiomio — Funeral of a New
Zealand Woman — Sail for Australia. ... 402
CHAPTER XIX.
Sydney — Excursion to Bathurst — Aspect of the
Woods— Party of Natives — Gradual extinc-
tion of the Aborigines — Infection generated
by associated men in health — Blue Moun-
tains— View of the grand gulf-like Valleys —
Tlieir origin and formation— Bathurst, gene-
ral civility of the lower orders— State of So-
ciety—Van Diemen's Land— Hobart Town
— Aborigines all banished — Mount Welling-
ton— King George's Sound — Cheerless aspect
of the Country — Bald Head, calcareous casts
of branches of trees — Party of Natives— Leave
Australia ' 431
CHAPTER XX.
Keoling Island — Singular appearance— Scanty
Flora — Transport of Seeds— Birds and Insects
— El)bing and flowing Wells — Fields of
dead Coral — Stones transported in the roots
of trees — Great Crab — Stinging Corals —
Coral-eating Fish— Coral Formations — I^-
uoon Islands, or Atolls — Depth at which reef-
building Corals can live— Vast Areas inter-
spersed with low Coral Islands — Subsidence
of their foundations — Barrier Reefs— Fring
ing Iteefs- Conversion ofFringing Reefs into
Biirrier Reefs, and into Atolls— Evidence 0/
changes in Level — Breaches in Barrier Reefs
— Maldiva Atolls; their peculiar structure —
Dead and submer,'ed Reefs — Areas of siibsi
denceand elevation — Distribution of Volcano
— Subsidence slow, and vast in amount.. 452
CHAPTER XXI.
Mauritius, beautiful appearance of — Great cra-
teriform ring of Mountains— Hindoos — St
Helena— History of the changes in the ve e-
tation — Cause of the extinction of land-shells
— Ascension — Variation in the imported rat*
— Volcanic Bombs — Beds of infusoria — Baliia
— Brazil — Splendour of tropical scenery— Per
nambuco — Singular Reef — Slavery— Return
to England — Retrospect on our voyage.. 4s3
Index 507
JOURNAL.
CHAPTER I.
Porte Praya — Ribeira Grande — Atmospheric Dust with Infusoria — Habits
of a Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish — St. Pauls Rocks, non- volcanic — Singular
Incrustations — Insects the first Colonists of Islands — Fernando Noronha
— Bahia — Burnished Rocks — Habits 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 com-
mand of Captain Fitz Roy, R.N., sailed from Devonport on the
27th of December, 1831. The object of the expedition was to
complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, com-
menced 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 Teneriffe, 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
Teneriffe, whilst the lower parts 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 lieighbourhood of Porto Praya, viewed from the sea,
wears a desolate aspect. The volcanic fires of a past age, and
ihe scorching heat of a tropical sun, have in most places rendered
the soil unfit for vegetation. The country rises in successive
2 ST. JAGO— CAPE DE VERB ISLANDS. [chap. i.
steps of table-land, interspersed with some truncate conical hills,
and the horizon is bounded by an irregular chain of more lofty
monntains. The scene, as beheld through* the hazy atmosphere
of this climate, is one of great interest ; if, indeed, a person,
*tesh from sea, and who has just walked, for the first time, in a
^rove of cocoa-nut trees, can be a judge of anything but hip 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 utterly sterile land possesses
a grandeur which more vegetation might spoil. A single green
leaf can scarcely be discovered over wide tracts of the lava plains ;
yet flocks of goats, together with a few cows, contrive to exist.
It rains veiy seldom, but during a short portion of the year
heavy torrents fall, and immediately afterwards a light vegeta-
tion 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 living creatures inhabit these
valleys. The commonest 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 is brightly coloured,
but not so beautiful as the European species : in its flight, man-
ners, and place of habitation, which is generally in tlie di-iest
valley, there is also a wide difference.
One day, two of the officers and myself rode to Ei!)eira 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 pro-
duces a most refreshing margin of luxuriant vegetation. In the
course of an hour we arrived at Ribeira Grande, and were sur-
prised at the sight of a large ruined fort and cathedral. This
little town, before its harbour was filled up, was the principal
* I state this on the authority of Dr. E. Di<^ffeubach, in his German
translation of the first edition of this Journal.
I832.J RIBEIRA GRANDE— ST. DOMINGO. 3
place in the island : it. now presents a melancholy, but very pic-
turesque appearance. Having procured a black Padre for a
guide, and a Spaniard who had served in the Peninsular war as
an interpreter, we visited a collection of buildings, of which an
ancient churcli formed the principal part. It is here the gover-
nors and captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some
of the tombstones recorded dates of the sixteenth century.* The
heraldic ornaments were the only things in this retired place tliat
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 anotlier side was a hospital, containing about
a dozen miserable-looking inmates.
We returned to the Venda to eat our dinners. A considerable
number of men, women, and children, all as black as jet, col-
lected to watch us. Our companions were extremely merry ;
and everything we said or did was followed by their hearty
laugfhter. Before leaving- the town we visited the cathedral. It
does not appear so rich as the smaller church, but boasts of a
little organ, which sent forth singularly inharmonious cries. We
presented the black priest with a few shillings, and the Spaniard,
patting him on the head, said, with much candour, he thought
his colour made no great difference. We then returned, as fast
as the ponies would go, to Porto Pray a.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo, situated
near the centre of the island. On a small plain which we crossed,
a few stunted acacias were growing ; their tops had been bent
by the steadj^ trade-wind, in a singular manner — some of them
even at right angles to their trunks. The direction of the
branches was exactly N.E. by N., and S.W. by S., and these
natural vanes must indicate the prevailing direction of the force
of the trade-wind. The travelling had made so little impression
on the barren soil, that we here missed our track, and took that
to Fuentes. This we did not find out till we arrived there ; and
we were afterwards glad of our- mistake. Fuentes is a pretty
village, with a small stream ; and everything appeared to prosper
well, excepting, indeed, that which ought to do so most — iis
* The Cape de Vera Islands were discovered in 1449. There was a
tombstone of a bishop with the date of 1571 ; and a crest of a hand ajid
dagger, dated 1497.
4 ST. JAGO— CAPE DE VKKD ISLANDS. [chap. i.
inhabitants. The black (ihildren, 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 approached. They avoided us, like partridges on a rainy
day in September, running with their heads cocked up ; and if
pursued, they readily took to the wing.
The scenery of St. Domingo possesses a beauty totally unex-
pected, from the prevalent gloomy character of the rest of the
island. The village is situated at the bottom of a valley, bounded
by lofty and jagged walls of stratified lava. The black rocks
afford a most striking contrast with the bright green vegetation,
which follows the banks of a little stream of clear water. It
happened to be a grand feast-day, and the village was full of
people. On our return we overtook a party of about twenty
young black girls, dressed in excellent taste ; their black skins
and snow-white linen being set off by coloured turbans and large
f shawls. As soon as we approached near, they suddenly all
J turned round, and covering the path with their shawls, sung with
\ great energy a wild song, beating time with their hands upon
their legs. We threw them some vintt?ms, which were, received
with screams of laughter, and we left them redoubling the noise
of their song.
One morning tlie view was singularly clear; the distant moun-
tains being projected with the sharpest outline, on a heavy bank
of dark blue clouds. Judging from the appearance, and from
similar cases in England, I supposed that the air was saturated
with moisture. The fact, however, turned out quite the con-
trary. The hygrometer gave a difference of 29*6 degrees,
between the temperature of the air, and the point at whicii dew
was precipitated. This difference was nearly double that which
I had observed on the previous mornings. This unusual degree
of atmospheric dryness was accompanied by continual flashes of
lightning. Is it not an uncommon case, thus to find a re-
markable degree of aerial transparency with such a state of
weather ?
Generally the atmospliere is hazy; and this is caused by the
falling of inipalpably fine dust, which was found to have slightly
1832.] ATMOSPHERIC DUST WITH INFUSORIA. 5
injured the astronomical instruments. Tlie morning before we
ancliored at Porto Pray a, I collected a little packet of tliis
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. Professor
Ehrenberg* finds that this dust consists in great part of infusoria
with siliceous shields, and of the siliceous tissue of plants. In
five little packets which I sent him, he has ascertained no less
than sixty-seven different organic forms ! The infusoria, with
the exception of two marine species, are all inhabitants of fresh-
water. I have found no less than fifteen different accounts of
dust Iiaving fallen on vessels when far out in the Atlantic. Frorii
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, however, a
very singular fact, that, although Professor Ehrenberg knows
many species of infusoria peculiar to Africa, he finds none of
tliese in the dust which I sent him : on the other hand, he finds
ill it two species which hitherto he knows as living only in South
America. JThe dust falls in such quantities as to dirty every-
thing on board, and to hurt people's eyes ; vessels even have run
on shore owing to the obscurity of the atmosphere. It has often
fallen on ships when several hundred, and even more than a
tliousand miles from the coast of Africa, and at points sixteen
hundred miles distant in a north and south direction. In some
dust which was collected on a vessel three hundred miles from
tlie land, I was much surprised to find particles of stone above
the thousandth of an inch square, mixed 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 harbour, a perfectly horizontal
white band in the face of the sea cliff", may be seen running for
* 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 Geolo
gical Society.
3 ST. JAGO— CaPE DE VERD ISLx\NDS. [chap. i.
some miles along- tlie coast, and at the height of about forty-five
feet above tlie water. Upon examination, this white stratum is
found to consist of calcareous matter, with numerous shells em-
bedded, most or all of which now exist on the neighbouring
coast. It rests on ancient volcanic rocks, and has been covered
by a stream of basalt, which must have entered the sea when the
white shelly bed was lying at the bottom. It is interesting to
trace the changes, produced by the heat of the overlying lava, on
the friable mass, which in parts has been converted into a crys-
talline 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 proceeded.
Within historical times, no signs of volcanic activity have, I be-
lieve, 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 streams can be dis-
tinguished on the coast, forming lines of cliffs of less height, but
stretchinof out in advance of those belonfrinu;' 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 xery common. This sea-slug is about five
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 causins: a current of water to flow over the dorsal branchise or
lungs. It feeds on the delicate sea-weeds Nvhich grow among
tlie stones in muddy and shallow water ; and I found in its sto-
mach 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, w^hich is spread over its
body, causes a sharp, stinging sensation, similar to that produced
by the Phj'salia, 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 tlie
1832.1 HABITS OF A CUTTLE-FISH. 7
pools of water left by the retiring tide, these animals were no'
easily caught. By means of their long arms and suckers, they
could drag their bodies into very narrow crevices ; and when
thus fixed, it required great force to remove 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 extraordinary, chameleon-like power
of changing their colour. They appear to vary their tints accord-
ing to the nature of tlie ground over which they pass : when in
deep water, their general shade was brownish purple, but when
placed on the land, or in shallow 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
effected in such a manner, that clouds, varying in tint between a
hyacinth red and a chestnut brown,* were continually passing
over the body. Any part, being subjected to a slight shock of
galvanism, became almost black : a similar effect, but in a less
degree, was produced 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
containing variously coloured fluids.f
This cuttle-fish displayed its chameleon-like power both during
the act of swimming and whilst remaining stationary at the bot-
tom. 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 for a time motionless, it would then
stealthily advance an inch or two, like a cat after a mouse ; some-
times 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 grating noise. At first I
could not think what it was*, but afterwards I found out that it was
* So named according to Patrick Symes's nomenclature.
f See Encyclop. of Anat. and Physiol., article Cephalopoda.
3 ST. PAUL'S ROCKS. [chap, i
this cuttle-fish, which, though concealed in a hole, thus often led
me to its discovery. That it possesses the power of ejecting
water there is no doubt, and it appeared to me that it could cer-
tainly take good aim by directing the tube or siphon on the under
side of its body. From the difficulty 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 hoveto,
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' wTst longitude. It is 540 miles distant from the
coast of America, and 350 from the island of Fernando Noronlia.
The highest point is only fifty feet above the level of the sea, and
the entire circumference is under three-quarters of a mile. Tin's
small point rises 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 felspathic 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 Seychelles and
this little point of rock, are, I believe, composed either of coral
or of erupted matter. The volcanic nature of these oceanic
islands is evidently an extension of that law, and the effect of
those same causes, whether chemical or mechanical, from which
it results that a vast majority of the volcanoes 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 multi-
tude of seafowl, and partly to a coating of a hard glossy sub-
stance 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 found certain stalac-
titic branching bodic""., formed apparently in the same manner as
1832.] SINGULAR INCliUSTATIOKS. 9
the thin white coating on these rocks. The branching bodies so
closely resembled in general appearance certain nulliporae (a
family of hard calcareous sea-plants), that in lately looking hastily
over my collection I did not perceive the difference. The glo-
bular extremities of the branches are of a pearly texture, like the
enamel of teeth, but so hard as just to scratch plate -glass. 1
may here mention, that on a part of the coast of Ascension,
where there is a vast accumulation of shelly sand, an incrustation
is deposited on the tidal rocks, by the water of the sea, resembling,
as represented in the woodcut, certain cryptogamic plants (Mar-
chantiae) often seen on damp walls. The surface of the fronds is
beautifully glossy ; and t-hose parts formed where fully exposed
to the light, are of a jet black colour, but those shaded under
ledges are only grey. I have shown specimens of this incrusta-
tion to several geologists, and they all thought that they were of
volcanic or igneous origin ! In its hardness and translucency —
in its polish, 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 incrustation.
When we remember that lime, either as a phosphate or carbonate,
enters into the comoosition of the hard parts, such as bones and
iO ST. PAUL'S KOCKS. [chap
shells, of all living animals, it is an interesting physiological
fact * to find substances harder than the enamel of teeth, and
coloured surfaces as well polished as those of a fresh shell, re-
formed through inorganic 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 species of gannet, and the
latter a tern. Both are of a tame and stupid disposition, and
are so unaccustomed to visitors, that I could have killed any
number of them with my geological hammer. The booby lays
her eggs on the bare rock ; but the tern makes a veiy simple
nest M'ith 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 disturbed 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 single 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 ter-
restrial fauna ; a fly (Oliersia) 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 genus tliat feeds on feathers; a
beetle (Quedius) and a woodlouse from 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 correct ;
I fear it destroys the poetry of this story, that feather and dirt-
* Mr. Horner and Sir David Brewster have described (Philosophical
Transactions, 1836. p. 65) a singular " artificial substance resembling shell.''
It is deposited in fine, transparent, highly polished, brown-coloured laminae,
possessing peculiar optical properties, on the inside of a vessel, in which
cioth, first prepared Avith glue and then with lime, is made to revolve rapidly
in water. It is much softer, more transparent, and contains more animal
matter, than the natural incrustation at Ascension ; but we here again see
tlie strong tendency which carbonate of lime and animal matter evince to
form a solid substance allied to shell.
1832.] FERNANDO NORONHA. 11
feeding and parasitic insects and spiders should be the first in-
habitants 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 likewise 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 the
fishino*-lines. I have heard that a rock near the Bermudas,
lying many miles out at sea, and at a considerable depth, was
first discovered by the circumstance of fish having been observed
in the neighbourhood.
Fernando Noronha, Feb. 20th. — As far as I was enabled
to observe, during the few hours we stayed at this place, the con-
stitution 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 exceedingly steep,
and on one side overhangs its base. The rock is phonolite, and
is divided into irregular columns. On viewing one of these iso-
lated masses, at first one is inclined to believe that it has been
suddenly pushed up in a semi-fluid state. At St. Helena, how-
ever, I ascertained that some pinnacles, of a nearly similar
figure and constitution, had been formed by the injection of
melted rock into yielding strata, which thus had formed the
moulds for these gigantic obelisks. The whole island is co-
vered with wood ; but from the dryness of the climate there
is no appearance of luxuriance. Half-way up the mountain,
some great masses of the columnar rock, shaded by laurel-like
trees, and ornamented 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, Feb. 29th. — The day
has past 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 foliage, but above all the ge-
neral luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with admiration.
A most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the
12 BAHIA— BRAZIL. [chap. i.
shady parts of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud,
that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred
yards from the shore ; yet within the recesses of the forest a
universal silence appears to reign. To a person fond of natural
historj^, such a day as this brings with it a deeper pleasure than
he can ever hope to experience again. After wandering about
for some hours, 1 returned to the landing-place ; but, before
reaching 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 common English rain ; but here, in a
couple of minutes, 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 clime, the greater part would be absorbed or
evaporated before it reached the ground. I will not at present
attempt to describe the gaudy scenery of this noble bay, because,
in our homeward voyage, we called here a second time, and I
shall then have occasion to remark on it.
Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of at least 2000
miles, and certainly for a considerable space inland, wherever
solid rock occurs, it belongs to a granitic formation. The cir-
cumstance of this enormous area being constituted of materials
which most geologists believe to have been crj^stallized when
heated under pressure, gives rise to many curious reflections.
Was this effect produced beneath the depths of a profound ocean ?
or did a covering of strata formerly extend over it, which has
since been removed ? Can we believe that any power, acting
for a time short of infinity, could have denuded the granite over
so many thousand square leagues ?
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 cataracts 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 plumbago. 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 Mashed by the floods,
and in those parts alone where the stream is rapid ; or, as the
* Pers. Narr., vol. v. pt. i. p. 18.
1832.J HABITS OF A DIODON. IS
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
si>ecimens 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 cataracts
in the great rivers. In like manner, the rise and fall of the tide
probably answer to the periodical inundations ; and thus the
same effects are produced under apparently different but really
similar circumstances. The origin, however, of these coatings
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 remaining the same.
One day I was amused by watching the habits of the Diodon
antennatus, which was caught swimming near the shore. This
fish, with its flabby skin, is well known to possess the singular
power of distending 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 quantity 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 forced into the cavity of the body, its
return being prevented by a muscular contraction wliich is exter-
nally 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 becomes far more distended than
the upper ; and the fish, in consequence, floats with its back
downwards. Cuvier doubts whether the Diodon in this position
is able to swim ; but not only can it thus move forward in a
straight line, but it can turn round to either side. This latter
movement is effected 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
14 BAHI A— BRAZIL. [chap. i.
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, therefore,
probable that this fluid is taken in partly for the sake of regu-
lating its specific gravity. 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 making a curious
noise by the movement of its jaws. By the inflation of its body,
the papillae, with which the skin is covered, become erect and
pointed. But the most curious circumstance is, that it secretes
from the skin of its belly, when handled, a most beautiful car-
mine-red fibrous matter, which stains ivory and paper in so
permanent a manner, that the tint is retained with all its bright-
ness 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 dis-
tended, in the stomach of the shark ; and that on several occa-
sions 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 ?
March 18/A. — We sailed from Bahia. A few days afterwards,
when not far distant from the Abrolhos Islets, my attention was
called to a reddish-brown appearance in the sea. The whole
surface 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 conferv£e, in bundles or rafts of from
twenty to sixty in each. Mr. Berkeley informs me that they are
the same species (Trichodesmium ery thraeum) with that found over
large spaces in the Red Sea, and whence its name of Red Sea is de-
rived.* 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 almost every long voyage some
account is given of these confervas. They appear especially com-
mon in the sea near Australia ; and off Cape Leeuwin I found an
* M. Montagne, in Comptes Eendus, &c., Juillet, 1844; and Annal. des
Scienc. Nat., Dec. 1844.
1S32.J PELAGIC CONFERViE AND INFUSORIA. 15
allied, but smaller and apparently different species. Captain
Cook, in his third voyage, remarks, that the sailors gave to this
appearance the name of sea-sawdust.
Kear Keeling Atoll, in the Indian Ocean, I observed many
little masses of confervse 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 Avoodcut united
together. They vary in length from "^^^^^uffim^^
•04 to -06, and even lo '08 of an
inch in length ; and in diameter from -006 to -008 of a inch.
Near one extremity of the cylindrical part, a green septum,
formed of granular matter, and thickest in the middle, may
generally be seen. This, I believe, is the bottom of a most deli-
cate, 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 internal coating suddenly grouped itself into lines,
some of which assumed a form radiating: from a common centre ;
it then continued, with an irregular and rapid movement, to
contract 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 for-
mation of the granular sphere was hastened by any accidental
injury. I may add, that frequently a pair of these bodies were
attached to each other, as represented above, cone beside cone, at
that end where the septum occurs.
I will here add a few other observations connected with the
discoloration of the sea from organic 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 A^alparaiso, when
fifty miles from the land, the same appearance 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 tften explod-
2
16 DISCOLOURED SEA. [chap, i
ing. Their shape is oval, and contracted in the midJle by a
ring of vibrating curved ciliae. It \vas, however, very difficult
to examine them with care, for almost the instant motion ceased,
even while crossing the field of vision, their bodies burst. Some-
times both ends burst at once, sometimes only one, and a quan-
tity of coarse, brownish, granular matter was ejected. The
animal 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 M^ere isolated
in a drop of water, they thus perished. The animals move with
the narrow 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 smallest drop of water which I could re-
move 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 like that of a river which has flowed
through a red clay district ; but under the shade of the vessel's
side it was quite as dark as chocolate. The line where the red
and blue water joined was distinctly defined. The M'eather for
some days previously had been calm, and the ocean abounded, to
an unusual degree, with living creatures.*
In the sea around Tierra del Fuesco, and at no srreat distance
from the land, I have seen narrow lines of water of a bright red
colour, from the number of Crustacea, which somewhat resemble
in forni large prawns. The sealers call them whale-food.
Whether whales feed on them I do not know ; but terns, cormo-
* 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. ii. p. 239). To the references given by Peron may be added, Hum-
boldt's Pers. Narr., vol. vi. p. 804; Flinders' Voyage, vol. i. p. 92 ; Labil-
lardiere, vol. i. p. 2S7 ; Ulloa's Voyage; Voyage of the Astrolabe and of
thf Coquille; Captain King's Survey of Australia. &c.
\S?/2.] DISCOLOURED SEA. 17
rants, and immense herds of great unwieldy seals derive, on some
parts of the coast, their chief sustenance from these swimminf^
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 Archipe-
lago of the Galapagos, the ship sailed through three strips of
r, dark yellowish, or mud-like water ; these strips w^ere some
miles long, but only a few yards wide, and they were separated
fror'v the surroundinor water by a sinuous yet distinct margin.
The colour was caused by little 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 different shape from the other. 1
cannot form a conjecture as to what two kinds of animals these
belonged. Captain Colnett remarks, that this appearance is
very common among the Galapagos Islands, and that the direc-
tion of the bands indicates liiat of the currents ; in the described
case, however, the line was caused by the wind. The only other
appearance which I have to notice, is a thin oily coat on tlie
water which displays iridescent colours I saw a considerable
tract of the ocean thus covered on the coast of Brazil ; the sea-
men attributed it to the putrefying carcass of some whale, which
probably was floating ai no great distance. I do not here men-
tion 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 tlie aoove accounts which
appear remarkable : first, how do the various bodies which form
the bands with defined edges keep together ? In the case of the
prawn-like crabs, their movements were as coinstantaneous as in
a regiment of soldiers ; but this cannot happen from any thing
like voluntary action with the ovules, or the confervee, nor is it
probable among the infusoria. Secondly, what causes the length
and narrowness of the bands ? The appearance so much re-
sembles that which may be seen in every torrent, where the stream
uncoils into long streaks the froth collected in the eddies, that
I must attribute the efi^'ect to a similar action either of the cur-
rents of the air or sea. Under this supposition we must believe
that the various organized bodies are produced in certain favour-
18 DISCOLOURED SEA. [cuai-. i.
able places, and are thence removed by the set of either v iud 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 confervas : for whence come the
germs at such points? — the parent bodies having been distri-
buted by the winds and waves over the immense ocean. But on
no other hypothesis can I understand their linear grouping. I
may add that Scoresby remarks, that green Mater abounding with
pelagic animals is invariably found in a cerluin part of ilie Arc-
tic Sea.
1832.] KIO DE JANEIRO. 19
CHAPTER 11.
Rio de Janeiro — Excursion north of Cape Frio — Great Evaporation — Slavery
— Botofogo Bay — Terrestrial Planaria; — Clouds on the Corcovado — Heavy
llain — Musical Frogs — Phosphorescent Insects — Elater, springing powers
of — Blue Haze — Noise made by a Butterfly — Entomology — Airts — Wasp
killing a Spider — Parasitical Spider — Artifices of an Epeira — Gregarious
Spider — Spider with an unsymmetrical Web.
RIO DE JANEIRO.
April 4th to Juhj bth^ 1832. — A few days after our arriv;il I
became acquainted with an Englishman 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, every thing was motionless, excepting
the large and brilliant butterflies, which lazily fluttered about.
The view seen when crossing the hills behind Praia Grande was
most beautiful ; the colours were intense, and the prevailing tint
a dark blue ; the sky and the calm waters of tlie 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 exceeded. We arrived by midday at Itlia-
caia ; this small village is situated on a plain, and round the
central house are the huts of the negroes. These, from their
regular form and position, reminded me of the drawings of the
Hottentot habitations in Southern Africa. As the moon rose
early, we determined to start the same evening for our sleeping-
place at the Lagoa Marica. As it was growing 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 from
having been, for a long time, the residence of some runaway
slaves, who, by cultivating a little ground near the top, con
20 RIO DE JANEIRO. [chap, il
trived to eke out a subsistence. At length they were discovered,
and a party of soldiers being sent, the whole were seized with the
exception of one old woman, who, sooner than again be led into
slavery, dashed herse.f to pieces from tlie summit of the moun-
,ain. In a Roman matron this would have been called the noble
love of freedom : in a poor negress it is mere brutal obstinacy.
We continued 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 desolate. 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 9th. — We left our miserable sleeping-place before sun-
rise. The road passed through a narrow sandy plain, lying
between the sea and the interior salt lagoons. The number of
beautiful fishing birds, such as egrets and cranes, and the succu-
lent plants assuming most fantastical forms, gave to the scene an
interest which it would not otherwise have possessed. The few
stunted trees were loaded with parasitical plants, among which
the beauty and delicious fragrance of some of the orchideae were
most to be admired. As the sun rose, the day became extremely
hot, and the reflection of the light and heat from the white sand
was very distressing. We dined at Mandetiba ; the thermometer
in the shade being 84°. The beautiful 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 din-
ner, 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 boughs interwoven, and afterwards plastered.
They seldom have floors, and never glazed windows ; but are
generally pretty well roofed. Universally the front part is open,
forming a kind of verandah, in which tables and benches are
placed. The bed-rooms join on each side, and here the passenger
may sleep as comfortably as tie can, on a wooden platform,
covered by a thin straw mat. The venda stands in a courtyard,
where the horses are fed. On first arriving, it was our custom
* Venda, the Portuguese name for an inn.
IS32.J LIVING AT A VEXDA. 21
to unsaddle the horses and give them their Indian corn ; tlien,
with a low bow, to ask the j^enhur to do us the favour to give ufi
something to eat. " Any thing you choose, sir," was his usual
answer. For the few first times, vainly I thanked providence
for having guided us to so good a man. The conversation pro-
ceeding, 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, sir." If we were lucky, by waiting a
couple of hours, we obtained fowls, rice, and farinha. It not
unfrequently happened, that we were obliged to kill, with stones,
the poultry for our own supper. When, thoroughly exhausted
by fatigue and hunger, we timorously hinted that we should be
glad of our meal, the pompous, and (though true) most unsatis-
factory answer was, " It will be ready when it is ready." If we
had dared to remonstrate any further, we should have been told
to proceed on our journey, as being too impertinent. The hosts
are most ungracious and disaofreeable in their manners ; their
houses and their persons are often filthily dirty ; tlie want of the
accommodation of forks, knives, and spoons is common; and I
am sure no cottag-e or hovel in Enofland could be found in a
state so utterly destitute of every comfort. At Campos Novos,
however, we fared sumptuously ; having rice 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 any thing of a whip which one of the party
had lost, grufiBy answered, " How should I know ? why did you
not take care of it ? — 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 LimncEa in great
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.
Gav* has stated that he found in the neiofhbourhood of Rio,
*
Annales des Sciences Naturelles for 1823.
22 RIO DE JANEIRf). [chap. ii.
sliells of the marine genera solen and mytilus, and fresh water
ampullariae, living together in brackish water. I also frequently
observed in the lagoon near the Botanic Garden, where the
water is only a little less salt than in the sea, a species of hydro-
philus, very similar to a water-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 remarkable, compared with those of
Europe, from the whiteness of their trunks. I see by my note-
book, " wonderful and beautiful, flowering parasites," invariably
struck me as the most novel object in these grand scenes. Travel-
ling onwards we passed through tracts of pasturage, much in-
jured by the enormous conical ants' nests, Mhich were nearly
twelve feet high. They gave to the plain exactly the appear-
ance of the mud volcanos at Jorullo, as figured by Humboldt.
"We arrived at Engenhodo after it was dark, having been ten
hours on horseback. 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 Vam-
pire bat is often the cause of much trouble, by biting the horses
on their withers. The injury is generally not so much owing to
the loss of blood, as to the inflammation which the pressure of
the saddle afterwards produces. The whole circumstance has
lately been doubted in England ; I was therefore fortunate in
being present when one (Desmodus d'orbignyi, Wat.) was actually
caught on a horse's back. AVe were bivouacking late one even-
ing near Coquimbo, in Chile, when my servant, noticing that
one of the horses was very restive, went 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 inflicted was
easily distinguished from being slightly swollen and bloody.
The third day afterwards we rode the horse, without any ill
pfFects.
April 13M. — After three days' travelling we arrived at Socego,
the estate of Senhur Manuel Figuireda, a relation of one of our
uarty. The house was sim-ple, and, though like a barn in form,
1S32.] ARRIVAL AT SOCEGO. 23
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 granaries, the stables, and workshops for the blacks,
who had been taught various trades, formed a rude kind of quad-
rangle ; in the centre of which a large pile of coffee was drying.
These buildings stand on a little hill, overlooking the cultivated
ground, 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 great 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. Senlior Figuireda told me that he had planted,
the year before, one bag of feijao or beans, and three of rice ;
the former of which produced eighty, and the latter three hun-
dred 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 surely did : for each person is expected to eat of every
dish. One day, having, as I thought, nicely calculated so that
nothing should go away untasted, to my utter dismay a roast
turkey and a pig appeared in all their substantial reality. Dur-
ing the meals, it was the employment of a man to drive out of
the room sundry old hounds, and dozens of little black cliildren,
which crawled in together, at every opportunity. As long as tlie
idea of slavery could be banished^ there was something exceed-
ingly fascinating 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 stranger 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 day-
24 KIO DE JANEIRO. [chap. ii.
light 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 lifh. — Leaving Socego, we rode to another estate on
the Rio Macae, which was the last patch of cultivated ground in
that direction. The 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 cul-
tivated ground can scarcely be considered as any thing, compared
to that which is left in the state of nature : at some future ago,
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 bright green
foliage, and the elegant curvature of their fronds, most worthy
of admiration. In the evening it rained very heavily, and
although the thermometer stood at 65°, I felt very cold. As
soon as the rain ceased, it was curious to observe the extraordi-
nary evaporation which 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 tlie
sun's rays.
While staying at this estate, I was very nearly being an eye-
witness to one of those atrocious acts which can only take place
in a slave country. Owing 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.
1S32.] APPEARANCE OF THE FORESTS. 25
prevented this act. Indeed, I do not believe the inhumanity of
separating- thirty families, uho 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 confmon run
of men. It may be said there exists no limit to the blindness of
interest and selfish habit. I may mention one Aery trifling anec-
dote, which at the time struck me more forcibly than any story
of cruelty. I was crossing a ferry with a negro, who was un-
commonly stupid. In endeavouring to make him understand, I
talked loud, and made signs, in doing which I passed my hand
near his face. lie, I suppose, thought I was in a passion, and
was going to strike him ; for instantly, with a frightened look
and half-shut eyes, he dropped his hands. I shall never forget
my feelings 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 degrada-
tion lower than the slavery of the most helpless animal.
April 1 d>ih. — In returning we spent two days at Socego, and
I employed them in collecting insects in the forest. The greater
number of trees, although 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, groAving amidst the common branching kinds, never fails
to give the scene an intertropical character. Here the woods
were ornamented by the Cabbage Palm — one of the most beau-
tiful 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, themselves covered by other creepers, were 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 ground beneath, it was attracted by the extreme
elegance of the leaves of the ferns and raimosee. The latter, in
some parts, covered the surface with a brushwood only a few inches
high. In walking across these thick beds of mimoges, a broad track
86 llIO DE JANEIRO. [chap. ii.
was marked by the change of shade, produced by the drooping of
theii 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 I9th. — Leaving Socego, during the two first days, we
retraced our steps. It was very wearisome Avork, as the road
generally ran across a glaring hot sandy plain, not far from tlie
coast. I noticed that each time the horse put its foot on the fine
siliceous sand, a gentle chirping noise was produced. 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 w as in so bad a state that no wheel
vehicle, excepting the clumsy bullock-waggon, 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 repair, 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 been spilled. On tlie evening of the
2ord we arrived at liio, having finished our pleasant little ex-
cursion.
During the remainder of my stay at Rio, I resided in a cottage
at Botofogo Bay. It was impossible to wish for anything more
delightful than thus to spend some weeks in so magnificent a
country. 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 attractions are so numerous, that he is scarcely able to
walk at all.
The few observations which I Mas enabled to make were
almost exclusively confined to the invertebrate animals. The
existence of a division of the genus Planaria, which inhabits the
dry land, 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,
IS32.J PLANAULE. 27
beneath logs of rotten wood, on wliich I believe they feed. In
general form they resemble little slugs, but are very much nar-
rower 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 higlily irritable mouth can be protruded. Fur
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.
I found no less than twelve different species of terrestrial Pla-
nariae in diffierent parts of the southern hemisphere.* Some
specimens which I obtained 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 nearly 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 con-
tained both the inferior orifices, and the other, in consequence,
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 pa-
renchymatous mass, in which a rudimentary cup-shaped mouth
could clearly be distinguished ; on the under surface, however,
no corresponding slit was yet open. If the increased lieat of tJje
weather, as we approached the equator, had not destroyed all
the individuals, there can be no doubt that this last step woula
have completed its structure. Although so well-known an ex-
periment, it was interesting to watch the gradual production of
every essential organ, out of the simple extremity of another
animal. It is extremely difficult to preserve these Planarise ; 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 mIio took me out to
hunt with him. The sport consisted in turning into the cover
* I have described and named these species in the ' Annals of Nat. Hist.,
vol. xiv. p. 241.
18 RIO DE JANKIKO. [cHvr. ii.
a few dogs, and then patiently waiting to fire at any animal
which might appear. We were accompanied by the son of a
neighbouring farmer — a good specimen of a wild Brazilian
youth. He was dressed in a tattered old shirt and trousers, and
had his head uncovered : he carried an old-fashioned gun and a
larare knife. The habit of carrying the knife is universal ; and
in traversing a thick -wood it is almost necessary, on account of
the creeping plants. The frequent occurrence of murder may
be partly attributed to this habit. The Brazilians are so dex-
terous with the knife, that thev 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 upright stick, they
promised well for more earnest attempts. My companion, the
day before, had shot two large bearded monkej^s. These ani-
mals have prehensile tails, the extremity of which, even after
death, can support the whole weight of the body. One of them
thus remained fist 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 small green parrots
and a iew toucans. I profited, nowever, 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 scenery near Boto-
fogo. 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 characteristic of
the formation which Humboldt designates as gneiss-granite.
Kothing can be more striking: than the effect of these huae
rounded masses of naked rock rising out of the most luxuriant
vegetation.
O
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 veiled, appeared to rise to a far prouder elevation tlian its
real height of 2300 feet. Mr. Daniell has observed, in his me-
teorological essays, that a cloud sometimes appears fixed on a
mountain sunnnit, wliile the wind continues to blow over it.
1832.J PHOSPHORESCENT INSECTS. 90
The same phenomenon here presented a slightly different appear-
niice. In this case the cloud was clearly seen to curl over, and
rapidly pass by the summit, and yet was neither diminished nor
increased in size. The sun was setting-, and a gentle southerly
breeze, striking against the southern side of the rock, mingled
its current with the colder 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 warmer atmosphere
of the northern sloping bank, they were immediately redis-
solved.
The climate, during the months of May and June, or the be-
ginning 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 produced 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 w^ater. After the hotter days, it was delicious to
sit quietly in the garden and watch the evening pass into night.
Nature, in these climes, chooses her vocalists from more humble
performers than in Europe. A small 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 to-
gether they sing in harmony on diff'erent notes. I had some
difficiilty 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. A^arious cicadse and crickets, at the same time, keep
up a ceaseless shrill cry, but which, softened by the distance, h
not unpleasant. Every evening after dark this great conceit
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
so EIO DE JANEIRO. [chap. ii.
(such as the Crustacea, medusee, nereidge, a coralline of the genus
Clytia, and Pyrosoma), which I have observed, the light liat^
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 spe-
cimens were of Lampyns occidentaiis.* I found that this insect
emitted the most brilliant flashes when irritated : in the intervals,
the abdominal rings were obscured. The flash was almost co-
instantaneous in the two 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, M'hilst the uninjured parts were
obscured. When the insect was decapitated tlie rings remained
uninterruptedly bright, but not so brilliant as before : local irri-
tation with a needle always increased the A'ividness of the light.
The rings in one instance retained 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 inter-
vals, and that at other times the display is involuntary. On the
muddy and wet gravel -walks I found the larvae of this lampyris
in great numbers : they resembled in general form the female of
the English glowworm. These larvae possessed but feeble
luminous powers; very differently from their parents, on the
slia^htest touch thev feigned death, and ceased to shine : nor did
irritation excite any fresh display. I kept several of them alive
for some time : their tails are very singular organs, for they act,
by a well-fitted contrivance, as suckers or organs of attachment,
and likewise as reservoirs for saliva, or some such fluid. I re-
peatedly fed them on raw meat ; and I invariably observed, that
every now and then the extremity of the tail was applied to the
mouth, and a drop of fluid exuded on the meat, which was then
in the act of being consumed. The tail, notwithstanding m
u;uch practice, does not seem to be able to find its way to the
moutli ; at least the neck was always touched first, and appa-
rently as a guide.
*
I am greatly indebted to Mr. Waterhouse for his kindness in naming
for me this and many other insects, and in giving me much vahiable assist^
once.
I8.'52.] BOTANIC GARDEN. 81
When we were at Baliia, an elater or beetle (Pyropliorus lu-
minosus, Illig".) seemed the most common luminous insect. The
light in this case was also rendered more brilliant by irritation.
I amused myself one day by observing the springing powers 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 ech^e of its
sheath. The same backward movement being continued, the
spine, by the full action of the muscles, was bent like a spring ;
and the insect at this moment rested on the extremity of its head
and wing-cases. The effort being suddenly relaxed, the head
and thorax tlew up, and in consequence, the base of the wing-
cases struck the supporting surface with such force, that the
iiisect 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 during the
spring. In the descriptions M'hich 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 country. One day I went to
the Botanic Garden, where many plants, well known for their
great utility, might be seen growing. The leases of the cam-
phor, pepper, cinnamon, and clove trees were delightfully aro-
matic ; and the bread-fruit, the jaca, and the mango, vied witli
each other in the magnificence of their foliage. The landscape
in the neighbourhood of Bahia almost takes its character fiom
the two latter trees. Before seeing them, I 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 England do to the
lighter green of the deciduous trees. It may be observed, that
the houses M'ithin the tropics are surrounded by the most beau-
tiful forms of vegetation, because many of them are at the same
* Kirby's Entomology, vol. ii., p. 317.
S2 RIO UE JANEIRO. [cuap. il
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 struck with a remark oi
Humboldt's, who often alludes to " the thin vapour which, with-
out changing the transparency of the air, renders its tints more
harmonious, and softens its effects." Tliis is an appearance
which I have never observed in the temperate zones. The at-
mosphere, seen through a short space of half or three quarter.-'
of a mile, was perfectly lucid, but at a greater distance a!]
colours were blended into a most beautiful haze, of a pale Frencli
grey, mingled with a little blue. The condition of the atmos-
phere between the morning and about noon, when the effect
was most evident, had undergone little change, excepting in its
dryness. In the interval, the difference between the dew point
and temoerature 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 fra-
grant ; and the drops of dew still glittered on the leaves of the
large liliaceous plants, which shaded the streamlets of clear
water. Sitting down on a block of granite, it was delightful to
v.'atch the various insects and birds as they flew past. The
luimming-bird seems particularly fond of such shady retired
spots. AVhenever 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 elevation the landscape attains its most brilliant tint ; and
every form, every shade, so completely surpasses 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
frequently recalled to my mind the gayest scenery of the Opera-
house or the great theatres. I never returned from these excur-
pions 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
832. ; BUTTEFtFLIEa 33
this, liowever, as the entomologist is aware, is to some of our
beetles a delightful fragrance. So was it here ; for a Strongylur..
attracted by the odour, alighted on the fungus as I carried it in
my hand. We here see in two distant countries a similar rela-
tion between plants and insects of the same families, though the
species of both are different. When man is the agent in intro-
ducing into a country a new species, this relation is often
broken : as one instance of this I may mention, that the leaves
of the cabbages and lettuces, which in England afford food to
such a multitude of slugs and caterpillars, in the gardens near
Rio are untouched.
During our stay at Brazil I made a large collection of insects.
A few general observations on the comparative importance of
the different orders may be interesting to the English entomolo-
gist. 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 butterflies ; for the moths, con-
trary to what might have 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 frequently alights on the trunks of trees. On tliese
occasions its head is invariably placed downwards ; and its wings
are expanded in a horizontal plane, instead of being folded verti-
cally, as is commonly the case. This is the only butterfly which
I have ever seen, that uses its lesrs for runninof. Not beina
aware of this fact, the insect, more than once, as I cautiously
approached with my forceps, shufl^ed on one side just as the in-
strument 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
* Mr. Doubleday lias lately described (before tlie Entomological Society,
March 3rd, 1845) a peculiar structure in the -wings of this buttertiy, 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 diaphragm 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. Cathe-
rine's on the coast of Brazil, a butterfly called Februa Iloftmanseggi, makes
a noise, when flying away, like a rattle.
S4 EIO DE JANEIRO, t^-'nAr. ir.
and female, were chasing each other in an irregular course,
they passed within a few yards of me ; and I distinctly heard
a clicking noise, similar to that produced by a toothed
wlieel passing under a spring catch. The noise was conti-
nued at 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 obscurely-coloured beetles is exceed-
ingly great.* The cabinets of Europe can, as vet, boast only of
the larger species from tropical climates. It is sufficient 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 within the
tropics : this is the more remarkable when compared to the case
of the carnivorous quadrupeds, which are so abundant in hot
countries. I was struck with this observation both on entering
Brazil, and when I saw the many elegant and active forms of
the Harpalidae re-appearing on the temperate plains of La Plata.
Do the very numerous spiders and rapacious Hymenoptera sup-
ply the place of the carnivorous beetles ? The carrion-feeders
and Brachelytera are very uncommon ; on the other hand, the
Rhyncophora and Chrysomelidee, all of which depend on the
vegetable world for subsistence, are present in astonishing num-
bers. I do not here refer to the number of different species, but
to that of the individual insects ; for on this it is that the most
striking character in the entomology of different countries de-
pends. The orders Orthoptera and Hemiptera are particularly
numerous ; as likewise is the stinging division of the Hymeno-
ptera; the bees, perhaps, being excepted. A person, on first
entering a tropical forest, is astonished at the labours of the ants :
well-beaten paths branch off in every direction, on which an
army of never-failing foragers may be seen, some going forth,
* I may mention, as a common instance of one day's (June 23rd) collect-
ing, when I was not attending particularly to the Coleoptera, that I caught
Bixty-eight species of that order. Among these, there were only two of the
Carabiiia?, four Brachelytra, fifteen Rhyncophora, and fourteen of the Chry-
gomelida?. Thirty-seven species of Arachnidse, which I brought home, will
De sufficient to prove that I was not paying overmuch attention to the gene-
rally favoured order o*^ Coleoptera,
1832.] SWARM OF ANTS. C5
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 attention was drawn by ob-
serving many spiders, cockroaches, and other insects, and some
lizards, rushing in the greatest 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. By this means many
insects were fairly enclosed ; and the efforts which the poor little
creatures made to extricate themselves from such a death were
wonderful. AVhen the ants came to the road they changed their
course, and in narrow files reascended the Mall. Having placed
a small stone so as to intercept one of the lines, the whole body
attacked it, and then immediately 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 doubtless 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 construct in the corners of the
verandahs clay cells for their larvae, are very numerous in the
neighbourhood of Rio. These cells they stuff full of half-dead
spiders and caterpillars, which they seem wonderfully to know
how to sting to that degree as to leave them paralysed 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
described 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 Hew 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 sur-
* In a MS. in the British Museum by Mr. Abbott, who made his observ-
ations m Georgia; see Mr. A. While's paper in the ' Annals of Nat. Hist.,'
vol. vu_. p. 472. Lieut. Hutton has described a sphex with similar habits iu
India, m the ' Journal of the Asiatic Society,' \ol. i , p. 555.
S.'5 RIO DE JANEIRO. [chap. n.
prised at not immediately finding its victim. It then commenced
as reg-ular 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 dis-
covered ; and the wasp, evidently still afraid of its adversary's
jaws, after much manoeuvring, inflicted two stings on the under
side of its thorax. At last, carefully examining with its antennae
the now motionless spider, it proceeded to drag away the body.
But I stopped both tyrant and prey.*
The number of spiders, in proportion to other insects, is here
compared with England very much larger ; perhaps more so
than v/ith any other division of the articulate animals. The
variety of species among the jumping spiders appears almost
infinite. The genus, or rather family of Kpeira, is here charac-
terized by many singular forms ; some species have pointed coria-
ceous shells, others enlarged and spiny tibiae. Every path in the
forest is barricaded with the strong yellow web of a species,
belonging to the same division with the Epeira clavipes of Ea-
bricius, 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, adliering to the lines, would, otherwise
be wasted. When frightened, this little spider either fei^^ns
death by extending its front legs, or suddenly drops from the
web. A large Epeira of the same division with Epeira tubercu-
lata and conica is extremely common, especially 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 ribbons, which connect two adjoining
rays. When any large insect, as a grasshopper or wasp, is
caught, the spider, by a dexterous movement, makes it revolve
very rapidly, and at the same time emitting a band of threads
* Don Felix Azara (vol. i., p. 175), mentioning a hyTnenopteroiis insect,
pr .hably of the same genus, says, he saw it dragging a'dead spider through
tall grass, in a straight line to its nest, which was one hundred and sixty-
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."
1832.] SPIDERS.
hi
from its spinners, soon envelops its prey in a case like the cocoon
of a silkworm. The spider 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 minute I opened the mesh, and found a large wasp 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, ft
suddenly flills 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 laro-e
insect is caught in their webs, endeavour 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 irregular web of a quite small spider ; and
this spider, instead of cutting the web, most perseveringly con-
tinued 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 allow-
ing it to struggle for more than an hour, I killed it and put
it back into the web. The spider soon returned; and an
hour afterwards I was much surprised to find it with its ja-vs
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, whicli was many times larger than
itself.
I may here just mention, that I found, near St. Fe Bajada,
many large black spiders, with ruby coloured marks on their
ba(!ks, having gregarious habits. The webs were placed verti-
SB RIO DE JANEIRO. [chap lu
cally, as is invariably 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 bushes were encompassed by the united nets.
Azara* has described a gregarioi;s 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 cannot,
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 solitary that even the two sexes at-
tack each other, is a very singular fact.
In a lofty valley of the Cordillera, near Mendoza, 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, instead of being, as
is generally the case, circular, consisted of a wedge-shaped seg-
ment. All the webs were similarly constructed.
* Azara's Voyage, vol. i., p. 213.
832.J ESTUAI Y OF THE PLATA. 89
CHAPTER III.
Monte Video — Maldonado — Excursion to R. Polanco — Lazo and Bolas —
Partridges — Absence of Trees — Deer — Capybara, or River Hog — Tucu-
tuco — Molothrus, cuckoo-like habits — Tyrant-flycatcher — Mocking-bird
— Carrion Hawks — Tubes formed by Lightning — House struck.
MALDOXADO.
July 5th, 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 notliing particular, excepting on
one day a great 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 water. 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 fire-
works; the mast-head and yard-arm -ends shone with St. Elmo's
light ; and the form of the vane could almost be traced, as if it
had been rubbed with phosphorus. The sea was so highly lumi-
nous, that the tracks of the penguins were marked by a fiery
wake, and the darkness of the sky was momentarily illuminated
by the most vivid lightning.
When within the mouth of the river, I m as interested by ob-
serving how slowly the waters of the sea and river mixed. The
latter, muddy and discoloured, from its less specific gravity,
floated on the surface of the salt water. This was curio.usly
exhibited in the wake of the vessel, where a line of blue water
was seen mingling in little eddies, with the adjoining fluid.
3
40 ItlALDONADO. [chap ul
July 2Qth. — We anchored at Monte Video. The Beagle was
employed in surveying the extreme southern and eastern coasts
of America, 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 districts, without always attend-
ing 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
other, and having in the middle a large plaza or square, which,
from its size, renders the scantiness of tlie population more evi-
dent. It possesses scarcely any trade ; the exports being con-
fined to a few hides and living cattle. The inhabitants are chiefly
landowners, together with a few shopkeepers and the neces-
sary tradesmen, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, 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
turf, on wliich countless 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 agave, mark out where some wheat
or Indian corn has been planted. Tlie features of the country
are very similar along the whole northern bank of the Plata.
Tlie only diflference is, that here the granitic hills are a little
bolder. The scenery is very uninteresting ; there is scarcely a
house, an enclosed piece of ground, 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 walking
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 the 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 appear of the most gaudy scarlet ?
I staid ten weeks at Maldonado, in which time a nearly perfect
1832.] IGNORaN'CE OF THE PEOPLE. 41
collection of the animals, birds, and reptiles, was procured.
Before making any oliservations respecting them, I will give an
account of a little excursion I made as far as the river Polanco,
which is about seventy miles distant, in a northerly 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 ridi'ig-
horses. My companions were well armed with pistols and
8abres ; a precaution which I thouglit rather unnecessary ; but
the first piece of news we heard was, that, the day before, a tra-
veller from Monte Video had been found dead on the road, with
his throat cut. This happened close lo a cross, the record of a
former murder.
On the first night we slept at a retired little country-house ;
nd there I soon found out that I possessed two or three articles,
especially a pocket compass, which created unbounded astonish-
ment. 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 syno-
nymous in this open country) to places where I had never been.
7Vt 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 greater, to find such ignorance among people
wiio possessed their thousands of cattle, and " estancias" of great
extent. It can only be accounted 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 ; wliether 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
■•lose 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. Washing
my face in the morning caused much speculation at the village
42 MALDONADO. [chap. in.
of Las Minas ; a superior tradesman 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 ; perhaps lie had heard of
ablutions in the Mahomedan religion, and knowing me to be a
heretick, probably he came to the conclusion that all hereticks
were Turks. It is the general custom in this country to ask for
a night's lodging Ut the first convenient house. The astonish-
ment 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, knowing venomous from
harmless snakes, collecting insects, &c., I repaid them for their
hospitality. I am writing as if I had been among the inhabit-
ants 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 Minas. The
country was rather more hilly, but otherwise continued the same ;
an inhabitant of the Pampas no doubt would have considered it
as truly Alpine. The country is so thinly inliabited, 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
outskirting houses rose out of the plain like isolated beings,
without the accompaniment of gardens or courtyards. This is
generally the case in the country, and all the houses have, in
consequence, an uncomfortable aspect. At night we stopped at
a pulprria, or drinking-shop. During the evening a great num-
ber of Gauchos came in tQ drink spirits and smoke cigars : their
appearance is very striking ; they are generally tall and hand-
some, but with a proud and dissolute expression of countenance.
They frequently wear their moustaches, and long black hair
curling down their backs. AVith 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
ditlerent race of men from what might be expected from their
name of Gauchos, or simple countrymen. Their politeness is
^xces^ive; they never drink their spirits without expecting you
.632.] POINTS OF ETIQUETTE. 43
to tasle it ; but -w hilst making their exceedingly graceful bow,
thej seem quite as ready, if occasion offered, to cut your throat.
On the third day we pursued rather an irregular course, as 1
was employed in examining some beds of marble. On the fine
plains of turf we saw many ostriches (Struthio rhea). Some of the
flocks contained as many as twenty or thirty birds. These, when
standing on any little eminence, and seen against the clear sky,
presented a very noble appearance. I never met 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, expanding 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 Fuentes, a rich
landed proprietor, but not personally known to either of my
companions. On approaching 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 owner is,
*' sin peca,do concebida " — that is, conceived without sin. Having
entered the house, some general conversation is kept up for a
few minutes, till permission is asked to pass the night tliere.
This is granted as a matter of course. The stranger then takes
his meals with the family, and a room is assigned him, where
with the horsecloths belonging to his recado (or saddle of tlie
Pampas) he makes his bed. It is curious how similar circum-
stances produce such similar results in manners. At the Cape
of Good Hope the same hospitality, and very nearly the same
points of etiquette, are universally observed. The difference,
however, between the character of the Spaniard and that of the
Dutch boor is shown, by the former never asking his guest a
single question beyond the strictest rule of politeness, whilst 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 happen 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.
Tht!se half-wild cattle are very active ; and knowing full well
44 MALDONADO. [chap. m.
the fatal lazo, they xcd 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 sitting-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 : besides this latter there was no other vege-
table, 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
common vegetables. The evening was spent in smoking, with a
little impromptu singitig, accompanied by the guitar. The sig-
noritas all sat together in one corner of the room, and did not
sup with the men.
So many works have been written about tliese countries, that
it is almost superfluous to describe either the lazo or the bolas.
The lazo consists of a werj strong, but thin, well-plaited rope,
made of raw hide. One end is attached to the broad surcingle,
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, generally 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 united 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 revolving through the air. The
[832.] THROWING THE BOLAS. 4S
balls no sooner strike any object, than, winding round it, they
cross each other, and become firmly hitched. The size and
wei'>^ht of the balls varies, according to the purpose for wliici)
they are made : when of stone, although not larger than an
apple, they are sent with such force as sometimes to break tl;f
ieir even of a horse. I have seen the balls made of wood, and a^
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 greatest distance. The main difficulty in
usin<y either lazo or bolas is to ride so well as to be able at full
speed, and while suddenly turning about, to w^hirl them so
steadily round the head, as to take aim : on foot any person
would soon learn the art. One day, as I was amusing myseli
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 ]eg of my horse ; the other ball was then jerked
out of my hand, and the horse fairly secured. Luckily he was
an old practised animal, and knew what it meant ; otherwise he
w^ould probably have kicked till he had thrown himself down.
The Gauchos roared with laughter ; they cried out that they
iiad seen every sort of animal caught, but had never before seen
a man caught by himself.
During the two succeeding days, I reached the furthest 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. AYe everywhere saw great numbers
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 man 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, made of the stem of an ostrich's feather, fastened to
the end of a long stick. A boy on a quiet old horse will fre-
quently thus catch thirty or forty in a day. In Arctic North
America* the Indians catch the Varying Hare by walking spirally
• Hearne's Journey, p. 383,
16 MALDuNADO. [chai'. hi.
round and round it, when on its form : the middle of the day
is reckoned the best time, when the sun is higli, and the shadow
of the hunter not very long.
On our return to Maldonado, we followed rather a different
line 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 morning
we ascended the Sierra de las Animas. By the aid of the risine:
sun the scenery was almost picturesque. To the westward the
view extended over an immense level plain as far as the Mount,
at Monte Video, and to the eastward, over the mammillaled
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 similar,
but on a much smaller scale, to those so commonly found on the
mountains of Wales. The desire to signalize any event, on the
highest point of the neighbouring land, seems an universal pas-
sion with mankind. At the present day, not a single Indian,
either civilized or wild, exists in this part of the province ; nor
am I aware that the former inhabitants have left behind them
any more permanent records than these insignificant piles on the
summit of the Sierra de las Animas.
The general, and almost entire absence of trees in Banda
Oriental is remarkable. Some of the rocky hills are partly co-
vered by thickets, and on the banks of the larger streams, espe-
cially to the north of Las Minas, willow-trees are not uncommon.
Near the Arroyo Tapes I heard of a wood 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
afford the main supply of firewood to the city of Buenos Ayres.
ICxtremely level countries, such as the Pampas, seldom appear
favourable to the growth of trees. This may possibly be attri-
buted either to the force of the winds, or the kind of drainage.
In the nature of the land, however, around Maldonado, no such
1832.] CLIMATE AND VEGETATION. 47
rea5on is apparent ; the rocky mountains afford protected situa-
tions, enjoying various kinds of soil ; streamlets of water are
common at the bottoms of nearly every valley ; and the clayey
nature of the earth seems adapted to retain moisture. Jt has
been inferred with much probability, that the presence of wood-
land is generally determined* by the annual amount of moisture ;
vet in this province abundant and heavy rain falls during the
winter ; and the summer, though dry, is not so in any excessive
decrree.f We see nearly the whole of Australia covered by
lofty trees, yet that country possesses a far more arid climate.
Hefice 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 the forest-land follows, in a most re-
markable manner, that of the damp 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 latitude, where a
blue sky and a fine climate prove that the atmosphere has been
deprived of its moisture 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 torrents of rain fall periodically, the shores
of the Pacific, so utterly desert in Peru, assume near Cape Blanco
the character of luxuriance so celebrated at Guyaquil and Pa-
nama. Hence in the southern and northern parts of the con-
tinent, the forest and desert lands occupy reversed positions with
respect to the Cordillera, and these positions are apparently de-
termined by the direction of the prevalent winds. In the middle
of the continent there is a broad intermediate band, including
* Maclaren, art. ' America,' Encyclop. Britann.
f Azara says, " Je crois que la quantite annuelle des pluies est, dans toutes
one contrees. plus conside-rable quen Espagne." — Vol. i. p. 36.
18 MALDONADO. [cdai-. in.
central Chile and the provinces 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 humid by rain-bearing winds, has a
strongly marked exception in the case of the Falkland Islands.
These islands, situated in the same latitude with Tierra del
Fuego and only between two and three hundred miles distant
from it, having a nearly similar climate, with a geological
formation almost identical, with favourable situations and tlie
same kind of peaty soil, yet can boast of few plants deserving-
even the title of busbies ; whilst in Tierra del Fuego it is impos-
sible 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 resnect to the trees of Tierra del Fuego, even attemuts made
to Lra.isplant them have failed.
Dunng our stay at Maldonado I collected several quadru-
peds, 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, through-
out the countries bordering the Plata and in Northern Pata-
gonia. 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, from
one spot, three out of the same herd. Although so tame and
inquisitive, yet when approached on horseback, they are exceed-
ingly 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 noise of a gun : one day I fired ten times from
within eighty yards at one animal ; and it was much more
ptirtled at the ball cutting up the ground than at the report of
.8o2-3.] THE CAPYBARA OR V. ATER-HOG. 49
the rifle. My powder being exiiaiisted, 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 animal, is the ovcr-
poweringly 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 carried 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, M'hen first unfolded, I distinctly perceived
the odour. This appears an astonishing instance of the perma-
nence 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 leeward of a herd, I have perceived
the Avhole 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 earth, 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 veiy numerous in species: of
mice alone I obtained no less than eight kinds.* Tlie larjjest
gnawing animal in the world, the Hydrochserus 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-iike tail, was tnree feet two inches ; and
its girth three feet eight. These great Rodents occasionally
frequent the islands in the mouth of the Plata, where the
water is quite salt, but are far more abundant on the borders
* In South America I collected altogether twenty-seven species of mice,
and thirteen more are known from the works of Azara and other anthors.
Those collected by myself have been named and described by Mr. Water-
house at the meetings of the Zoological Society. I must be allowed to take
this opportunity of returning my cordial thanks to Mr. Waterhouse, and to
the other gentlemen attached to that Society, for their kind and most liberal
assistance on ail occasions.
50 MALDONADO. [chap. hi.
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 talking
and colour they resemble pigs : but when seated on tlieir
haunches, and attentively watching any object with one eye,
tliey reassume the appearance of their congeners, cavies and
rabbits. Both the front and side vie.w of their head has quite
a ludicrous aspect, from the great depth of their jaw. These
animals, at Maldonado, were very lame; by cautiously walk-
ing, I approached within three yards of four old ones. This
tameness may probably be accounted for, by the Jaguar having
been banished for some years, and by the Gaucho not thinking
it worth his while to hunt them. As I approached nearer and
nearer they frequently made their peculiar noise, which is a low
abrupt grunt, not having much actual sound, but rather arising
from tlie 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, they rushed into the water at full gallop with
the greatest impetuosity, and emitted at the same time their
bark. After diving a short distance they came again to the
surface, but only just bhowed the upper part of their heads.
When the female is swimming in the water, and ha-s young ones,
they are said to sit on her back. These animals are easily killed
in numbers ; but tlieir 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
tTaguar.
The Tucutuco (Ctenomys Brasiliensis) is a cirious small
animal, which may be briefly described as a Gnavrer, with the
habits of a mole. It is extremely numerous in some parts of the
country, but is difficult to be procured, and never, I believe,
conies out of the ground. It throws up at the m^uth of its
* In the stomach and duodenum of a capybara which I opened, I 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 ^itad tc
grind into pulp the aquatic plants on vvhich it feeds.
iS.32-3.] THE TUCUTUCO. SI
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 fet-
locks. The tucutucos appear, to a certain degree, to be grega-
rious : the man who procured the specimens for me had caught
six together, and he said this was a common occurrence. 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
person, the first time he hears it, is much surprised ; 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 imi-
tation of the sound. "Where this animal is abundant, it may be
heard at all times of the day, and sometimes directly beneath
one's feet. When kept in a room, the tucutucos move both
slowly and clumsily, m hich appears 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 angry 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 inva-
riably found blind. A specimen wiiich I preserved in spirits w^as
in this state ; Mr. Reid considers it to be the effect of inflam-
mation 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
* At the R. Negro, in Northern Patagonia, there is an animal of the same
habits, and probably a closely allied species, but -which I never saw. Its
uoise is diiferent from that of the Maldonado 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 rem.ained in doubt concerning it.
52 MALDONADO. [crap. hi.
common, cannot be a very serious evil ; yet it appears strange
that 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 graduedly -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 many anatomists
doubt whether it is connected with the true optic nerve ; its
vision must certainly be imperfect, though probably useful to the
animal when it leaves its burrow. In the tucutuco, which I
believe never comes to the surface of the ground, the eye is
rather larger, but often rendered blind and useless, though with-
out apparently causing any inconvenience to the animal : 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 undulat
Ing grassy plains around Maldonado. There are several species
of a family allied in structure and manners to oiy? Starling : one
of these (Molothrus niger) is remarkable from its habits. Seve-
ral may often be seen standing together on the back of a cow or
horse ; and while perched on a hedge, pluming themselves in the
fun, 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 cuckoo,
deposits its eggs in other birds' nests. I was 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
person, 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 Molothrus (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 trifling peculiarities as
* Philosoph. Zoolog., torn. i. p. 249,
1832-3.] HABITS OF THE CUCKOO. 53
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 agreement in structure and habits,
in representative species coming from opposite quarters of a great
continent, always strikes one as interesting, though of common
occurrence.
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 ;
namely, such as " fasten themselves, as it were, on another 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 Molothrus,
should agree in this one strange habit of their parasitical propa-
gation, whilst opposed to each other in almost every other habit :
the molothrus, 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 feedson fruit and caterpillars. In structure also
these two genera are widely removed from each other. Many
theories, even phrenological theories, have been advanced to ex-
plain the origin of the cuckoo laying its eggs in other birds'
nests. M. Prevost alone, I think, has thrown light by his obser-
vations f on this puzzle: he finds that the female cuckoo, which,
according to most observers, lays at least from four to six eggs,
must pair with the male each time after laying only one or two
esTOf. Now, if the cuckoo was obliared to sit on her own ejjffs,
she would either have to rit 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 time in this
country than any other migratory bird, she certainly would not
iiave time enough for the successive hatchings. Hence we can
perceive in the fact of the cuckoo pairing several times, and
laying her eggs at intervals, the cause of her depositing hei
eggs in other birds' nests, and leiiving them to the care of foster-
* Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. i. p. 217.
f lii'iiid before the Academy of Sciences in Paris. L'Institut, 1834, p. 418.
54 MALDONADO. [chap. IH.
parents. I am strongly inclined to believe fliat this view is cor-
rect, from having been independently led (as we shall hereafter
see) to an analogous conclusion 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 several eggs in
the nests of several other females, and the male ostrich under-
taking all the cares of incubation, 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 Sauro-
phagus sulphuratus is typical of the great American tribe of
tyrant-flycatchers. In its structure it closely approaches the
true shrikes, but in its habits may be compared to many birds.
I have frequently observed it, hunting 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 Eapacious order ; its stoop,
however, is very inferior in force and rapidity to that of a hawk.
At other times the Saurophagus 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 unfrequently kept either in cages or in courtyards,
with their wings cut. They soon become tame, and are very
amusinof from their cunning: odd manners, which were described
to me as being similar to those of the common magpie. Their
flight is Lindulatory, for the weight of the head and bill appear
too great for the body. In the evening tlie Saurophagus takes
its stand on a bush, often by the road-side, and continually
repeats without cliange a shrill and rather agreeable cry, which
6ome\vh&.t 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 (Mimus orpheus), called by the inhabi(ants
Calandria, is remarkable, from possessing 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
?tand 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
»832-3.] CAERION HAWKS.
55
warbling-. It is heard only during the spring. At other times
its cry is harsh and far from harmonious. Near Maldonado
these birds were tame and bold ; they constantly attended the
country houses in numbers, to pick the meat which was hung
up on the posts or walls : if any other small bird joined the
feast, the CaJandria soon chased it away. On the wide un-
inhabited plains of Patagonia another closely allied species,
0. 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, as
showing the fine shades of difference in habits, that judging from
tills 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 withou't
particular care, they appeared so very similar, that I changed my
opinion ; but now Mr. Gould says that they are certainly dis-
tinct ; 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 strik-
ing to any one accustomed only to the birds of Northern Europe.
In this list may be included four species of the Caracara or Poly-
borus, 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 widely distributed over the rest of
the world, but entirely absent in South America. To begin w ith
the Polyborus Brasiliensis : this is a common bird, and has a
wide geographical range; it is most numerous on the grassy
savannahs of La Plata (where it goes by the name of Carrancha),
and is far from unfrequent throughout the sterile plains of Pata-
gonia. In tlie desert between the rivers Negro and Colorado,
numbers constantly attend the line of road to devour the car-
casses 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 oi
West Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The Carrancha^-,
66 MALDOXAUU. [chap. hi.
tosrether with the Chimano-o, constantly attend in numbers the
estancias and slaughtering-houses. If an animal dies on the plain
the Gallinazo commences the feast, and then the two species oi
Polyborus pick the bones clean. These birds, although thu^
commonly feeding together, are far from being friends. When
the Carrancha is quietly seated on the branch of a tree or on tlie
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 Carranchas frequently assemble in numbers, they
are not gregarious ; for in desert places they may be seen solitary,
or more commonly bv pairs.
The Carranchas are said to be very crafty, and to steal great
numbers of eggs. They attempt, also, togethe" with the Chi-
mango, to pick off the scabs from the sore backs of horses
and mules. Tlie 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 most rarely
kill any living bird or animal ; and their vulture-like, necropha-
gous habits are very evident to any one, wiio 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 watch-
ing him with an evil eye : it is a feature in the landscape of
these countries, 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 accompanied, during the day, by
several of these attendants. After feeding, the uncovered craw
protrudes ; 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 English rook. It seldom soars ; but I have
twice seen one at a great height gliding through the air with
much ease. It runs (in contradistinction to hopping), but not
quite so quickly as some of its congeners. At times the Carran-
cha 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 r ; v. hen utter-
8r>2-r..] CARRION HAWKS. 57
ing this cry it elevates its head higher 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 authority 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 tlie carrion
it may have recently gorged. Lastly, Azara states that several
Carranchas, five or six together, will unite in chace of large
birds, even such as herons. All these facts sliow that it is a bird
of very versatile habits and considerable ingenuity.
The Polyborus Chimango is considerably smaller 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
Chiloe, by stocking up the roots when first planted. Of all
the carrion-feeders it is generally the last which leaves tlie
skeleton of a dead animal ; and may often be seen within the
ribs of a cow or horse, like a bird in a cage. Another species
is the Polyborus Novae Zelandiae, which is exceedingly common
in the Falkland Islands. These birds in many respects resemble
in their habits the Carranchas. They live on the flesh of dead
animals and on marine productions; and on the Ramirez rocks
their whole sustenance must depend on the sea. They are extra-
ordinarily tame and fearless, and haunt the neighbourhood of
liouses for oflfal. If a hunting party kills an animal, a number
soon collect and patiently await, standing on the ground on all
sides. After eating, their uncovered craws are largely pro-
truded, giving them a disgusting appearance. They readily
attack wounded birds : a cormorant in this state having taken to
the shore, was immediately seized on by several, and its death
hastened by their blows. The Beagle was at the Falklands only
during the summer, but the officers of the Adventure, who were
there in the winter, mention 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 tliat several
bS MALDONADJ. /chap. hi.
together (in this respect resembling the Carranchas) wait at the
mouth of a rabbit-hole, and together seize on the animal when
it comes out. They were constantly flying on board the vessel
when in the harbour ; 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 stern. These birds are very mischievous
and inquisitive ; they will pick up almost any thing from the
ground ; 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 survey a more severe loss, in
their stealing a small Kater's compass in a red morocco leather
case, Avhich was never recovered. These birds are, moreover,
quarrelsome and very passionate ; tearing up the grass with their
bills from rage. They are not truly gregarious ; 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,
uttering 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
Carrancha. 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 precaution in so tame and fearless a
bird. The sealers 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-buzzard (Vultur
aura), and the Gallinazo. The former is found wherever the
country is moderately damp, from Cape Horn to North America.
Differently from the Polyborus Brasiliensis and Chimango, it
has found its way to the Falkland Islands. 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
elegant 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
ire congregated on the rocks, there the vultures may be seen.
The Gallinazo (Cathartes atratus) has a different range from
1832-3.J TUBES FORMED BY LIGHTNING. 59
the last species, as it never occurs southward of lat. 41°. Azara
states that there exists a tradition that tliese birds, at the time of
the conquest, were not found near Monte Video, but that they
subsequently followed the inhabitants from more northern dis-
tricts. 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 additional migration has
happened since the time of Azara. The Gallinazo generally
prefers a humid climate, or rather the neighbourhood of fresh
water ; hence it is extremely abundant in Brazil and La Plata,
while it is never found on the desert and arid plains of Isorthern
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 scaven-
gers. These vultures certainly may be called gregarious, for
they seem to have pleasure in society, and are not solely brought
together by the attraction of a coliimon prey. On a fine day a
flock may often be observed at a great heio^ht, each bird wheel-
ing round and round without closing its wings, in the most
graceful evolutions. This is clearly performed for the mere
pleasure of the exercise, or perhaps is connected with their matri-
monial alliances.
I have now mentioned all the carrion-feeders, excepting the
condor, an account of which Mill be more appropriately intro-
duced when we visit a country more congenial to its habits tlian
the plains of La Plata.
In a broad band of sand-hillocks which separate the Lagima
del Potrero from the shores of the Plata, at the distance of a few
miles from Maldonado, I found a group of those vitrified, silice-
ous tubes, which are formed by lightning entering loose sand.
These tubes resemble in every particular those from Drigg in
Cvunberland, described in the Geological Transactions.* The
sand-hillocks of Maldonado, not being protected by vegetation,
are constantly changing their position. From this cause the
* 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.
CO MALDONADO. [chap. iii.
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 diameter of the whole tube was nearly equal, and therefore
we must suppose that originally it extended to a much greater
deptli. These dimensions are however small, compared to those
of tiie 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 of minute entangled air or perhaps steam
bubbles, like an assay fused before the blowpipe. The sand is
entirely, or in greater 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 : 1 could not distinguish any
signs of crystallization. In a similar manner to that described
in the Geological Transactions, the tubes are generally com-
pressed, and have deep longitudinal furrows, so as closely to
resemble a shrivelled vegetable stalk, or the bark of the elm or
cork tree. Their circumference is about two inches, but in
some fragments, which are cylindrical and without any furrows,
it is as much as four inches. The compression from the surround-
ing loose sand, acting while the tube was still softened from the
effects of the intense heat, has evidently caused the creases or
furrows. Judging from the uncompressed fragments, the mea-
sure or bore of tiie lightning (if such a term may be used), must
have been about one inch and a quarter. At Paris, M. Hachette
and M. Beudant* 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 fusibility, the tubes were larger in every
♦ Aimales de Chimie et do Physique, tora. xxxvii., p. 319.
1832-3.] ELECTRIC PHENOMENA. 61
dimeMsion. 'i'liey failed botli with powdered felspar and quartz.
One tube, formed with paunded glass, was very nearly an inch
long, namely, *982, and had an internal diameter of '019
of an inch. When we hear that the strongest battery in Paris
was used, and that its power on a substance of such easy fusi-
bility as glass was to form tubes so diminutive, we must fee]
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, however, which w^as less regular
than the others, deviated from a right line, at the most con-
siderable bend, to the amount of thirty-three degrees. From
tins same tube, two small branches, about a foot apart, were
sent off; one pointed downwards, and the other upwards. This
latter case is remarkable, 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 Avhich I found vertical, and traced be-
neath tlie surface, there were several other groups of frag-
ments, 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 dis-
tance 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
occurred in Germany. In the case which I have described,
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
lightning, shortly before entering the ground, divides itself into
separate branches.
The neighbourhood of the Rio Plata seems peculiarly subject
to electric phenomena. In the year 1793,* one of the most
* Azara's Voyage, vol. i. p. 36.
62 MALDONADO [chap, in
destructive thunderstorms perhaps on record happened at Buenos
Ayres : thirty-seven places within the city were struck by light-
ning, and nineteen people killed. From facts stated in several
books of travels, I am inclined to suspect that thunderstorms are
very common near the mouths of great rivers. Is it not pos-
sible that the mixture of large bodies of fresh and salt water may
disturb the electrical equilibrium? 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 afterwards : the house belonged to
Mr. Hood, the consul-general at Monte Video. Some of the
effects were curious : the paper, for nearly a foot on each side of
the line wliere the bell-wires had run, was blackened. 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
M all was shattered as if by gunpowder, and the fragments had
been blown off with force sufficient to dent the wall on the
ojiposite side of the room. The frame of a looking-glass was
blackened, and the gilding n:ust have been volatilized, for a
smelling-bottle, which stood on the chimney-piece, was coated
with bright metallic particles, which adhered as firmly as if they
had been enamelled.
I833.J ARRIVE AT RIO NEGRO. 68
CHAPTER IV.
Rb Negro — Estancias attacked by the Indians— Salt Lakes— Flamingoes—
R. Negro to R. Colorado— Sacred Tree— Patagonian Hare— Indian Families
—General Rosas— Proceed to Bahia Blanca— Sand Dunes — Negro Lieu-
tenant—Bahia Blanca— Saline Incrustations— Pun ta Alta— Zorillo.
RIO NEGRO TO BAHIA BLANCA.
July 2Ath, 1833.— The Beagle sailed from Maldonado, and on
August the 3rd she arrived ofF the mouth of the Rio Neo-ro.
This is the principal river on tlie whole line of coast betweer
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 Spanish 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 country near the mouth of the river is wretched in tlie
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-cemented conglome-
rate of pumice pebbles, which must have travelled more than
four hundred miles, from the Andes. The surface is everj^-
where 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 thorns, which seem to warn the strano^er
not to euter on these inhospitable regions.
The settlement is situated eighteen miles up the river. The
road follows the foot of the sloping cliff, which forms the north-
ern boundary of the great valley, in which the Rio Negro flows.
On the way we passed the ruins of some fine " estancias," which
a fe\^ years since had been destroyed by the Indians. They with-
4
W RIO NEGRO. [CHAv iv.
stood several attacks. A man present at one gnve me a very
lively description of what took place. The inhabitants had suffi-
cient notice to drive all the cattle and horses into the " corral"*
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 neighbouring hill ; having there dis-
mounted, and taken off their fur mantles, they advanced naked to
the charge. The only weapon of an Indian is a very long bam-
boo or chuzo, ornamented with ostrich feathers, and pointed by a
sharp spear-head. My informer seemed to remember with the
greatest horror the quivering of these chuzos as they approached .
near. When close, the cacique Pincheira hailed the besiej^cd to
give up their arms, or he would cut all their throats. As this
would probably have been the result of their entrance under any
circumstances, the answ^er was given by a volley of musketry.
The Indians, with great steadiness, came to the very fence of the
corral : but to their surprise they found the posts fastened toge-
ther 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 car-
ried away by their companions ; and at last one of the under
caciques being wounded, the bugle sounded a retreat. They re-
tired to their horses, and seemed to hold a council of war. Tiiis
was an awful pause for the Spaniards, as all their ammunition,
with tlie exceptii^n of a few cartridges, was expended. In an
instant the Indians mounted their horses, and galloped out of
3ight. Another attack was still more quickly repulsed. A cool
Frenchman managed the gun ; he stopped till the Indians ap-
proached close, and then raked their line with grape-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 tiie face of a cliff which fronts the river, and many of
the houses are excavated even in the sandstone. The river i:^
about two or three hundred yards wide, and is deep and rapid.
The many islands, with their willow-trees, and the flat headlandr.,
* The corral is an enclosure made of tall and strong staket Every
ej«tancia, or farming estate, has one attached to it.
1833.] SALT-LAKES OR SALINAS. dh
seen one behind the otlier on the northern boundary of the broad
green valley, forms, by the aid of a bright sun, a view almost
picturesque. Tiie number of inhabitants does not exceed a few
hundreds. These Spanisli colonies do not, liice our British ones,
carry within themselves the elements of growth. Many Indian^
of pure blood reside here : the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee con-
stantly have their Toldos* on the outskirts of the tov:!i.' The
local government partly supplies them with provisions, by gi mg
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 cons^idered civilized ; but what their character may
have gained by a lesser degree of ferocity, is almost counter-
balanced by their entire immorality. Some of the younger men are,
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 bein*
dressed 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. During the winter it consists of a
shallow lake of brine, which in summer is converted into a field
of snow-white salt. The layer near the margin is from four to
five inches thick, but towards the centre i*s 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 brilliantly-wiiite and level ex-
panses, 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 hundred tons in
weight, were lying ready for exportation. The season for work-
ing the Salinas forms the harvest of Patagones ; for on it, the
prosperity of the place depends. Nearly the whole population
encamps on the bank of the river, and the people are employed
iu drawing out the salt in bullock-waggons. This salt is crystal-
* The hovels of the Indians are thus called.
36 EIO NEG aO. [chap, iv
lized in great cubes, and is remarkably pure : Mr. Trenham Reeks
has kindly analyzed some for me, and he finds in it only 0*26 of
g-ypsum and 0*22 of earthy matter. It is a siiigular fact, that it
does not serve so well for preserving meat as sea-salt from the
^tlape de Verd islands ; and a merchant at Buenos Ayres told me
tlia;r he considered it as fifty per cent, less valuable. Hence the
Cape de Yerd salt is constantly imported, and is mixed with tliat
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 suspected, but which is supported by
the fact lately ascertained,* that those salts answer best for pre-
serving cheese which contain most of the deliquescent chlorides.
The border of the lake is formed of mud : and in this nume-
rous large crystals of gypsum, some of which are three inches
long, lie embedded ; whilst on the surface others of sulphate of
soda lie scattered 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 confervse : I attempted to carry
home some of this green matter, but from an accident failed.
Parts of the lake seen from a short distance appeared 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 surprising 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 lime ! And
what becomes of these worms when, during the long- summer, the
surface is hardened into a solid layer of salt? Flamingoes in
considerable numbers inhabit this lake, and breed here ; through-
out Patagonia, in Northern Chile, and at the Galapagos 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 nmd ; and these latter probably feed
* Report of the Aynoult Chem. Assoc, in tlie Agrijult. Gazette, 184 J
1 . 93.
I8.33.] R. NEGRO TO R. COLORADO. 6?
on infusoria or confervse. TIius we have a little living world
within itself, adapted to these inland lakes of brine. A minute
crus'jiceous aninial (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 evaporation, considerable
strength — namely, about a quarter of a pound of salt to a pint of
water. Well may we affirm, that every part of the world is
habitable ! Whether lakes of brine, or those subterranean ones
hidden beneath volcanic mountains — warm mineral springs — the
wide expanse and depths of the ocean — the upper regions of the
atmosphere, and even the surface of perpetual snow — all support
organic beings.
To the northward of the Rio Kegro, between it and the inha-
bited country near Buenos Ayres, the Spaniards have only one
small settlement, recently established at Bahia Blanca. The dis-
tance in a straight line to Buenos Ayres is very nearly five hun-
dred British miles. The wandering tribes of horse Indians,
which have always occupied the greater part of this country,
having of late mujch harassed the outlying estancias, the govern-
ment at Buenos Ayres equipped some time since an army under
the command of General Rosas for the purpose of exterminating
them. The troops were now encamped on the banks of the Co-
lorado ; a river lying about eighty miles northward of the Rio
Negro. AYhen General Rosas left Buenos Ayres he struck in a
direct line across the unexplored plains : and as the country was
thus pretty well cleared of Indians, he left behind him, at wide
ntervals, a small party of soldiers with a troop of horses
(^a postd)^ so as to be enabled to keep up a communication with
* Linna^an Trans., vol. xi. p. 205. It is remarkable how all the circum-
stances 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 depres-
sions in the plains ; in both the mud on the borders is black and fetid ; be-
neath the crust of common salt, sulphate of soda or of magnesia occurs, im-
perfectly crystallized ; and in both, the muddy «and is mixed with lentils of
gypsum. The Siberian salt-lakes are inhabited by small crustaceous ani-
mals ; and flamingoes (Edin. New Philos. Jour., Jan. 1830) likewise frequent
thein. As these circumstances, apparently so trifling, occur in two distant
continents, we may feel sure that they are the necessary results of commof
causes. — See Pallas's Travels, 1793 to 1794, pp. 129-134.
38 R. NEGRO TO R. COLORADO. [chap, tv
the capital. As the Beagle intended to call at Bahia Blanca,
I determined to proceed there by land ; and ultimately I ex-
tended my plan to travel the whole way by the postas to Buenos
Ayres.
August Wth. — INIr. Harris, an Englishman residing at Pata-
gones, 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 deserves scarcely a better name
than that of a desert. Water is found only in two small wells ;
it is called fresh ; but even at this time of the year, during the
rainy season, it was quite brackish. In the summer 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 ex-
cavated out of the sandstone plain ; for immediately alx)ve the
bank on which the town stands, a level country conmiences,
which is interrupted only by a few trifling valleys and depres-
sions. Everywhere the landscape wears the same sterile aspect ;
a dry gravelly soil supports tufts of brown withered grass, and
low scattered bushes, armed with thorns.
Shortly after passing the first spring we came in sight of a
famous tree, which the Indians reverence as the altar of Wal-
leechu. 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 tree 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 winter the tree had no
leaves, but in their place numberless threads, by which the
various offerings, such as cigars, bread, meat, pieces of cloth, &c.
had been suspended. Poor Indians, not having anything better,
only pull a thread out of their ponchos, and fasten it to the
tree. Eicher Indians are accustomed, to pour spirits and
mate into a certain hole, and likewise to smoke upwards,
thinking thus to afford all possible gratification to Walleechu.
To complete the scene, the tree was surrounded by the bleached
833.] SACRED TREE. n
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 \vill not tire, and that they themselves
shall be prosperous. The Gaucho 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 AValleechu the offerings.
The Gauchos tliink that the Indians consider the tree as the
god itself; but it seems far more probable, 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 Yentana is visible at an immense distance ; 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 Sierra. Upon being asked the reason
of this, the Indian said in broken Spanish, '• First see the Sierra."
About two leagues beyond this curious tree we halted for the
niglit : at this instant an unfortunate cow was spied by the lynx-
eyed Gauchos, who set off in full chace, 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 muddy puddle), meat and fire-
wood. 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 wliich I passed under the open sky, with tiie
gear of the recado for my bed. There is high enjoyment
in the independence of the Gaucho life — to be able at any
moment to pull up your horse, and say, "• Here we w ill pass
the night." The death-like stillness of the plain, the dogs
keeping watch, the gipsy-group of Gauchos making their beds
round the fire, have left in my mind a strongly-marked picture of
this first night, which will never be forgotten.
The next day the country continued similar to that above de-
scribed. It is inhabited by few birds or animals of any kind.
Occasionally a deer, or a Guanaco (wild Llama) may be seen ;
but the Agouti (Cavia Patagonica) is the commonest quadruped.
'J'his anirjal here represents our hares. It differs, however, frora
;o EiO COLORADO. [chap, iv
that genus in many essential 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 tlie desert ; it is a common feature in the landscape to see two
or three hopping quickly one after the other in a straight line
across these wild plains. They are found as far north as the
Sierra 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 voyage in 1670, talks of them as
being numerous there. What cause can have altered, in a wide,
uninhabited, and rarely- visited country, the range of an animal
like this? It appears also from the number shot by Captain
Wood in one day at Port Desire, that they must have been
considerably more abundant there formerly than at present.
Where the Bizcacha lives and makes its burrows, the Agouti
uses them ; but where, as at Bahia Blanca, the Bizcacha is
not found, the Agouti burrows for itself. The same thing
occurs with the little owl of the Pampas (Athene cunicularia),
v/hich has so often been described as stand in 2: like a sentinel
at the mouth of the burrows ; for in Banda Oriental, owing to
the absence of tne Bizcacha, it is obliged to hollow out its own
habitation.
The next morning, as we approached tlie Rio Colorado, the
appearance of the country changed ; we soon came on a plain
covered wdth turf, wiiicli, from its flowers, tall clover, and little
owls, resembled the Pampas. AYe passed also a muddy swamp
of considerable extent, which in summer dries, and becomes in-
crusted with various salts; and hence is called a salitral. It was
covered 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 ; generally 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 crossing in the canoe
by some immense troops of mares, which were swimming the
833.] ENCAMPMENT OF GENERAL ROSAS. 71
river in order to follow a division of troops into the interior.
A more ludicrous spectacle I never beheld than the hundreds
and hundreds of heads, all directed one way, with pointed ears
and distended snorting nostrils, appearing just above the Mater
like a great shoal of some amphibious animal. Mare's flesh is
the only food which the soldiers have when on an expedition.
This gives them a great facility of movement ; for the distance
to which horses can be driven over these plains is quite sur-
prising : I have been assured that an unloaded horse can travel a
hundred miles a day for many days successively.
The encampment of General Rosas was close to the river. It
consisted of a square formed by waggons, artillery, straw huts,
&c. The soldiers were nearly all cavalry ; and I should think
such a villanous, banditti-like army was never before collected
together. The greater number of men were of a mixed breed,
between Negro, Indian, and Spaniard. 1 know not the reason,
but men of such origin seldom have a good expression of coun-
tenance. I called on the Secretary to show my passport. He
began to cross-question me in the most dignified and mysterious
manner. By good luck I had a letter of recommendation from
the government of Buenos Ayres * to the commandant of Pata-
gones. This was taken to General Rosas, who sent me a very
obliging message ; and the Secretary returned all smiles and gra-
ciousness. We took up our residence in the ranclio^ or hovel,
of a curious old Spaniard, who had served with Napoleon in the
expedition against Russia.
We stayed two days at the Colorado ; I had little to do, for the
surrounding 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 afterwards
easy to see in theFuegian savage the same countenance rendered
hideous by cold, want of food, and less civilization. Some
authors, in defining the primary races of mankind, have sepa-
* I am bound to express, in the strongest terms, my obligation to tlie
Government of Buenos Ayres for the obliging manner in which passportf
to all parts of the country were given me, as naturalist of the Beagle.
12 PilU COLOliADO. [ciri. IV.
rated these Indians into two classes ; but this is certainly incor-
rect. 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 orna-
mented by broad bracelets of blue beads. Nothing could be
more interesting than some of the family groups. A mother
with one or two daughters would often come to our rancho,
mounted on the same horse. Thev ride like men, but with their
knees tucked up much higher. This habit, perhaps, arises from
their being accustomed, 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 niglit ; 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
round, 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, stirrups, 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
elegance.
General Eosas intimated a wish to see me; a circumstance
which I was afterwar. 's very glad of. He is a man of an extra-
ordinary character, and has a most predominant influence in the
country, which it seems probable he will use to its orosperity
.83n.i GENERAL ROSAS. 73
and advancement.* He is said to be the owner of seventy-four
square leagues of land, and to have about three hundred thou-
sand head of cattle. His estates are admirably managed, and are
far more productive of corn than those of others. He first gained
his celebrity by his laws for his own eslancias, and by disciplin-
ing 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, shoidd
carry his knife on a Sunday : this being the principal day for
gambling and drinking, many quarrels arose, which from the
general manner of fighting with the knife often proved fatal.
One Sunday the Governor came in great form to pay the estan-
cia 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 Mas extremely
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 country where an assembled army
elected its general by the following trial : A troop of unbroken
horses being driven into a corral, were let out through a gateway,
above which was a cross-bar : it was agreed whoever should
drop fiom 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 corral, should
be their general. The person who succeeded was accordingly
elected ; and doubtless made a fit general for such an army. This
extraordinary feat has also been performed by Rosas.
By these means, and by conforming to the dress and habits of
* This prophecy has turned out entirely and miserably wrong. 1845
U KIO COLORADO. [chap, iv
the Gauchos, he has obtained an unbounded popularity in the
country, and in consequence a despotic power. I was assured
by an English merchant, that a man who had murdered another,
when arrested and questioned concerning 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 doubt-
less was tlie act of the general's party, and not of the general
iiimself.
In conversation he is enthusiastic, sensible, and very grave.
His gravity 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 anecdote : " 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 busine?;i, for I am en-
gaged.' I went a second time ; he said, ' If you come again 1
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 mad man nci" sound." The
poor flighty gentleman looked quite dolorous, at the very recol-
lection of the staking. This is a very severe punishment ; four
posts are driven into the ground, and the man is extended by his
arms and legs horizontally, and there left to stretch for several
hours. The idea is evidently taken from the usual method of
drying hides. My interview passed away without a smile, and
I obtained a passport and order for the government post-horses,
and this 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 regular encampment, we
passed by the toldos of the Indians. These are round like ovens,
and covered with hides ; by the mouth of each, a tapering chuzo
was stuck in the ground. The toldos were divided into separate
groups, which belonged to the different caciques' tribes, and the
groups were again divided into smaller ones, according to the
relationship of the owners. For several miles we travelled
along the valley of the Colorado. The alluvial plains on
the side appeared fertile, and it is supposed that they are welJ
adapted to the growth of corn. Turning northward from the
I83.-3.J SAND-DDNES. jn
iver, 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 thorny
bushes were less so. These latter in a short space entirely dis-
appeared, and the plains were left without a thicket to cover
their nakedness. This change in the vegetation marks the com-
mencement of the grand calcareo argillaceous deposit, m hich
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 hundred miles, the face of
the country is everywhere composed of shingle: the pebbles are
chiefly of porphyry, 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 charac-
teristic vegetation of Patagonia ceases.
Having ridden about twenty-five miles, v/e 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
country an invaluable supply of fresh water. The great advan-
tage arising from depressions and elevations of the soil, is not
often brought home to the mind. The two miserable springs in
the long passage between 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 bolt of sand-dunes
IS about eight miles wide ; at some former period, it probably
formed the mars^in of a grand estuarv, where the Colorado 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
geography of the country. Having crossed the sandy tract, we
arrived in the evening at one of the post-houses ; and, as tlie
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. Tiiis posta was commanded by a negro lieutenant,
born in Africa: to his credit be it said, there was not a ranche
?5 BAHIA BLAXCA. L^il\p. iv
between the Colorado and Buenos Ayros in nearly such neat
order as his.- He had a little room for 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
attacked. This would, however, have been of little avail, if the
Indians had come ; but hLs chief comfort seemed to rest in the
thought of selling his life dearly. A short time before, a body
of Indians had travelled past in the niuht ; if they had been
aware of tlie posta, our black friend and his ibur 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 sec that he would not sit down and eat
nith 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 large marsh, which
extends from Bahia Blanca. Here w^e chano:ed horses, and
[)assed through some leagues of swamps and saline marshes.
Changing horses for the last time, we again began \\ading
tlirough 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
X man, who told us that a great gun had been fired, which is a
signal that Indians are near. "VYe immediately left the road,
and followed the edge of a marsh, which when chased offers the
best mode of escape. We were glad to arrive within the walls,
when we found all the alarm was about nothino-, for the Indians
turn^^d out to be friendly ones, who wished to join General
Rosas.
Bahia Blanca scarcely deserves 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 stand-
ing (since 1828) ; and its growth has been one of trouble. The
government of Buenos Ayres unjustly occupied it by force, in-
stead of following the wise example of the Spanish Viceroys,
who purchased the land near the older settlement of the Rio
Negro, from the Indians. Hence the need of the fortifications ;
hence the few houses and little cultivated land without the
limits of the walls : even the cattle are not safe from the attacks
1833.] AN ATTACK BY THE INDIANS. 7?
of the Indians beyond the boundaries of the plain, on which thf?
fortress stands.
The part of the harbour where the Beagle intended to anclior
being distant twenty-five miles, I obtained from the Comman-
dant a guide and horses, to take me to see whether she liad
arrived. Leaving the plain of green turf, wliich extended along
the course of a little brook, we soon entered on a wide level waste
consisting either of sand, saline marshes, or bare mud. Some
parts were clotlied by low thickets, and others with those succu-
lent plants, which luxuriate only where salt abounds. Bad as
the country was, ostriches, deers, agoutis, and armadilloes, were
abundant. My guide told me, that two months before he had a
most narrow escape of liis life : he w as out hunting with two other
men, at no great distance from this part of the country, when
they were suddenly met by a party of Indians, who giving chace,
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 received two severe wounds from their
chuzos. Springing on tlie saddle, he managed, by a most won-
derful exertion, just to keep ahead of the long spears of his pur-
suers, who followed him to within sight of the fort. From that
time there w^as an order that no one should strav far from the
settlement. I did not know of this when I started, and was
surprised 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 arrived, and consequently set
out on our return, but the horses soon tiring, we were obligei'
to bivouac on the plain. In the morning we had caught an
armadillo, wliich, altliough a most excellent dish when roasted
in its shell, did not make a very substantial breakfast and dinner
for two hungry men^ The ground at the place where we stopped
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 grunt beneath my head, during half
the night. Our horses were very poor ones, and in the morning
thcjy were soon exhausted from not having had any thing to
drink, so that we were obliged to walk. About noon the dogs
n BAlllA BLANCA. [chap, iv
killed a kid, which we roasted. I ate some of it, but it made
me intolerably thirsty. This was tlie 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 scarcely 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 tliree days under such circumstances, I cannot imag^ine : 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 trou-
blesome to me.
I have several times alluded to the surface of the ground
being incrusted with salt. This phenomenon is quite different
from that of the salinas, and more extraordinary. In many
parts of South America, wherever the climate is moderately
dry, 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
salitrales (as the Spaniards improperly call them, mistaking this
substance for saltpetre), notliing is to be seen but an extensive
plain composed of a black, muddy soil, supporting scattered
tufts of succulent plants. On returning through one of these
tracts, after a week's hot weather, one is surprised to see square
miles of tiie plain white, as if from a slight fall of snow, here
and there heaped up by the wind into little drifts. This latter
appearance is chiefly caused by the salts being drawn up, during
the slow evaporation of tlie 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 either on level tracts elevated only a few feet above the
level of the sea. or on alluvial land borderino;- rivers. M. Par-
chappe* found that the saline incrustation 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 increased 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
* Voyage dans rAmerique MCr'A. par M. A. d'Orbigny. Part. Hist
torn, i. p 6(34.
835.1 AN ADVENTURE 79
surface during the slow and recent elevation of this dry country.
The whole piienomenon is well worthy the attention of natural-
ists. Have the succulent, salt-loving- plants, which are well
known to contain much soda, the power of decomposing- the
muriate? Does the black fetid mud, abounding witli organic
matter, yield tlie sulphur and ultimately the sulphuric acid ?
Two days afterwards I again rode to the harbour : when not
far from our destination, my companion, the same man as before,
spied three people hunting on horseback. He immediately dis-
mounted, and watching them intently, said, " They don't ride
like Christians, and nobody can leave the fort," The tliree
Imnters joined company, and likewise 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
iiorses : load your pistol ;" and he looked to his own sword. I
asked, " Are they Indians ? " — " Quien 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?" His head and eye never for a minute
ceased scanning slowly the iistant horizon. I thought his un-
common 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." AVhen 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
tiie 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 reconnoitre.
He remained in this position for some time, 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 impression that they were Indians. As
soon, however, as the absurd mistake was found out, he gave mt)
50 BAHIA BLANCA. [chap. iv.
a hundred reasons why they could not have been Indians ; but
all these were for<^otten at the time. We then rode on in peace
and quietness to a low point called Punta Alta, whence we could
see nearly the wiiole of the great harbour of Bahia Blanca.
The wide expanse of water is choked up by numerous great
rnud-banks, which the inhabitants call Cangrejales, or crabberies,
from the number of small crabs. The mud is so soft that it is
impossible to walk over them, even for the shortest distance.
Many of the banks have their surfaces covered A\ith long rushes,
,he tops of which alone are visible at high water. On one oc-
casion, when in a boat, we were so entangled by these shallows
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
liigh." 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 mud-banks like water.
We passed the night in Punta Alta, and I employed myself in
searching for fossil bones ; this point being a perfect catacomb
for monsters of extinct 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 back in the morning we came across
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 polecat, but it is rather larger, and much
thicker in proportion. 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 cliecked by a few
droi)s of the fetid oil, w hich brings on violent sickness and run-
ning at the nose. Wiiatever is once polluted b}"^ it, is for ever
useless. Azara says the smell can be perceived at a league dis-
tant ; more than once, when entering the harbour of Monte
Video, the wind being off shore, we have perceived the odour
an board the Beagle. Certain it is, that every animal most will-
ingly makes room for the Zorillo,
1833.1 BAHIA BLANCA. 81
CHAPTER V.
Bahia Blauca — Geology — Numerous gigantic extinct Quadrupeds — Recent
Extinction — Longevity of Species — Large Animals do not require a luxu-
riant vegetation — Southern Africa — Siberian Fossils — Two Species of
Ostrich — Habits of Oven-bird — Armadilloes — Venomous Snake, Toad,
Lizard — Hybernation of Animals — Habits of Sea-Pen — Indians Wars and
Massacres — Arrow-head, antiquarian Relic.
BAHIA BX.ANCA.
The Beagle arrived here on the 24th of August, and a week after-
wards 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
en a previous occasion, when the Beagle was employed in sur-
veying the harbour.
The plain, at the distance 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 upper plain, and from mud, gravel, and sand thrown up
by the sea during the slow elevation of the land, of which eleva-
tion we have evidence in upraised beds of recent shells, and in
rounded pebbles of pumice scattered over the country. At
Punta Alta we have a section of one of these later-formed little
plains, which is highly interesting from the number and extra-
ordinary character 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 depo-
sited 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 Megathe-
rium, the huge dimensions of which are expressed by its nanje.
Secondly, the JMegalonyx, a great allied animal. Thirdly, the
Scelidotherium, also an allied animal, of which I obtaineiJ a
82 BAHIA BLANCA. [chap. r.
nearly perfect skeleton. It must have been as large as a rhino-
ceros : 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 tlie armadilloes. Fourthly, the Mylodon Darwinii,
a closely related genus of little inferior size. Fifthly, another gi-
gantic edental quadruped. Sixthly, a large animal, with an osseous
coat in compartments, very like that of an armadillo. Seventhly,
an extinct kind of horse, 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 like a camel,
which I shall also refer to again. Lastly, the Toxodon, perhaps
one of the strangest animals ever discovered : in size it equalled an
elephant 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
I'achydermata : 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 different
Orders, at the present time so well separated, blended together in
different points of the structure of the Toxodon !
Tiie remains of these nine great quadrupeds, and many de-
tached bones were found embedded on the beach, within the
space of about 200 yards square. It is a remarkable circum-
stance tliat so many different species sliould be found together ;
and it proves how numerous in kind the ancient inhabitants 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 frag-
ments of bones, some of large size. Among them were the teeth
of a gnawer, equalling in size and closely resembling those of
the Capybara, whose habits have been described ; and therefore,
probably, an aquatic animal. There was also part of the head of
a Ctenomys ; the species being different from the Tucutuco, but
with a close general resemblance. The red earth, like that of
the Pampas, in which these remains were embedded, contains, ac-
cording to Professor Ehrenberg, eight fresh-water and one salt-
water infusorial animalcule ; therefore, probably, it was an
estuary deposit.
The remains at Pun'a Alia were embedded in stratified gravel
1S33.] EXTINCT QUADRUPEDS. 83
and reddish mud, just such as the sea might now vvasli up on a
shallow bank. They were associated with twenty-three species
of shells, of which thirteen are recent and four others very
closely related to recent forms ; whether the remaining- ones are
extinct or simply unknown, must be doubtful, as few collections
of shells have been made on this coast. As, however, the recent
species were embedded in nearly the same proportional numbers
with those now living in the bay, I think there can be little
doubt, that this accumulation 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, together with the bones of one of
its legs, we may feel assured that these remains were fresh
and united by their ligaments, when deposited in the gravel
together with the shells. Hence we have good evidence that
the above enumerated gigantic quadrupeds, more different from
those of the present day than the oldest of the tertiary quadru-
peds of Europe, lived whilst the sea was peopled with most of its
present inhabitants ; and we have confirmed that remarkable law
so often insisted on by Mr. Lyell, namely, that the " longevity
of the species in the mammalia is upon the whole inferior to that
of the testacea."*
The great size of the bones of the Megatheroid animals, includ-
ing the Megatherium, 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. The teeth in-
dicate, 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 great strong curved
claws seem so little adapted for locomotion, that some eminent
naturalists have actually believed, that, like the sloths, to which
they are intimately related, they subsisted by climbing back
downwards on trees, and feeding on the leaves. It was a bold,
* Principles of Geologj% vol. iv. p. 40.
j- Tljis theory was first developed in the Zoology of the Voyage of the
Deagle, and subsequently in Professor Owen'^ Memoir on Mylodon ro-
Justus.
84 BAHIA BLANC A. [chap, v
not. to say preposterous, idea to conceive even antediluvian trees,
with branches strong enough to bear animals as large as ele-
phants. Professor Owen, with far more probability, believes
that, instead of climbing on the trees, they pulled the. branches
down to them, and tore up the smaller ones by the roots, and so
fad on the leaves. The colossal breadth and weight of their
hinder quarters, which can hardly be imagined without having
been seen, become, on this view, of obvious service, instead of
being an incumbrance : their apparent 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 rooted,
indeed, must that tree have been, which could have resisted such
force ! The Mylodon, moreover, was furnished with a long
extensile 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
ele})hant, 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 round, 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 level of high-water ; and hence
the elevation of the land has been small (without there has
been an intercalated period of subsidence, of which we have no
evidence) since the great quadrupeds wandered over the sur-
rounding plains ; and the external features of the country must
then have been very nearly the same as now. What, it may natu-
rally be asked, w'as the character of the vegetation at that period ;
was the country as wretchedly sterile as it now is ? As so many
of the co-embedded shells are the same with those now livinof in
the bav, I was at first inclined to think that the former vesreta-
tion was probably similar to the existing one ; but this would
liave been an erroneous 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
tliose on the land. Nevertheless, from the following considera-
tions, I do not believe that the simple fact of manj' gigantic
quadrupeds having lived on the plains round Bahia Blanca, is
la3;i.j FOOD OF LARGE QUADRUPEDS. 85
anv sure guide that they formerly were clothed with a luxuriant
veg-etation : I have no doubt that the sterile country a little
southward, near the Rio Negro, with its scattered thorny trees,
would support many and large quadrupeds.
That large animals require a luxuriant vegetation, 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 histoiy of the world. The prejudice has
probably been derived from India, and the Indian islands, where
troops of elephants, noble forests, and impenetrable jungles, are
associated together in every one's mind. If, however, we refer
to any work of travels through the soutliern parts of Africa, we
shall find allusions in almost every page either to the desert cha-
racter of the country, or to the numbers of large animals inha-
Ijiting it. The same thing is rendered evident by the many
engravings which have been published 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 intel-
ligible.
Dr. Andrew Smith, who, at the head of his adventurous
party, has lately succeeded in passing the Tropic of Capricorn,
informs me that, taking into consideration the whole of the
southern part of Africa, there can be no doubt of its being a
sterile country. On the southern and south-eastern coasts there
are some fine forests, but with these exceptions, 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 tliat the amount of vegetation supported 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-waggons can travel in any direction, excepting
near the coast, without more than occasionally half an hour's
delay in cutting down bushes, gives, perhaps, a more definite
* I mean by this to exclude the total amount, which may have been suc-
3<tS6ively produced and consumed durin/^ a given period.
86 BAHIA BLANCA. [chap. v.
notion of the scantiness of the vegetation. Now, if we look to
tlie 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 Dr. Smith, two others, the hippopotamus,
the giraffe, the bos caffer — as large as a full-grown bull, and the
elan — but little less, two zebras, and the quaccha, two gnus, anil
several antelopes even larger than these latter animals. It may
be supposed that although the species are numerous, the indivi-
duals 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-wag-
gons, he saw, without wandering to any great distance on either
side, between one hundred and one hundred and fifty rhinoceroses,
which belonged to three species : the same day ha saw several
lierds of giraffes, amounting together to nearly a hundred ; and
tliat, although no elephant was observed, yet they are found in
this district. At the distance of a little more tlian one hour's
march from their place of encampment on the previous night,
Ids party actually killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses, and
saw many more. In this same river there were likewise croco-
diles. Of course it was a case quite extraordinary, to see so
many great animals crowded together, but it evidently proves
that they must exist in great numbers. 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 waggons were not prevented travelling
in a nearly straight line.
Besides these large 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 hysena, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly speak of
the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds: 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 terrific ! I confess
it is truly surpri.^ing how such a number of animals can find
support in a country producing so little food. The laiger qua-
1833] FOOD OF LARGE QUADRUPEDS. 87
drupeds no doubt roam over M'ide tracts 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 lias a rapid growth ; no sooner is a part con-
sumed, than its place is supplied by a fresli stock. There can
be no doubt, however, that our ideas respecting- the apparent
amount of food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are
much exaggerated: it should have been remembered tliat the
camel, an animal of no mean bulk, has always been considered 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. Burchell observed to me
that when entering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly
than the splendour of the Soutli American vegetation contrasted
with that of South Africa, together with the absence of all large
quadrupeds. In his Travels,* he has suggested that the com-
parison of the respective weights (if there were suflficient 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, elan,
certainly three, and probably live species of rhinoceros ; and on
the American side, two tapirs, the guanaco, three deer, the vicuna,
peccari, capybara (after which we must choose from the monkeys
to complete the number), and then place these two groups along-
side each other, it is not easy to conceive ranks more dispro-
portionate in size. After the above facts, we are compelled to
* Travels in the Interior of South Africa, vol. ii., p. 207.
t The elephant M-hich was killed at Exeter Change was estimated (being
partly weighed) at five tons and a half. The elephant actress, as I was in-
tormed, weighed one ton less ; so that we may take five as the average of a
fall-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 halt , 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
ha t to the bos caffer as well as to the elan (a large ox weighs from 1200 to
15.-0 pounds). This will give an average (from the above estimates) of 2-7
Ota ton torthe ten largest herbivorous animals of Southern Africa In
bouth America, allowing 1200 poimds for the two tapirs together, 550 for the
guanaco and vicuna, 500 for three deer, 300 for the capybara, peccari, and a
monkey, we shall have an average of 250 pounds, which I believe is over-
stating the result. The ratio will therefore be as 6048 to 250, or 24 to 1 fot
tlie ten largest animals from the two continents.
5
SH BAHIA BLANCA. [chap. v.
conclude, against anterior probability,* that among the mam-
malia there exists no close relation between the hulk of the
species, and the quantitij of the vegetation, in the countries
which they inhabit.
With regard to the number of large quadrupeds, there cer-
tainly exists no quarter of the globe which will bear comparison
with Southern 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 epociis, which we
are apt to consider as abounding to an astonishing degree with
large animals, because we find the remains of many ages accu-
mulated at certain spots, could hardly boast of more large
quadrupeds than Southern 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 w^e see a state of things so totally different at the Cape
of Good Hope.
AVe knowf that the extreme regions of North America, many
degrees beyond the limit where the ground at the depth of a few
feet remains perpetually 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 latitude^
(64°), where the mean temperature of the air falls below the
freezing point, and where the earth is so completely frozen, that
* If we suppose the case of the discovery of a skeleton of a Greenlaiid
whale in a fossil state, not a single cetaceous animal being known to exist,
what naturalist would have ventured conjecture on the possibility of a car-
cass so gigantic being supported on the minute crusta.cea and mollusca living
in the frozen seas of the extreme North ?
f See Zoological Remarks to Capt. Back's Expedition, by Dr. Richardson,
lie says, " The subsoil north of latitude bi° is perpetually frozen, the thaw
on the coast not penetrating above three feet, and at Bear Lake, in latitude
G4"', not more than twenty inches. The frozen substratum does not of itself
destroy vegetation, fur forests flourish on the surface, at a distance from the
coast."
X See Humboldt, Fragmens Asiatiqu'.'S, p. SSfi : Barton's Geography 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 undei the parallel of 70°.
1833.] SOUTH AMERICAN OSTlilCH. 89
the carcass of an animal embedded in it is perfectly preserved.
With these facts we must grant, as far as quantity alone of vege
tation is concerned, that the great quadrupeds of the later ter-
tiary epochs might, in most parts of Northern Europe and Asia,
have lived on the spots where their remains are now found. I
do not here speak of the kind of vegetation necessary for their
support ; because, as there is evidence of physical changes, and
as the animals have become extinct, so may we suppose that the
species of plants have likewise been changed.
These remarks, I may be permitted to add, directly bear on
the case of the Siberian animals preserved in ice. The firm con-
viction of the necessity of a vegetation possessing a character of
tropical luxuriance, to support such large animals, and the im-
possibility 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 entombment. I am far from
supposing that the climate has not changed since the period
when those animals 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 rhinoceroses might have roamed over
the steppes of central Siberia (the northern parts probably being
under water) even in their present 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 North-
ern 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
dry, 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 dif-
ficulty by the Indian or Gaucho armed with the bolas. "When
several horsemen appear in a semicircle, it becomes confounded,
and does not know w hich way to escape. They generally prefer
yo BAHIA BLANCA. [chap, v
_ -■ '■ — - — —" ' — ■ ■ ■— ■■■■ia
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 approaclied. It is not gene-
rally known that ostriches readily take to the w^ater. Mr. King
informs me that at the Bay of San Bias, and at Port Valdes in
Patagfonia, he saw these birds swimminor 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
frightened : the distance crossed was about two hundred yards.
When swimming, very little of their bodies appear above water j
their necks are extended a little forward, and their progress is
slow. On two occasions I saw some ostriches swimming across
the Santa Cruz river, where its course was about four hundred
yards wide, and the stream rapid. Captain Sturt,* w^hen de-
scending the Murrumbidgee, in Australia, saw two emus in the
act of swimming.
The inliabitants of the country readily distinguish, 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
tlie cock, emits a singular, deep-toned, hissing note: when first
I heard it, standing in the midst of some sand-hillocks, I thouglit
it Mas 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 found all over the country.
They lie either scattered and single, in which case they are
never hatched, and are called by the Spaniards huachos ; or they
are collected together into a shallow excavation, which forms the
nest. Out of the four nests which I saw, three contained twenty-
two eggs eacli, 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 remaining tw^enty, scattered
huachos. The Gauchos unanimously aflEirm, and there is no
re.;son to doubt their statement, that the male bird alone hatches
the eggs, and for some time afterwards accompanies the young.
* Sturt's Travels, vol ii. p. 74.
t A Gauche assured me that he had once seen a snow-white or Albino
variety, and that it was a most beautiful bird.
183.1.1 HABITS OF THE OSTRICH. 91
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 occa-
sionally fierce, and even dangerous, and that they have been
known to attack a man on horseback, trj'ing 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 Burcheli's
travels in South Africa, that he remarks, " Having killed a male,
ostrich, and the feathers being dirty, it was said by the Ho: ten-
tots to be a nest bird." I understand that the male emu in the
Zoological Gardens takes charge of the nest : this habit, there-
fore, 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
other, to the same nest. I may add, also, that it is believed 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 th»»
nest varies from twenty to forty, and even to fifty ; and accord-
ing to Azara, sometimes to seventy or eighty. Now although
it is most probable, from the number of eggs found in one dis-
trict 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 inter-
val 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 difi'erent 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 greater on 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
af the labour of incubation ; and that during a period when the
* Burcheli's Travels, vol. i. p. 280.
t Azara, vol. iv. p. 1 73.
92 BAH I A BLANC A. [chap. v.
females probably could not sit, from net having finished laying.*
1 have before mentioned the great numbers of huachos, or de-
serted eggs ; so that in one day's hunting twenty 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 to-
gether, and finding a male ready to undertake the office of incu-
bation ? It is evident that there must at first be some degree of
association between at least two females ; otherwise the eggs
would remain scattered 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. Tliis can liardly be the case in
America, because tlie huachos, although often found addled and
putrid, are generally whole.
When at tiie Rio Kegro 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 com-
mon ostrich (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 down than
those of the common 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 Ehea, but of a slightly
different form, and with a tinge of pale blue. This species occur
most rarely on the plains bordering the Pio Negro ; but about a
degree and a half farther south they are tolerably abundant.
When at Port Desire, in Patagonia (lat. 48°), Mr. Martens
shot an ostrich ; and I looked at it, forgetting at the moment,
in the most unaccountable manner, the whole subject of the
Petises, and thought it was a not full-grown bird of the com-
mon sort. It was cooked and eaten before my memory returned.
♦ Lichtenstein, however, asserts (Travels, vol. ii. p. 25") that the hens b^giii
sitting when they have laid ten or twelve eggs ; and that 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 one cock, who
rits only at night.
s
1833.J THE AVESTKUZ PETISK 93
Fortunately the head, neck, le^^, wings, many of the larger^
feathers, and a large part of the skin, had been preserved ; ami
from these a very nearly perfect specimen has been put together,
and is now exhibited in the mwseuni of the Zoological Society.
Mr. Gould, in describing this new species, has done me tlie
honour of calling it after my name.
Among: the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of Magellan, wa
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 otliers in these southern 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 approaching 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 remarked that this bird did not expand
its wings, when first starting at full speed, after the manner of
the northern kind. In conclusion I may observe, that the Stru-
thio rhea inhabits the countrj'^ 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 Eio
Negro being neutral territory. M. A. d'Orbigny,* when at the
Rio Negro, made great exertions to procure this bird, but never
iiad the good fortune to succeed. Dobrizhoffer f long ago A\as
aware of there being two kinds of ostriches ; he says, " You
nmst know, moreover, that Emus differ in size and habits in
different tracts of land ; for those that inhabit the plains of
Duenos Ayres 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
* When at the Rio Negro, ve heaixl much of the icdefatigable labours of
this naturalist. M. Alcide d'Orbigny, during the years 1825 to 1833, tia-
verted several large portions of South America, and has made a collection,
and is now pu])lishing the results on a scale of magnificence, which at onc<;
places himst'lf in the list of American travellers second only to Humboldt.
^ Account of the Abipones, a.d. 1740, vol. i, (English translation), p. Sli,
)4 BAHIA ULANCA. [chap. v.
with black at the extremity, and their black ones in like manner
terminate in white."
A very singular little bird, Tinochorus rumicivorus, is here
connnon ; in its habits and general appearance, it nearly equally
partakes of the characters, 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, where scarcely another living creature can exist. Upon
being approached they squat close, and then are very difficult to
be distinguished from the ground. When feeding they walk
rather slowl}^, with their legs wide apart. They 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 affinity with
quails. But as soon as the bird is seen flying, its whole appear-
ance changes ; the long pointed wangs, so different from those in
the gallinaceous order, the irregular manner of flight, and plain-
tive cry uttered at the mon^ent of rising, recal the idea of a
snipe. The sportsmen of the Beagle unanimously 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 Ame-
rican birds. Two species of the genus Attagis are in almost
every respect ptarmigans 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 inha-
bitant of the antarctic regions ; 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 rela-
tions to other families, although at present offering only difficul-
ties to the systematic naturalist, ultimately may assist in revealing
the grand scheme, common to the present and past ages, on
which organized beings ha\e been created.
1?33.] THE OVEN-BIRD. 95
The genus Furnarius contains several species, all small h'rds,
living on the ground, and inhabiting open dry countries. In
structure they cannot be compared to any European form. Or-
nithologists have generally included them among the creepers,
although opposed to that family in every habit. Tlie best known
species is the common oven-bird of La Plata, the Casara or
housemaker of the Spaniards. 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 tliick Malls: in shape it precisely
resembles an oven, or depressed beehive. The opening is large
and arched, and directly in front, within the nest, there 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 general reddish tint of its plu-
mage, 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 nidification 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 stream. 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 ac-
quiring any notion of thickness, for although they were con-
stantly flitting over the low wall, they continued vainly to
bore through it, thinking it an excellent bank for their nests. 1
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 ths mammalia common
in this country. Of armadilloes three species occur, nameiv,
)ii BAIIIA BLANCA. [chap. v.
the IJasypus minutus or pichi/, the D. villosus or pehidoj and
the apar. The first extends ten degrees further south than any
otner kind : a fourth species, the Mulita, does not come as far
south as Baliia Blanca. The four species have nearly similar
habits ; the j)^^udo, however, is nocturnal, while the others
wander by day over the open plains, feeding on beetles, larvee,
roots, and even small snakes. The apar, commonly called ma-
taco, is remarkable by having only three moveable 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
Eno^iish woodlouse. In this state it is safe from the attack of
doo-s ; for the dos: not being able to take the whole in its moutli,
tries to bite one side, and the ball slips away. The smooth hard
covering of the mataco offers a better defence than the sharp
spines of the hedgehog. The picl/i/ prefers a very dry soil; and
the sand-dunes near the coast, where for many months it can
never taste water, is its favourite resort : it often tries to escape
notice, by squatting 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 Gaucho 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 Trlgono-
cephalus, or Cophias), from the size of the poison channel 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 confirmation of this opi-
nion, I observed a fact, which appears to me very curious and
instructive, as showing how every character, even though it may
l»e in some degree independent of structure, has a tendency to
vary by slow degrees. 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, pro-
duces a rattling noise, which can be distinctly heard at the die-
-»""■] CUIMOUS SNAKE. 97
tance of six feet. As often as tlie animal was irritated or
surprised, its tail was shaken ; and the vibrations were extremely
i-apid. Even as long as the body retained its irritability, a
tendency to this habitual movement was evident. This Trigo-
nocephalus has, therefore, in some respects the structure of a
viper, with the habits of a rattlesnake : the noise, however, being
produced by a simpler device. The expression of this snakeV
face was hideous and fierce ; the pupil consisted of a vertical slit
in a mottled and coppery iris ; the jaws were broad at the base,
and the nose terminated in a triangular projection. I do not
think I ever saw any thing more ugly, excepting, perhaps^
some of the vampire bats. I imagine this repulsive aspect ori-
ginates from the features being placed in positions, with respect
to each other, somewhat proportional to those of the human
face ; and tlius we obtain a scale of hideousness.
Amongst the Batrachian reptiles, I found only one little toad
(Phryniscus nigricans), 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 vermilion, so as to colour the soles ol
its feet and parts of its stomach, a good idea of its appearance
will be gained. If it had been an unnamed species, surely it
ought to have been called Diaholiciis, for it is a fit toad to
preach in (he ear of Eve. Instead of being nocturnal in its
itabits, a,s other toads are, and living 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 moisture ; and this
probably is absorbed by the skin, for it is known, that these
reptiles possess great powers of cutaneous absorption. At Mal-
donado, 1 found one in a situation nearly as dry as at Bahia
Blanca, and thinking to give it a great treat, carried it to a pool
of water ; not only was tlie little animal unable to swim, but, I
think without help it w^ould soon have been drowned.
Of lizards there were many kinds, but only one (ProctotretUvs
niultimaculatus) 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 surrounding
98 BAHIA BLANCA. [chap, v
surface. "When frightened, it attempts to avoid discovery by
feigning death, with outstretched legs, depressed body, and
closed eyes : if further molested, it buries itself with great quick-
ness in the loose sand. This lizard, from its flattened body and
short legs, cannot run quickly.
I will here add a few remarks on the hybernation 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 torpid state. On the loth, a
few animals began to appear, and by the 18th (three days from
the equinox), every thing announced the commencement of
spring. The plains were ornamented by the flowers of a pink
wood-sorrel, wild peas, oenotherse, and geraniums ; and the birds
began to lay their eggs. Numerous Lamellicorn and Hetero-
merous insects, the latter remarkable for their deeply sculptured
bodies, were slowly crawling about ; wdiile the lizard tribe, the
constant inhabitants of a sandy soil, darted about in every direc-
tion. Durins: tlie first eleven navs, whilst nature was dormant,
tlie mean temperature taken from observations made every t\^o
hours on board the Beagle, was ol*^; and in the middle of the
day the thermometer seldom ranged above 55°. On the eleven
succeeding days, in which all living things became so animated,
the mean was 58°, 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 sufli-
cient to awake the functions of life. At Monte Video, from
which we had just before sailed, in the t^venty-three days included
between the 26th of July and the lUth of August, the mean
temperature from 276 observations was 58°.4 ; the mean hottest
day being 6o°.5, and the coldest 46°. The lowest point to
which the thermometer fell was 41°.5, and occasionally in tlie
middle of the day it rose to 69° or 70°. Yet with this high
temperature, almost every beetle, several genera of spiders,
fsnails, 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
v^ery little coloer, this same temperature with a rather less ex-
1833.] SEA-PEN. 99
treme heat, Mas sufficient to awake all orders of animated beings.
This shows how nicely the stimulus required to arouse hybernat-
ing- animals 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 properly aestivation, of animals
is determined not by the temperature, but by the times of
drought. Near Rio de Janeiro, I was at first surprised to ob-
serve, that, a few days after some little depressions had been
filled with Avater, they were peopled by numerous full-grown
shells and beetles, which must have been lying dormant. Hum-
boldt has related the strangle accident of a hovel havino: been
erected 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 lethar-
gic state. To reanimate them, they must be irritated or wetted
M'ith water."
I will only mention one other animal, a zoophyte (I believe
A'^irgularia Patagonica) a kind of sea-pen. It consists of a thin,
straight, fleshy stem, with alternate rows of polypi on each side,
and surrounding an elastic stony axis, varying in length from
eight inches to two feet. The stem at one extremity is truncate,
but at tlie 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 granular matter.
At low water hundreds of these zoophytes might be seen, pro-
jecting like stubble, with the truncate end upwards, a few inches
above the surface of the muddy sand. AYhen 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 tlie 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 poly-
pus, though closely united to it-s bretliren, has a distinct mouth,
body, and tentacula. Of these polypi, in a large specimen,
there must be many thousands ; yet we see that they act by one
movement: they have also one central axis connected with a
system of obscure circulation, and the ova are produced in an
organ distinct from the separate individuals.* Well may one be
* The cavities leading from the fleshy compartrnents of the extrernitj-,
100 BAIiIA BLANCA. [chap. v.
allowed to ask, what is an individual ? It is always interestinsfto
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 voyage* in 1601, nar-
rates that on the sea-sands of the Island of Sombrero, in the
East Indies, he " found a small twig growing up like a young
tree, and on offering to pluck it up it shrinks down to the grountl,
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 great-
ness, so doth the worm diminish ; and as soon as the worm is
entirely turned into a tree it rooteth in tlie 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 bark stripped off, it becomes a hard
stone when dry, much like white coral : thus is this worm twice
transformed 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, betv,een the troops of Rosas and the wild
Indians. One day an account came that a small party forming
one of the postas on the line to Buenos Ayres, had been found
all murdered. The next day three hundred men arrived from
tlie Colorado, under the command of Commandant Miranda. A
large portion of these men were Indians {?na?isos, or tame),
belonging to the tribe of tlie Cacique Bernantio. They passed
were filled with a yellow pulpy matter, which, examined under a micro-
scope, presented an extraordinary appearance. The mass consisted of
rounded, semi-transparent, irregular grains, aggregated together into pjir-
ticles of various sizes. All such particles, and the separate grains, possessed
the power of rapid movement ; generally revolving around different axes,
hut sometimes progressive. The movement was visible with a very wi-ak
power, but even with the highest its cause could not be perceived. It was
very difi^'erent from the circulation of the fluid in the elastic bag, containing
the thin extremity of the axis. On other occasions, when dissecting small
marine animals beneath the microscope, I have seen particles of pulpy mat-
ter, some of large size, as soon as they were disengaged, commence revolv-
ing. I have imagined, I know not with how much truth, that this granulo-
pulpy matter was in process of being converted into ova. Certainly in this
zoophyte such appeared to be the case.
* Kerrs Collection of Voyages, vol. viii. p. 119.
I833.J EXPEDITION AGAINST THE INDIANS. 101
Ihe night here ; and it was impossible to conceive any thing
more wild and savao-e 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 inflexam 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. AYe subsequently heard that the wild Indians had escaped
into the great Pampas, and from 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 loaded with cargoes ; by the irregularity
of the footsteps, how far tired ; by the manner in which the food
lias been cooked, whether the pursued travelled 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. IVe also heard that Miranda struck
from the west end of the Sierra Ventana, in a direct line to the
island of Cholechel, situated seventy leagues up the Eio Negro.
This is a distance of between two and three hundred miles,
through a country completely unknown. AYhat other troops in
tiie world are so independent ? With the sun for their guide,
mares' flesh for food, their saddle-cloths for beds, — as lono: 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 expedition 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 expedition was a
very intelligent man. He gave me an account of the last engage-
ment at which he was present. Some Indians, who had been
taken prisoners, gave information of a tribe living north of the
102 BAHIA BLANCA. [chap v.
Colorado. Two liundred soldiers were sont ; and they first dis-
covered 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 th^
Cordillera were in sight. The Indians, men, women, and children,
wore about one hundred and ten in number, and they were nearly
all taken or killed, for the soldiers sabre every man. The Indians
are now so terrified that they offer no resistance in a body, but
each flies, neglecting- even his wife and children; but when over-
taken, like wild animals, they fight against any number to tlie
last moment. One dying Indian seized with his teeth the thumb
of his adversary, and allowed 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
nut 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 shock-
ing is the unquestionable fact, that all the women who appear
above twenty years old are massacred in cold blood ! When I
exclaimed that this appeared rather inhuman, he answered,
'• Why, what can be done ? 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? The children of the Indians are saved, to be
sold or given away as servants, or rather slaves for as long a time
as tlie 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 togther. They were pursued,
one was killed, and the other three were taken alive. They
turned out to be messengers or ambassadors from a large body of
Indians, united in the common cause of defence, near the Cor-
dillera. The tribe to which they had been sent was on the point
of holding a grand council ; the feast of mare's flesh was ready,
and the dance prepared : in the morning the ambassadors were
to have returned to the Cordillera. They were remarkably fine
1333.] CAPTIVE INDIANS. 108
men, very fair, above six ieet Jiigh, and all under thirty years of
age. The three survivors of course possessed very valuable
information ; and to extort this they were 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 dilFerent :
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 tliat in
summer their numbers would be doubled. Ambassadors were to
have been sent to the Indians at the small Salinas, near Baliia
Bhmca, whom I have mentioned that this same cacique had
betrayed. The communication, therefore, between the Indians,
extends from the Cordillera to the coast of the Atlantic.
General Rosas's plan is to kill all stragglers, and havi no-
driven the remainder to a common point, to attack them in a
body, in the summer, with the assistance 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 attack, because
the plains are then without water, and the Indians can only
travel in particular directions. 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 treaty 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 so
doing, they themselves are to be exterminated. The war is
waged chiefly against the Indians near the Cordillera ; for many
of the tribes on this eastern side are fighting with Rosas. Tiie
general, however, like Lord Chesterfield, thinking that his friends
may in a future day become his enemies, always places tliem in
the front ranks, so that their numbers may be thinned. Since
leaving South America we have heard that this war of exter-
mination completely fiiiled.
Among the captive girls taken in the same engagement, there
were two very pretty Spanish ones, who had been carried away
by the Indians when young, and could now only speak Xha
Indian tongue. From their account they must have come from
{04 BAHIA BLANCA. [chap, v
Salta, a distance in a straight line of nearly one thousand miles.
This gives one a grand idea of the immense territoiy over which
tlie Indians roam : yet, great as it is, I think there will not, in
another half-century, be a wild Indian northward of the Ivio
Negro. The warfare is too bloody to last ; the Christians 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 villages containing two and three
thousand inhabitants. Even in Falconer's time (1750) the
Indians made inroads e^ far as Luxan, Areco, and Arrecife, bin
now they are driven beyond the Salado. Not only have whole
tribes been exterminated, but the remaiiiing Indians have
become more barbarous : instead of living in large villages, and
being employed in the arts of fishing, as well as of the chace,
they now wander about the open plains, without home or fixed
occupation.
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 important station on account of being a pass for
horses ; and it was, in consequence, for some time the head-
quarters of a division of the army. AVhen the troojjs first arrived
there they found a tribe of Indians, of whom they killed twenty
or thirty. The cacique escaped in a manner which astonished
every 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 cacic[ue 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
ills nation ; namely, with an arm 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 pur-
suers urged every eflbrt in the chace ; 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 mind, — the naked, bronze-like figure of the
* Purrhas's Collection of Vovages- I believe the date was reull)'
1537.
I13.1.J ANTIQUARIAN EELIC. 105
old man with liis little boy, riding like a Mazeppa on the white
,'iorse, thus leaving far behind him the host of his pursuers !
I saw one day a soldier striking fire with a piece of flint,
M'hieh 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 between two and three inches long, and therefore twice an
larcre as those now used in Tierra del Fuego : it was made of
opake cream-coloured flint, but the point and barbs had been
intentionally broken off. It is well known that no Pampas
Indians now use bows and arrows. I believe a small tribe in
Banda Oriental must be excepted ; but they are widely separated
from the Pampas Indians, and border ciose 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.
* Azara has even doubted whether the Pampas ludiaus ever used bows.
106 BAHIA BLANC A. [chap. vi.
CHArTER VI.
Hct out for Buenos Ayres— Rio Sauce — Sieira Ventana — Third Posta--
Driving Horses — Bolas — Partridges and Foxes — Features 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 Cattle are slaughtered.
BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES
September 8th. — I hired a Gaucho to accompany 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, w ho seemed
\s illing, 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 dis-
tance, he would mistake it for an Indian, and w^ould fly like th.e
wind away. The distance to Buenos Ayres is about four lum-
dred miles, and nearly the wdiole way through an uninhabited
country. We started early in the morning ; 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 tliedry nature
of the climate, supports only scattered tufts of withered grass,
M'ithout a single bush or tree to break the monotonous uniformity.
The weather was fine, but the atmospliere 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 Rio Sauce : it is a deep, rapid, little 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 horses, M'here 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 us(!ful barrier against the
Indians.
tSS3.] SIERRA VENTANA.
107
Insignificant as this stream is, the Jesuit Falconer, whose
information is generally so very correct, figures it as a consider-
able river, rising at the foot of the Cordillera. With respect
to its source, I do not doubt that this is the case; fur the Gau-
chos assured me, 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 continent ; 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 Ciuipat, on the
banks of which masses of highly cellular scoria were found by
the oflicers employed in the survey.
As it was early in the afternoon when we arrived, 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^Bahia 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 ascended this mountain ; and indeed very few of
tiie soldiers at Bahia Blanca knew anything about it. Hence
we heard of beds of coal, of gold and silver, of caves, and of
forests, all of which inflamed my curiosity, only to disappoint ir.
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. AVherl
we reached the foot of the main ridge, we had much difficulty in
finding any water, and we tliought we should have been obliged
to have passed tlie night without any. At last we discovered
pome by looking close to tlie mountain, for at the distance even
of a few hundred yards, the streamlets were buried and entirely
lost in, die friable calcareous stone and loose detritus. I do not
think Nature ever made a more solitary, desolate pile of rock ;
108 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYKES. [chap, vi.
— it well deserves its name of Hurtado^ or separated. The
mountain is steep, extremely rugged, and broken, and so entirely
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 contrasted by
the sea-like plain, which not only abuts against its steep sides,
but likewise separates the parallel ranges. The uniformity of
the colouring gives an extreme quietness to the view ; — the whit-
ish grey of the quartz rock, and the light brown of the withered
grass of the plain, being unrelieved by any brighter tint. From
custom, one expects to see in the neighbourhood of a lofty and
bold moimtain, a broken country strewed over with huge frag-
ments. 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
observe how far from the parent rock any pebbles could be found.
On the shores of Bahia Blanca, and near the settlement, there
were some of quartz, which certainly 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 appearing 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 ; tlie 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
precipitous valley as deep as the plain, which cut the chain trans-
versely in two, and separated me from the four points. This
valley is very narrow, 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 descended,
and while crossing it, I saw two horses grazing : 1 immediately
hid myself in the long grass, and began to reconnoitre ; but as I
2culd see no signs of Indians I proceeded cautiously on my
* I call these thistle-stalks for the want of a more correct name. I be-
li«ve it is a species of Eryngium.
1833.) SIERRA VENTANA.
ICd
second ascent. It was late in the day, and tliis part of the moun-
tain, like the other, was steep and rugged. I was on the top of
tlie second peak by two o'clock, but got there with extreme dif-
ficulty ; ev-ry twenty yards I had the cramp in the upper part
of both thighs, so that I was afraid I sliould not have been able
to have got down again. It was also necessary to return by
another road, as it ^vas out of the question to pass over the
saddle-back. 1 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 tlie cramp was the great change in the kind of muscular action,
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 hundred feet above the plain, patches of conglo-
merate adhered in several places to the solid rock. They°re-
sembled in hardness, and in the nature of the cement, the masses
which may be seen daily forming on some coasts. I do not
(h)ubt these pebbles were in a similar manner aggregated, at a
period when the great calcareous formation wasXpositing be-
neath tlie surrounding sea. ^Ye may believe that the jagged
and battered forms of the hard quartz yet show the effects oflhe
waves of an open ocean.
I was, on the whole, disappointed with this ascent. Even the
view was insignificant ;— a plain like the sea, but without its
beautiful colour and defined outline. The scene, however M'as
novel, and a little danger, like salt to meat, gave it a relish
Ihat the danger was very little was certain, for my two com-
panions made a good fire-a thing which is never done when it
is suspected that Indians are near. I reached the place of our
bivouac by sunset, and drinking much mate, and smoking several
cigaritos, soon made up my bed for the night. The wind was
very strong and cold, but I never slept more comfortably
^September lOih. -~ Jn the morning, having fairly scudded
before the gale, we arrived by the middle of the day at the Sauce
poata. On the road Me saw great numbers uf deer, and near the
•10 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYPvES. [chap. vi.
mountain aguanaco. The plain, which abulj against the Sierra,
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
generall}'' the case, being about the Indians. The Sierra Ven-
tana was formerly a great place of resort ; and three or fi)ur
years ago there was much fighting there. My guide had been
present wiien many Indians were killed : the a\ omen escaped to
the top of the ridge, and fought most desperately with great
stones ; many thus saving themselves.
Septcmher lllh. — Proceeded to the third posta in company
with the lieutenant mIio commanded it. The distance is called
fifteen leagues ; but it is only guess-work, and is generally over-
stated. The road was uninteresting, over a dry grassy plain ;
and on our left hand at a greater or less distance there were some
h)\v 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
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 dispersing in every direction ; and a storm
will have the same effect. A short time since, an officer left
Buenos Avres 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 towards us ; when far distant
my companions knew them to be Indians, by their long hair
sireaming behind their backs. The Indians generally have a
fillet round their heads, but never any covering ; and their black
iiair blowing across their swarthy faces, heightens to an uncom-
mon degree the wildness of their appearance. They turned out
to be a part}'^ of Bernantio's friendly tribe, going to a salina for
salt. The Indians eat much salt, their children sucking it like
sugar. This habit is very different from that of the Spanish
Gauchos, wlio, leading the same kind of life, eat scarcely any :
acviording ""o Mungo Park,* it is people who live on vegetable
* Travels iu Africa, p. 2^:^,
1833.] THROWING THE BOLAS. 11 ]
food who have an unconquerable desire for salt. The Indians
gave us g-ood-humoured nods as they passed at full gallop, driv-
ing before them a troop of horses, and followed by a train of
lanky dogs.
September \2lh and 13^A.— I staid at this posta two days,
waiting for a troop of soldiers, which General Eosas had thfi
kindness to send to inform me, would shortly travel to Buenos
Ayres ; and lie 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 th-
bolas. Two spears were stuck in the ground 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, 1
may mention, that at the Falkland Islands, when the Spaniards
murdered some of their own countrymen and all tiie Englishmen,
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 hhn.
Just as the Spaniard was on the point of reaching the boat, Lu-
ciano threw the balls : they struck him on the legs m ith such a
jerk, as to throw him down and to render liim 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
great 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 consisted this
evening of my guide and self, the lieutenant, 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 miner, the colour of mahogany, and an-
other partly a mulatto ; but two such mongrels, with such de-
testable expressions, I never saw before. Af night, when they
were sitting round the fire, and playing at cards, I retired to
6
112 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES. [chap. vi.
view such a Salvator Rosa scene. They were seated under a
low cliff, so that I could look 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 background, 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 tne conversation, and everj- 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 middle of
the night; for very early in the morning after the murder, they
were luckily seen approaching this posta. The whole party
here, however, escaped, together witli the troop of horses; (^ach
one taking a line for himself, and driving witli him as many
animals as he was able to manage.
The little hovel, built of thistle-stalks, in which they slept,
neither kent out the wind or rain ; indeed in the latter case the
only effect the roof had, M'as to condense it into larger drops.
They had nothing to eat excepting what ihey could catch, such
as ostriches, deer, armadilloes, &c., and their only fuel was the
dry stalks of a small plant, somewhat 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 neighbouring cliffs, seemed by their very
patience to say, *' Ah ! when the Indians come we shall have a
feast."
In the morning we al sallied forth to hunt, and although we
had not n uch success, there wore some animated chaces. 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 different points of the
3ompass on a plain piece of ground, and thus drive together the
wild animals. One dav I went out hunting at Bahia Blanca,
.833.1 HOSPITALITY. 113
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 tlieir horses
about with the most admirable command, and each man wliirling
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 partridge,* two oi
which are as large as hen pheasants. Their destroyer, a small
and pretty fox, was also singularly numerous ; in the course ol
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 themselves. They had 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'
eg'o's Avould have oriven.
September I4ith. — As the soldiers belonging to the next posta
meant to return, and we should together make a party of five,
and all armed, I determined not to wait for the expected troops.
My host, the lieutenant, pressed me mucli to stop. As he had
been very obliging — not only providing me with food, but lend-
ing me his private horses — I wanted to make him some remu-
neration. I asked my guide whether I might do so, but he told
me certainly not ; that the only answer I should receive, pro-
bably would be, " We have meat for the dogs in our country,
and therefore do not grudge it to a Christian." 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 higli
sense of hospitality, which every traveller is bound to acknow-
ledge as 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
Tapalguen. In some parts there were fine damp plains, covered
with grass, while others had a soft, black, and peaty soil. There
* Two species of Tinamus, and Eudromia elegans of A. d'Orbigny, wMch
can only be called a partridge with regard to its habits.
114 BAIIIA BLAXCA TO LUENOS AYEES. [ch.^f. vi.
neve also many extensive but shallow lakes, and large beds of
reeds. The country on the whole resembled the better parts of
the Cambridg-eshire fens. At night we had some difficulty in
finding, amidst the swamps, a dry place for our bivouac.
September \6th. — Rose very early in the morning, and shortly
after passed the posta where the Indians had murdered the five
soldiers. The officer had eighteen cliuzo wounds in his body.
By the middle of the day, after a hard gallop, we reached the
fifth posta : on account of some difficulty 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 armadilloes 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 brilliant conflagra-
tions. This is done partly for the sake of puzzling any stray
Indians, but chiefly for improving the pasture. In grassy plains
unoccupied by the larger ruminating quadrupeds, it seems neces-
sary to remove the superfluous vegetation by fire, so as to render
the new year's growth serviceable.
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 ol
the wind. It was situated on the borders of an extensive but
shallow lake, swarming with wild fowl, among which the black-
necked swan was conspicuous.
The kind of plover, ^hich appears as if mounted on stilts,
(Himantopus nigricoUis) is here common in flocks of -consi-
derable size. It has been wrongfully accused of inelegance ;
when wading about in shallow water, which is its favourite
resort, 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 chace : waking in the night, I have more than
once been for a moment startled at the distant sound. Th«
teru-tero (Vanellus cayanus) is another bird, which often dis-
turbs the stillness of the night. In appearance and habits it
resembles in many respects our peewits ; its wings, however, art
armed with sharp spurs, like those on tlie legs of the common
cock. As our peewit take.s its name from the sound of its voice,
183.3.J A VIOLENT HAIL-STORM. 1 15
80 docs the teru-tero. While riding over the grassy plains, one
is constantly pursued by these birds, which appear to hate man-
kind, and I am sure deserve to be hated for their never-ceasing,
unvaried, harsh screams. To the sportsman they are most an-
noying, by telling every other bird and animal of his approach :
to the traveller in the country, they may possibly, as Molina
says, do good, b}^ warning him of the midnight robber. During
the breeding season, they attempt, like our peewits, by feigning
to be wounded, to draw away from their nests dogs and other
enemies. The eggs of this bird are esteemed a great delicacy.
September I6th. — To the seventh posta at the foot of the Siena
Tapalguen. The country was quite level, with a coarse herbage
and a soft peaty soil. The hovel was here remarkably neat, the
posts and rafters being made of about a dozen dry thistle-
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, wliich 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 number of the wild animals. One of the men had
already found thirteen deer (Cervus campestris) lying dead, and
I saw their fresh 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 running 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 witli a pavingrstone. A fence of thistle-
stalks round the hovel was nearly broken down, and my in-
former, 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 hist
niurht's bivouac a dense cloud and lio-htnins^ 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,
116 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUEXOS AYKES. [chap. vi.
however, to have its credibility supported by the Jesuit Drobriz-
hofFer,* who, speaking of a country much to the northward,
says, hail fell of an enormous size and killed vast numbers oi
cattle : the Indians hence called the place Lalegraicavalca y
meaning " the little white things." Dr. Malcolmson, also, in-
forms me that he witnessed in 1831 in India, a hail-storm, whicli
killed numbers of large birds and much injured the cattle.
Tiiese hail-stones were flat, and one was ten inches in circum-
flM-ence, and another weighed two ounces. They ploughed up a
gravel-walk like musket-balls, and passed through glass-windows,
making round holes, but not cracking them.
Having finished our dinner of hail-stricken meat, we crossed
the Sierra Tapalguen ; a low range of hills, a few hundred iiiQt
in height, which commences at Cape Corrientes. The rock in
this part is pure quartz ; further eastward I understand it is gra-
nitic. 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 sedimentary 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 dia-
meter, and encompassed by perpendicular clifis between thirty
and forty feet high, excepting at one spot, where the entrance
lies. Falconerf gives a curious account of the Indians driving
troops of wild 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 stratification. I was told
that the rock of the " Corral" was white, and would strike fire.
We did not reach the posta on the Eio Tapalguen till after it
was dark. At supper, from something which was said, I was
suddenly struck with horror at thinking that I was eating one of
rhe favourite dishes of the country, namely, a half-formed calf,
long before its proper time of birth. It turr 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
* History of the Abipones, vol. ii. p. 6.
f Falconer' s Patagonia, p. 70.
fSin.l MEAT DIET. 117
colour, taste, and flavour." Such certainly is the case with the
Puma. The Gauchos differ in their opinion, whether the Ja-
guar is good eating, but are unanimous in saying that cat is ex-
cellent.
September 17 th. — We followed the course of the Eio Tapal-
guen, through a very fertile country, to the ninth posta. Tapal-
guen itself, or the town of Tapalguen, if it may be so called,
consists of a perfectly 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 Eosas, 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 oi
health. Besides the toldos, there were three ranchos ; one in-
liabited by the Commandant, and the two others by Spaniards
with small shops.
We were here able to buy some biscuit. I had now been
several days without tasting any thing besides meat : I did not
at all dislike this new regimen ; but I felt as if it would only
have aofreed 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 Gaucho in
the Pampas, for months together, touches nothing but beef.
But they eat, I observe, a very large proportion of fat, which is
of a less animalized nature ; 'and they particularly dislike dry
meat, such as that of the Agouti. Dr. Richardson,* also, has
remarked, " tliat w'hen 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 unmixed 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 voluntarily pursued a party
of Indians for three days, without eating or drinking.
We saw in the shops many articles, such as horsecloths, belts,
* Fauna Boreali- Americana, vol. i. p. 35,
118 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYEES. [chap, ri
and garters, ^voven by the Indian -women. The patterns were
very pretty, and the colours brilliant ; the workmanship of the
garters was so good that an English merchant at Buenos Ayres
maintained they must have been manufactured in England, till
he found the tassels had been fastened by split sinew.
September ISth. — AYe had a very long ride this day. At the
twelfth posta, which is seven leagues south of tlie Kio Salado,
we came to the first estancia with cattle and white women.
Afterwards we had to ride for many miles through a country
flooded with water above our horses' knees. By crossing the
stirrups, and riding Arab-like with our legs bent up, we con-
trived to keep tolerably dry. It was nearly dark when we
arrived 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.
"VYe slept at one of the great estancias of General Rosas. It was
fortified, and of such an extent, that arriving in the dark 1
thouG:ht it was a town and fortress. In the mornin2r we saw
immense herds of cattle, the general here having seventy-four
square leagues of land. Formerly nearly three hundred men
were employed about this estate, and tliey defied all the attacks
of the Indians.
September \9(h. — 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 green, with beds of
clover 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 Salado. 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 diflTerence 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 observed in the prairies* of !North
America, where coarse grass, between five and six feet high.
* See Mr. Atwater's account of the Prairies, in Silliman's X. A. Jcnraal.
voL i. p. 117.
!«;«.] THE CARDOON. 119
when grazed by cattle, changes into common pasture land. I
am not botanitjt enough to say whether the change here is owing
to the introduction of new species, to the altered grow^th of the
same, or to a difference in their proportional numbers. Azara
iias also observed with astonishment this change : he is likewise
much perplexed by the immediate appearance of plants not oc-
curring in the neighbourhood, 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 dcs routes pour deposer leurs excremens, dont on trouve
(les monceaux dans ces end roits." Does this not partly explain
the circumstance ? We thus have lines of richly-manured land
servinir 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
(Cynaiu cardunculus)| has a far wider range : it occurs in these
latitudes on both sides of the Cordillera, across the continent.
I saw it in unfrequented spots in Chile, Entre Rios, and Banda
Oriental. In the latter country alone, very many (probably
several hundred) square miles are covered by one mass of these
{)rickly plants, and are impenetrable by man or beast. Over the
undulating plains, where these great beds occur, nothing else
can now live. Before their introduction, however, the surface
must have supported, as in other parts, a rank herbage. I
doubt whether any case is on record of an invasion on so grand
a scale of one plant over the aborigines. As I have already
said, I nowhere saw the cardoon south of the Salado ; but it is
* Azara's Voyage, vol. i. p. 373.
t M. A. d'Orbigny (vol. i. p. 474) says that tke cardoon and artichol;e are
both found wild. Dr. Hooker (Botanical Magazine, vol. Iv. p. 2S62), has
described a variety of the Cynara from this part of South America under
the name of inerniis. He states that botanists are now generally agreed that
the cardoon and the artichoke are varieties of one plant. I may add, that an
intelligent farmer assured me that he had observed in a deserted garden
some articliokes changing into the common cardoon. Dr. Hooker believis
that Head's vivid description of the thistle of the Pampas applies to the car-
doon ; 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 difTerent from the
eardoon ; and more like a thistle properly so called.
120 BAIHA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYEES. \cuav. vt.
probable that in proportion as that country becomes inhabited,
the carcloon will extend its limits. The case is different with
the giant thistle (with variegated Ic/aves) of the Pampas, for 1
met with it in the valley of the Sauce. According to the
principles so well laid down by Mr. Lyell, few countries have
undergone more remarkable changes, since the year 1535, when
the first colonist of La Plata landed with seventy-two horses.
The countless herds of horses, cattle, and sheep, not only have
altered the whole aspect of the vegetation, but they have almost
banished the guanaco, deer, and ostrich. Kumberless other
changes must likewise have taken place ; the w ild pig in some
parts probably replaces the peccari ; packs of wild dogs may be
heard howling on the w^ooded banks of the less frequented streams ;
and the common cat, altered into a large and fierce animal, in-
habits rocky hills. As M. d'Orbigny has remarked, the increase
in numbers of the carrion-vulture, since the introduction of the
domestic animals, must have been infinitely great ; and we have
given reasons for believing that they have extended their southern
range. Ko doubt many plants, besides the cardoon 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 v/aters of the river.
While changing horses at the Guardia several people ques-
tioned us much about the army, — I never saw any thing like the
enthusiasm for Rosas, and for the success of the " most just of
all wars, because against barbarians." This expression, it must
be confessed, is very natural, for till lately, neither man, woman,
nor horse, was safe from the attacks of the Indians. "\Ve had a
long day's ride over the same rich green plain, abounding with
various flocks, and with here and there a solitary estancia, and
its one ombu tree. In the evening it rained heavily : on arriv-
ing 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. AYhen he read, however, my
passport, which began with '' El Naturalista Don Carlos," his
respect and civility were as unbounded 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.
1833.1 THE GREAT COREAL. 121
September 20th. — AVe arrived by the middle of the day at
Buenos Ayres. The outskirts of the city looked quite pretty,
with the agave hedges, and groves of olive, peach, and willow
trees, all just throwing out their fresh green leaves. I rode to
the house of Mr. Lumb, an English merchant, to whose kind-
ness and hospitality, during my stay in the country, I was greatly
indebted.
The city of Buenos Ayres is large ;* and I should think one
of the most regular in the world. Every street is at right angles
to the one it crosses, and the parallel ones being equidistant, tlie
houses are collected into solid squares of equal dimensions, which
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 fiat
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 general assemblage of buildings possesses consider-
able architectural beauty, although none individually can boast
of any.
The great corral, w^here 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
any where 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 turn-
ing to receive the shock, stands so firmly that the bullock is
almost thrown down, 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 bullock's extended
neck. In a similar manner a man can hold the wildest horse, if
caught with the lazo, just behind the ears. When the bullock
has been dragged to the spot where it is to be slaughtered, thf
matador with great caution cuts the hamstrings. Then is given
* It is said to contain 60,000 inhabitants. Monte Video, the second towt
of importance on the banks of tlie Plata, has 1 5,C00.
122 BUENOS AYRES. [chap. vi.
the death bellow ; a noise more expressive 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 horrible and revolting : the ground is
almost made of bones ; and the horses and riders are drenched
with gore.
•.833.J EXCURSION TO ST. FE'. 123
CHAPTER VII.
Excursion to St. Fe— Thistle Beds— Habits of the Bizcacha— Little Owl-
Saline Streams — Level Plains — INIastodon — 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-tail — Revolution— Buenos Ayres — State of Government.
BUEXOS AYRES TO ST. FE .
September 27th.-^J7J the evening I set out on an excursion to
St. Fe, Mhicli is situated nearly three hundred English miles
from Buenos Ayres, on the banks of the Parana. The roads in
the neighbourhood of the city, after the rainy weather, were
extraordinarily bad. I should never have thought it possible
for a bullock waggon to have crawled along: as it was, they
scarcely went at the rate of a mile an hour, and a man was kept
aliead, to survey the best line for making the attempt. The
bullocks were terribly jaded : it is a great mistake to suppose
that with improved roads, and an accelerated rate of travelling,
the sufferings of the animals increase in the same proportion.
We passed a train of waggons and a troop of beasts on their
road to IMendoza. The distance is about 580 geographical miles,
and the journey is generally performed in fifty days. These wag-
gons are very long, narrow, and thatched 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 intermediate pair, a point projects at right angles
from the middle of the long one. The whole apparatus looked
like some implement of war.
Septemhej^ 28ih. — We passed the small town of Luxan, where
there is a wooden bridg-e over the river — a most unusual conve-
nience in this country. We passed also Areco. The plains
PAMPAS. !cu\F. vii
appeared level, but were 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 clover, or of the great thistle. The
latter, well known from the animated description given by Sir
F. Head, were at this time of the year two-thirds grown ; in
i?ome parts they were as high as the horse's back, but in others
they had not yet sprung up, and the ground w£^ 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. AYhen the thistles are full grown, the great 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 rob-
bers were numerous, I was answered, " The thistles are not up
yet ;" — the meaning of which reply was not at first very obvious.
There is little interest in passing over these tracts, for they are
inhaluted by few animals or birds, excepting the bizcacha and
its friend the little owl.
The bizcacha* is well known to form a prominent feature in
the zoology of the Pampas. It is found as far south as the Ilio
Negro, in lat. 41% but not beyond. It cannot, like the agouti,
subsist on the gravelly and desert plains of Patagonia, but pre-
fers a clayey or sandy soil, which produces a different and more
abundant vegetation. Kear Mendoza, at the foot of the Cordil-
lera, it occurs in close neighbourhood with the allied alpine spe-
cies. It is a very curious circumstance in its geographical dis-
tribution, that it has never been seen, fortunately for the inha-
bitants of Banda Oriental, to the eastward of the river Uru-
guay : yet in this province there are plains which appear admira-
bly adapted to its habits. The Uruguay has formed an insuper-
able obstacle to its migration ; although the broader barrier of
t!ie Parana has been passed, and the bizcacha is common in
Eutre Rios, the province between these two great rivers. Kear
Buenos Ay res these animals are exceedingly common. Their
* The bizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus) somewhat resembles a large
rabbit, but with blgaer 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 sent to England for the sake of the fur.
1833.] THE BIZCACHA. 13B
most favourite resort appears to be those parts of the plain uhich
during one half of the year are covered with giant thistles, to
the exclusion of other plants. The Gauchos affirm tliat it lives
on roots; which, from the great strength of its gnawing teeth,
and the kind of places frequented by it, seems probable. In the
evening the bizcachas come out in numbers, and quietly sit at
the moutlis of their burrows on their haunches. At such times
they are very tame, and a man on horseback passing by seems
only to present an object for their grave contemplation. They
run very awkwardly, and when running out of danger, from
their 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 ; namely, 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 irregular
heap, which frequently amounts to as much as a wheelbarrow
would contain. I was credibly informed that a gentleman, when
riding on a dark night, dropped his Match ; he returned in the
morning, and by searching the neighbourhood of every bizcacha
hole on the line of road, as he expected, he soon found it. Tliis
habit of picking up whatever may be lying on the ground any
where near its habitation, must cost much trouble. For what
purpose it is done, I am quite unable to form even the most re-
mote conjecture : it cannot be for defence, 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. Tlie only fact which I know analogous to
it, is the habit of that extraordinary Australian bird, the Calo-
dera maculata, 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 co-
loured ones. Mr. Gould, who has described these facts, in-
forms 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 often
126 PAMPAS, [chap. vii.
mentioned, on the plains of Buenos Ayres e.\clu>ively inhabits
the holes of the bizcacha ; but in Banda Oriental it is its own
workman. During the open day, but more especially in the
evening, these birds may be seen in every direction standing fre-
quently by pairs on the hillock near their burrows. If disturbed
they either enter the hole, or, nttering a shrill harsh cry, move
with a remarkably undulatory flight to a short distance, and
then turning round, steadily gaze at their pursuer. Occasionally
in the evening they may be heard hooting. I found in the sto-
machs 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 species killed among the islets of the Chonos Archipelago,
had its stomaj[;li 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 Arrecife 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 \vas but little fatigued.
When Captain Head talks of riding fifty leagues a day, I do
not imagine the distance is 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.
29tA 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 crossed the Saladillo, a stream of fine clear running w^ater,
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 great lake, if it were not for the linear-
shaped islets, which alone give the idea of running water. The
cliffs are the most picturesque part ; sometimes they are abso-
lutely perpendicular, and of a red colour ; at other times in large
* Journal of Asiatic See, vol. v. p. 363.
18-1.3.1 KIO TERCERO. V>:
broken masses, covered with cacti and mimosa-trees. The real
grandeur, liowever, of an immense river like this, is derived
from reflecting how important a means of communication and
commerce it forms between one nation and anotiier ; to wliat a
distance it travels ; and from how vast a territory it drains tlun
■great body of fresh water M'hich flows past your feet.
For many leagues north and south of San Nicolas and Eoza-
rio, the country is really level. Scarcely anything \\hich travel-
lers have written about its extreme flatness, can be considered as
exaggeration. Yet I could never find a spot where, by slowly
turning round, objects were not seen at greater distances in some
directions than in others ; and this manifestly proves inequality
in the plain. At sea, a person's eye being six feet above the
surface of the water, his horizon is two miles and four-fifths dis-
tant. In like manner, the more level the plain, the more nearly
does the horizon approach within these narrow limits ; and this,
in my opinion, entirely destroys that grandeur which one would
have imagined that a vast level plain would have possessed.
October 1st. — We started by moonlight and arrived at the
l\io Tercero by sunrise. This river is 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.
Besides a perfect tooth of the Toxodon, and many scattered
bones, 1 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 1 could only bring
away small fragments of one of the great molar teeth ; but these
are suflicient to show that the remains belonged to a Mastodon,
probably to the same species with that, which formerly nnist have
inhabited the Cordillera in Upper Peru in such great numbers.
The men who took me in the canoe, 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 mastodon was formerly a
burrowing animal ! In the evening we rode another stage, and
crossed the Monge, another brackish stream, bearing the dregs
of tlie washings of the Pampas.
October 2nd. — We passed through Corunda, which, from the
luxuriance of its gardens, uas one of the prettiest villages I saw.
128 ST. FE'. [chap. VII.
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
mimosas. We passed some houses that had been ransacked and
since deserted ; we saw also a spectacle, which my guides viewed
with high satisfaction ; it was the skeleton of an Indian with the
dried skin hanging on the bones, suspended to the branch of a
tree.
In the morning we arrived at St. Fe. I was surprised to
observe how great a change of climate a difference of only three
degrees of latitude between 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 — tlie number of
new cacti and other plants — and especially from the birds. In
the course of an hour I remarked half-a-dozen birds, which I had
never seen at Buenos Ayres. Considering that there is no natural
boundary between the two places, and that the character of the
country is nearly similar, the difference was much greater than I
should have expected
October Srd and 4th. — I was confined for these two davs to
my bed by a headach. A good-natured 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? he
will answer, " I had a headach the day before yesterday." Many
of the remedies used by the people of the country are ludicrously
strange, but too disgusting to be mentioned. Gne 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 gooa
order. The governor, Lopez, was a common soldier at the time
of the revolution ; but has now been seventeen years in power.
I833.J GEOLOGY OF THE PAMPAS. 129
This stability of government is owing to his tyrannical habits ;
for tyranny seems as yet better adapted to these countries than
republicanism. The governor's favourite occupation is Imnting
Indians : a short time since he slaughtered forty-eiglit, and sold
the chiklren 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 passage 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 oitl
Catalonian Spaniard, who treated me with the most uncommon
hospitality. The Bajada is the capital of Entre Rios. In 1825
the town contained 6000 inhabitants, and the province 30,000 ;
yet, few as the inhabitants are, no province has suffered more from
bloody and desperate revolutions. They boast here of repre-
sentatives, ministers, 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 myself in ex-
amining the geology of the surrounding country, which was very
interesting. AVe here see at the bottom of the cliffs, beds contain-
ing sharks' teeth and sea-shells of extinct species, passing above
into an indurated marl, and from that into the red clayey earth
of the Pampas, with its calccireous concretions and the bones of
terrestrial quadrupeds. This vertical section clearly tells us of a
large bay of pure salt-water, gradually encroached on, and at last
converted into the bed of a muddy estuary, into which floating
carcasses were swept. At Puuta Gorda, in Banda Oriental, I
found an alternation of the Pampcean estuary deposit, with a
Ihnestone containing some of the same extinct sea-shells ; and
this shows either a change in the former currents, or more pro-
bablv an oscillation of level in the bottom of the ancient estuarv.
Until lately, my reasons for considering the Pampeean formation
to be an estuary deposit were, its general appearance, its position at
the mouth of the existing great river the Plata, and the prescnctj
of so many bones of terrestrial quadrupeds : but now Profes:5(j3
130 ST. FE. I CHAP. vit.
Ehrenberg has had the kindness to examine for me a little of the
rod earth, taken from low down in the deposit, close to the
skeletons of the mastodon, and he finds i;i it many infusoria,
partly salt-water and partly fresh-water forms, with the latter
rather preponderating ; and therefore, as he remarks, the water
must liave been brackish. M. A. d'Orbigny found on the banks
of tlie Parana, at the height of a hundred feef, great beds of an
estuary shell, now living a hundred miles lower down nearer t!ie
sea ; and I found similar shells at a less height on the banks of
tlie Uruguay ; tliis shows that just before the Pampas was slow])'
elevated into dry land, the water covering it was brackish.
Below Buenos Ayres there are upraised beds of sea-shelks of
existing species, which also proves that the period of elevation
of the Pampas was within the recent period.
In the Pampaean deposit at the Bajada I found the osseous armour
of a gigantic armadillo-like animal, the inside of which, when the
earth was removed, 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 greatly interested
me,* and I took scruDulous care in ascertaininof- tliat it had been
embedded contemporaneously with the other remains ; 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 tlien 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 com-
paring it with my specimen found here : he has named thiy
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 Kved and disappeared, to be succeeded
in after ages by the countless herds descended from the few
introduced with the Spanish colonists !
The existence in South America of a fossil horse, of the
mastodon, possibly of an elephant,! and of a hollow-horned
* I ueed hardly state here that there is good evidence against jny horee
living in America at the time of Columbus,
•f Cuvier, Ossjmens Fossiles, torn. i. p. 158.
1833.J ZOOLOGY OF NORTH AND SOUTH AruEKICA. 131
ruminant, discovered by MM. Lund and Clausen in tlie caves of
Brazil, are highly interesting* facts with respect to the geo-
graphical distribution of animals. At the present time, if we
divide America, not by the Isthmus of Panama, but by the
soutliern part of Mexico* in lat. 20^, where the great table-land
presents an obstacle to 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
tlien 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 considered as wander-
ers from the south, such as the puma, opossum, kinkajou, and pec-
cari. South America 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 in-
cludes the sloths, ant-eaters, and armadillos. North America,
on tlie other hand, is characterized (putting on one side a few
wandering species) by immerous peculiar gnawers, and by four
genera (tlie ox, sheep, goat, and antelope) of hollow-horned
ruminants, of which ^reat division South America is not known
to possess a single species. Formerly, but within the period
when most of the now existing shells were living. North
America possessed, besides hollow-horned ruminants, the ele-
phant, mastodon, horse, and three genera of Edentata, namely,
the Megatherium, Megalonyx, and Mylodon. Within nearly this
same periods (as proved by the sliells at Bahia Blanca) South
America possessed, as we ha^e just seen, a mastodon, horse,
hollow-horned ruminant, and the same three genera (as well as
several others) 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.
* This is the geograpliical division followed by Lichtenstcin, Swaiiison,
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 Report on the Zoology of N. America read before the Brit. Assoc.
1836 (p. 157), talking of the identification of a Mexican animal with the
Siputheres pre/iensilis, 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 Noitli and South America.'
132 ST. FE. [CKAP. VII
The more I reflect on this case, the more interesting it appears :
I know of no other instance where we can ahiiost ma,rk the
period and manner of the splitting- up of one great region into
two well-characterized zoological provinces. The geologist, who
is fully impressed with the vast oscillations of level wliich have
affected the earth's crust within late periods, will not fear to
speculate on the recent elevation of the Mexican platform, oi-,
more probably, on the lecent submergence of land in the West
Indian Archipelago, as the cause of the present zoological sepa-
ration of IS'orth and South America. The South American
character of the AVest 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 hollow-horned ruminants, it was
much more closely related in its zoological characters to the
temperate parts of Europe and Asia than it now is. As the
remains of these genera are 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
communication between the Old and so-called New World. And
as so many species, both living and extinct, of these same genera
inliabit 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 Beh-
ring's Straits, from Siberia into North America, and thence, on
land since submerged in the West Indies, into South America,
wliere for a time they mingled with the forms characteristic of
that southern continent, and have since become extinct.
While travellino: throug;-h the countrv, I received several vivid
descriptions of the effects of a late great drought ; and the
account of this may throw some light on the cases where vast
* See Dr. Richardson's Eeport, p. 157; also L'Institut, 1837, p. 253.
Cuvier says the kinkajou is found in the larger Antilles, hut this is doubtful.
M Gervais states that the Didelphis crancrivora is found there. It is certain
thiit the West Indies possess some mammifers peculiar to themselves. A tooth
of a mastodon has been brought from Bahama : Edin. New Phil. Journ,
132G, p. 395.
t See the admirable Appendix by Dr. Buckland to Beechey's Voyage
also the writings of Chamisso m Kotzebue's Voyag<}.
1S33.] THE GREAT DROaOHT. 133
numbers of animals of all kinds have been embedded together.
The period included between the years 1827 and 1830 is called
the " gran seco," or the great drought. During this time so
little rain fell, that the vegetation, even to the thistles, failed ;
the brooks were dried up, and the wliole country assumed the
appearance of a dusty high road. This was especially the case
in the northern part of the province of Buenos Ayres and the
southern part of St. Fe. Very great numbers of birds, wild
animals, cattle, and horses perished from the want of food and
water. A man told me that the deer* used to come into his
courtyard to the w^ell, which he liad been obliged to dig to supply
his ou n family 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 proprietor at San Pedro had pre-
viously to these years 20,000 cattle ; at the end not one re-'
mained. San Pedro is situated in the middle of the finest
country ; 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 government com-
mission was sent from 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
tiie landmarks became obliterated, 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
* In Capt. 0^yen'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, in a body, to possess themselves of the wells, not being able to procure
any water in the country. The inhabitants mustered, when a desperate
con diet ensued, which terminated in the ultimate discomfiture of the in-
vaders, 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. Mal-
colmson informs me, that during a great drought in India the wild animals
entered the tents of some troops at EUore. and that a hare drank out of a
vessel held by the adjutant of the rej^^iment.
134 ST. FE. [CHAP. VII.
drowned. The arm of the river which runs by San Pedro was
so full of putrid carcasses, tliat the master of a vessel told me
that the smell rendered it quite impassable. Without doubt
several hundred thousand animals thus perished in the river:
tlieir bodies vrhen 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 caused
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 arrived first being overwhelmed and
crushed by those which followed. He adds that more than once
he has 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 gradual 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 the very next year. What would be
the opinion of a geologist, viewing such an enormous collection
of bones, of all kinds of animals and of all ages, thus embedded
m 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 ?!
October \2th. — I had intended to push my excursion further,
but not being quite well, I was compelled to return by a
balandra, or oiie-masted vessel of about a hundred tons' burden,
which was bound to Buenos Ayres. As the weather was not
fair, we moored early in the day to a branch of a tree on one of
the islands. The Parana is full of islands, which undergo a con-
stant round of decay and renovation. In the memory of the
master several large ones had disappeared, and others again had
been formed and protected by vegetation. Tliey are composed
of muddy sand, without even the smallest pebble, and were then
* Travels, vol. i. p. 374.
t These droughts to a certain degree seem to be ahiiost periodica. ; I
vas told the dates of several others, and the intervals were about fiiiseu
years.
1833.1 HABITS OF THE JAGUAR. 135
about four feet above the level of the river ; but durins: the
periodical floods they are inundated. They all present one cha-
racter ; numerous willows and a few other trees are bound to-
gether by a great variety of creeping plants, thus forming a thick,
jimgle. These thickets afford a retreat for capybaras and
jaguars. The fear of the latter animal quite destroyed all plea-
sure in scrambling through the w^oods. 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 Indios" 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 capybara, 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 the 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 building 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 necks. If driven from the carcass, they seldom
return to it. The Gauchos say that the jaguar, when 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
generally affirmed of the jackals accompanying, in a similarly
officious manner, the East Indian tiger. The jaguar is a noisj
un'mal, roaring much by night, and especially before bad weather.
13G KIO PARANA. [chap. vii.
One day, when hunting; on the banks of the Uruguay, I was
shown certain trees, to which these animals 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. The scars were of different ages. A common
method of ascertaining whether a jaguar is in the neighbourhood
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 outstretched 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 common to the puma, for on the bare hard soil
of Patagonia I have frequently seen scores so deep that no other
animal could have made them. The object of this practice is, I
believe, to tear off the ragged points of their claws, and not, as
tlie 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 with bullets.
Owing: to bad weather we remained two davs at our moorings.
Our only amusement was catching fish for our dinner : there
were several kinds, and all good eating. A fish called the
" armado" (a Silurus) is remarkable from a harsh grating noise
which it makes when caught by hook and line, and which can be
distinctly heard when the fish is beneatli the water. This same fish
has the power of firmly catching hold of any object, such as the
blade of an oar or the fishing-line, w^ith the strong spine both of
its pectoral and dorsal fin. In the evening the weather was quite
tropical, the thermometer standing at 79°. Numbers of fireflies
were hovering about, and the musquitoes were very troublesome.
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 loth. — "We got under way and passed Punta Gorda,
where there is a colony of tame Indians from the province of
Missiones. We sailed rapidly down the current, but before
runset, from a silly fear of bad weather, we brought-to in a nar-
row arm of the river. I took tlie boat and rowed some distanep
1833.] TilE SCISSOR-BEAK. 137
up this creek. It was very narrow, winding, and deep ; on each
side a wall thirty or forty feet high, formed by trees intwined
with creepers, give to the canal a singularly gloomy appearance.
I here saw a very extraordinary bird, called the Scissor-beak
(Rhynchops nigra). It lias short legs, web feet, extremely long-
pointed wings, and is of about the size of a tern. The beak is
flattened laterally, that is, in a plane at right angles to that of a
spoonbill or 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, generally in small flocks, flying rapidly backwards
and forwards close to the surface of the lake. They kept tlielr
bills wide open, and the lower mandible half buried in the
water. Thus skimming the surface, 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 narrow wake on
tlie mirror-like surface. In their flight they frequently t\vi<t
about with extreme quickness, and dexterously manage with their
projecting lower mandible to plougli 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 backwards and forwards close before me. Occasionally when
leaving the surface of the water their flight was wild, irregular,
and rapid ; they then uttered loud harsh 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.
138 mo PARANA. [chap. vii.
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 marshes. During the day they rest in
Hocks en the grassy plains, at some distance from the water.
Being at anchor, as I have said, in one of the deep creeks be-
tween 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 continued
for a long time to skim the surface, flying in its wild and irre-
gular manner up and down the narrow canal, now dark with the
g'rowinof- nioht and the shadows of the overhan2:ing 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 grassy plains near the Parana ; and every
evening they took flight seaward. From these facts I suspect
that the Rhynchops generally fishes by niglit, 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 mactrce buried in the sand-banks on the coast of Chile :
from their weak bills, with the lower mandible so much project-
ing, their short legs and long wings, it is very improbable that
tliis can be a general habit.
In our course down the Parana, I observed only three other
birds, whose habits are worth mentioning. One is a small king-
fisher (Ceryle Americana) ; it has a longer tail than the European
species, 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 arrow, is weak and undulatorv, as among the soft-billed
birds. It utters a low note, like tiie clicking together of two
small stones. A small green parrot (Conurus murinus), 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.
These parrots always live in flocks, and commit great ravages on
the corn-fields. I was told that near Colonia 2500 were killed
in the course of one year. A bird with a forked tail, terminated
by two long feathers (Tyrannns savana), and named by the
Spaniards scissor-tail, is very common near Buenos Ayres : it
commotdv sits on a branch of tlie omhu tree, near a Louse, and
1833.] RIO PARANA. 139
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 caricature-likeness of the com-
mon swallow. It has the power of turning very shortly in the
air, and in so doing opens and shuts its tail, sometimes in a
horizontal or lateral and sometimes in a vertical direction, just
like a pair of scissors.
October IQth. — Some leagues below Ivozario, the M'estern
shore of tlie Parana is bounded by perpendicular cliffs, wliich
extend in a long line to below San Nicolas ; hence it more
resembles a sea-coast than that of a fresh-water river. 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 channels 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 " hombre 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 years in this
country. He professed a great liking to the English, but stoutly
maintained that the battle of Trafalgar was merely won by the
Spanish captains having been all bought over ; and that the only
really gallant action on either side was performed by the Spanish
admiral. It struck me as rather characteristic, that this man
should prefer his countrymen being thought the worst of traitors,
ratlier than unskilful or cowardly.
I8ih a?id \9tJi. — We continued slowly to sa'l down the noble
stream : the current helped us but little. We met, during our
descent, very few vessels. 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 navigate from a temperate
country, as surprisingly abundant in certain productions as desti-
tute of others, to anotlier possessing a tropical climate, and a soil
which, according to the best of judges, M. Bonpland, is perhaps
unequalled in fertility in any part of the world. How different
140 KEVOLUTIOrN AT BUENOS AYEES. [niA!-. vit.
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, violent in proportion to the previous un-
natural calm. That country will have to learn, like every other
South American state, that a republic cannot succeed till it con-
tains 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. Uj^on landing,
I found to my great surprise that I was to a certain degree a
prisoner. A violent revolution having broken out, all the ports
were laid under an embargo. I could not 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 obtained per-
mission to go the next day to General Rolor, who commanded a
division of the rebels on this side the capital. In the morning
I rode to the encampment. The general, officers, and soldiers,
all appeared, and I believe really were, great 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
great sweep round the city, and it was with much difficulty that
we procured horses. My reception 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 mentioned, 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-
\bb3.] DEVOLUTION AT BUENOS AYRES 141
fcinels. J was too glad to accept of this, and an officer was sent
with me to give directions that I should not be stopped at the
oridge. The road for the space of a league was quite deserted,
I met one party of soldiers, who were satisfied by gravely look-
ing 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,
being elected for three years — it would be very unreasonable to
ask for pretexts. In this case, a party of men — who, being at-
tached to I\osa5, were disgusted with the governor Balcarce — to
the number of seventy left the city, and with the cry of Rosas
the whole country took arms. The city was tiien 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 plans of his party. A year ago he was elected governor, but
he refused it, unless the Sala would also confer on him extra-
ordinary 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 1 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 military, 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 king, the
people in this, as in other republics, 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.
142 BANDA ORIENTAL. [chap, viii
CHAPTER VIII.
Eycursioa to Colonia dd Sacramiento — Value of aa Estancia — Cattle,
how counted — Singular Breed of Oxen — Perforated Pebbles — Shep-
herd Dogs — Horses Broken-in, Gauchos Riding — Character of In-
habitants— Rio Plata — Flocks of Butterflies — Aeronaut Spiders — Phospho-
rescence 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.
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
towni in a state of blockade must always be a disagreeable place
of residence ; in this case moreover there were constant appre-
hensions from robbers within. The sentinels 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 very 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 prepared for a short excursion in this part of
Banda Oriental. Everything which I have said about the 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 there are a few hedge-
banks, covered with agaves, cacti, and fennel.
November \A.th. — We left Monte Video in the afternoon. I
intended to proceed to Colonia del Sacramiento, situated on tlie
aortliern bank of the Plata and opposite to Buenos Ayres, and
thence, following w.\ the Uruguay, to the village of Mercedes on
1833.] BANDA ORIENTAL. Hi
the Eio Negro (one of the many rivers of this name in Soutli
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 Iiopes 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 m.outh, and I was surprised to observe how easily
our hon^es, 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
horses, being wrecked in the Plata, one horse swam seven miles
to the shore. In the course of the day I was amused by the dex-
terity with which a Gaticho forced a restive horse to swim a
river. lie stripped ofFIiis clothes, and jumping on its back, rode
into the water till it was out of its depth ; then slipping off over
the crupper, 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, tlie man pulled 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 ferried 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 letter-carrier arrived. He was a day
after his time, owing to tlie Rio Ilozario being flooded. It
would not, however, be of much consequence ; for, although he
had passed through some of the principal towns in Banda
Oriental, his luggage consisted of two letters ! The view from
the house wa.s pleasing ; an undulating green surface, with dis-
tant glimpses of the Plata. I find that I look at this province
with very different eyes from what I did upon my first arrival. I
recollect I then thought it singularly level ; but now, after gal-
loping over the Pampas, my only surprise is, what could have
144 BANDA OKIENTAU [chap. vm.
induced me ever to have called it level. The country is a series
of undulations, in themselves perhaps not absolutely great, 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 llth. — Vfe crossed the Kozario, which was deep
and rapid, and passing the village of Colla, arrived at mid-day
at Colonia del Sacramiento. The distance is twenty leagues,
through a country covered with fine grass, but poorly stocked
with cattle or inhabitants. I was invited to sleep at Colonia,
and to accompany on the following day a gentleman to his estan-
cia, 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 suffered much in the Brazilian war. It is very an-
cient ; and the irregularity of the streets, and the surrounding
groves of old orange and peach trees, gave it a pretty appear-
ance. 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 light-
ning and gunpowder. In the evening I wandered about the
half-demolished walls of the town. It was the chief seat of the
Brazilian war ; — a war most injurious to this country, not so
much in its immediate effects, as in being the origin of a multi-
tude of generals and all other grades of officers. More generals
are numbered (but not paid) in the United Provinces of La
Plata 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 disturbance and to. overturn a government which as
yet has never rested on any stable foundation. I noticed, how-
ever, both here and in other places, a very general interest in
the ensuing election for the President ; and this appears a good
sign for the prosperity of this little country. The inhabitants
do not require much education in their representatives ; 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
isas.] CURIOUS BREED OF OXExN. l45
all sig-n their names :" with this they seemed to think everj
reasonable man ought to be satisfied.
ISth. — Rode with my host to his estancia, at the Arroyo d«j
San Juan. In the evening M^e took a ride round the estate : it
contained two square leag-ues and a half, and was situated in
svhat is called a rincon ; that is, one side was fronted by the
Plata, and the two others guarded by impassable brooks. There
\vas an excellent port for little vessels, and an abundance of
.^mall 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 threo or four
times that number; of mares &00, together with 150 broken-in
horses, and 600 sheep. There was plenty of water and lime-
stone, a rough house, excellent corrals, and a peach orchard.
For all this he had been offered 2000/., and he only wanted 500Z.
additional, and probably would sell it for less. The chiei
trouble with an estancia is driving tlie cattle twice a week to a
central spot, in order to make iheiii tame, and to count them.
This latter operation would be tliought 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 peculiarly marked animals, and its number is known :
so that, one being lost out of ten thousand, it is perceived by its
absence from one of the tropillas. During a stormy night the
cattle all mingle together ; but the next morning the tropillas
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 niata. They appear exter-
nally to hold nearly 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 corresponding 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 carry their
hfads low, on a short neck ; and their hinder legs are rather
longer compared with the front legs than is usual. Their bare
146 BAND A ORIENTAL. [chap, viil
teeth, their short heads, and upturned 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 College 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 Ay res. 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 molested.
It is a singular fact that an almost similar structure to the ab-
normal f one of the niata breed, characterizes, as I am informed
by Dr. Falconer, that great extinct ruminant of India, the Siva-
therium. The breed is ybty true ; and a niata bull and cow
invariably produce niata calves. A niata bull with a common
cow, or the reverse cross, produces oflfepring having an interme-
diate character, but with the niata characters strongly displayed :
according to Senor Muniz, there is the clearest evidence, con-
trary to the common belief of agriculturists in analogous cases,
that the niata cow when crossed with a common bull transmits
her peculiarities more strongly than the niata bull when crossed
with a common cow. AVhen the pasture is tolerably long, the
niata cattle feed with the tongue and palate ab "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,
* 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 hereditary, struc-
iTire has been observed in the carp, and likewise in the crocodile of tho
Ganges: Histoire des Anomalies, par M. Isid. Geoffroy St. Ililaire, torn. i.
P. 244.
28.'33.J CONVERSATION OF THE INHABITANTS. 147
on what circumstances, occurring only at long intervab, the
rarity or extinction of a species may be determined.
November \9th. — Passing the valley of Las Yacas, 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 pro-
jecting 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 t/»
sharpen their claws ; but we did not succeed in disturbing one.
From this point the Rio Uruguay presented to our view a noble
volume of water. From the clearness and rapidity of the stream,
its appearance was far superior to that of its neighbour the Pa-
rana. On the opposite coast, several branches from the latter
river 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 towards Mercedes
on the Rio Negro. At night we asked permission to sleep at an
estancia at which we happened to arrive. It was a very large
estate, being ten leagues square, and the owner is one of the
greatest 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 expressed, 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 country
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 boias :" tlje
idea of an enclosed country was quite new to them. The cap-
tain 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 trem-
bled to think how deeply scientific it would be : it was, " Whe-
ther the ladies of Buenos Ayres were not the handsomest in the
world," I replied, like a renegade, " Charmingly so." He
added, " I have one other question : Do ladies in any other
part of the world wear such large combs?" I solemnly assured
»48 BANDA OUiEXTAL. [ouap. viii
him that they did not. They were absolutely delighted. The
captain exclaimed, " Look there ! a man who has seen half the
world says it is the case ; we alwaj^s thought so, but now we
know it." My excellent judgment in combs and beauty pro-
cured me a most hospitable reception ; the capiain forced me to
take his bed, and he would sleep on his recado.
21^^. — Started at sunrise, and rode slowly during the whole
day. The geological nature of this part of the province was
different from the rest, and closely resembled that of the Pam-
pas. In consequence, *^here were immense beds of the thistle,
as well as of the cardoon : the whole country, indeed, may be
called one great bed of these plants. The two sorts grow sepa-
rate, each plant in company 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 entirely, closed. Pasture, of course there is none ;
if cattle or horses once enter the bed, they are for the time com-
pletely 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
tliese districts there are very few estancias, and these few are
situated in the neighbourhood of damp valleys, where fortu-
nately neither of these overwhelming plants can exist. As night
came on before we arrived at our journey's end, we slept at a
miserable little hovel inhabited by the poorest people. The ex-
treme though rather formal courtesy of our host and hostess,
considering their grade of life, was quite delightful.
November 22nd. — Arrived at an estancia on the Berquelo be-
longijig to a very hospitable Englishman, 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 Negro. 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 annual export of hides from Monte Video amounts
to three hundred thousand ; and the home consumption, froiu
1333.] HILL OF BEADS. U9
^ r -L^ — — .^ ■■■■■II ■ ■ I ■ .. ■ V ■ I . ■ ■■>■.<■■>■■■■ I - ^ - .. ft ■■■■ r. . _ .F^
waste, is very considerable. An estanciero told nie that he often
had to send large herds of cattle a long journey to a salting esta-
blishment, 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 precipitous cliff: a belt of wood followed its course,
and the horizon terminated in the distant undulations 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 north-
ward. The name signifies hill of beads. I was assured that
vast numbers of little round stones, of various colours, each
M'ith a small cylindrical hole, are found there. Formerly the
Indians used to collect them, for the purpose of making neck-
laces and bracelets — a taste, 1 may observe, which is common to
all savage nations, as well as to the most polished. I did not
know what to understand from this story, but upon mentioning
it at the Cape of Good Hope to Dr. Andrew Smith, he told 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 attrition, 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 lialf in
length. Many of them had a small canal extending from one
extremity to the other, perfectly cylindrical, and ofasizetliat
readily admitted a coarse thread or a piece of fine catgut. Their
colour was red or dull white. The natives were acquaintetl
with this structure in crystals. I have mentioned these circum-
stances 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 this estancia, I wos amused with what I saw
and heard of the shepherd-dogs of the country.* When riding,
* M. A. d'Orbigny has given nearly a similar account of these dogs,
torn. i. p. 1 TT).
150 BANDA ORIEx\TAL. [ctiap. viit.
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 puppy, while very young, from the bitch, and in accustom-
ing it to its future companions. An 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, 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 advances 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 if 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
strano-er. The minute, however, the latter has reached the
flock, he turns round and begins to bark, and then all the house-
dog's take very quickly to their heels. In a similar manner a
whole pack of the hungry 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 ap-
pears to me a curious instance of the pliability of the affections
in the dog ; and yet, whether wild or however educated, he has a
feeling of respect or fear for those that are fulfilling their in-
stinct of association. For we can understand on no principle
the wild dogs being driven away by the single one with its flock,
except that they consider, from some 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 menber of theil
i833.j BREAKING-IN WILD HOKSES. 151
own society, and thus fulfil their instinct of association. In the
above case the shepherd-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 tlie
purpose of brea-king-in some colts. I will describe the prepara-
tory steps, for I believe they have not been mentioned by other
travellers. A troop of wild young horses is driven into the
corral, or large enclosure of stakes, and the door is shut. AVe
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 G audio, such a feat would be utterly impracticable. The
Gaucho picks out a full-grown colt; and as the beast rushes
round the circu?, 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, with-
out 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 clob-ely together with a strong leathern thong, fastened 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
outside the corral. If a second man is present (otherwise tlie
trouble is much greater) he holds the animal's head, whilst the
first puts on the horsecloths and saddle, and girths the whole to-
gether. During this operation, the horse, from dread and asto-
nishment 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 saddling 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
stirrup, so that the horse may not lose its balance ; and at the
152 BAND A ORIEXTAL. lCHAp. viii.
moment that he throws his leg over the aiiimars back, lie pulls
the slip-knot binding- the front legs, and the beast is free. Some
'• domidors" puU tiie knot while the animal is lying on the
ground, and, standing over the saddle, allow him to rise beneath
them. The horse, wild with dread, gives a few most violent
bounds, and then starts off at full gallop: when quite exhausted,
the man, by patience, brings him back to the corral, where,
reeking hot and scarcely alive, the poor beast is let free. Thost;
animals which will not gallop away, but obstinately throw them-
selves on tlie ground, are by far the most troublesome. This
process is tremendously severe, but in two or three trials tlie
horse is tamed. It is not, however, for some weeks that the
animal is ridden with the iron bit and solid ring, for it must
learn to associate the will of its rider with the feel of the rein,
before the most powerful bridle can be of any service.
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 scarcely known. One day, riding in the Pampas
with a very respectable " Estanciero," my horse, being tired,
lagged behind. Tlie man often shouted to me to spur him.
When I remonstrated that it was a pity, for the horse was quite
exhausted, he cried out, "Why not? — never mind — spur him
— it is my horse." I Iiad then some difficulty in making him
comprehend that it was for the horse's sake, and not on his ac-
count, that I did not choose to use my spurs. He exclaimed,
with a look of great surprise, " Ah, Don Carlos, que cosa !" It
was clear that such an idea had never before entered his head.
The Gauchos are well known to be perfect riders. The idea
of being thrown, let the horse do what it likes, never enters their
head. Their criterion 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 seeinq;
a Gaucho riding a very stubborn horse, which three times suc-
cessively reared so high as to fall backwards 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
1333.] HORSEMANSHIP IN CHILE. 153
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 careless on your
scat, you must fall." At this moment, a male ostrich sprang
from its nest right beneath the horse's nose : the young coll
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 mouth of the
horse than in La Plata, and this is evidently a consequence of
the more intricate nature of the country. In Chile a horse is
not considered perfectly broken, till he can be brought up stand-
ing, in the midst of his full speed, on any particular spot, — for
instance, on a cloak thrown on the ground : or, again, he will
charge a wall, and rearing, 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 court-
yard, and then made to wheel round the post of a veranda with
great speed, but at so equal a distance, that the rider, with out-
stretched arm, all the while kept one finger rubbing the post.
Then making a demi-volte in the air, with the other arm out-
stretched in a like manner, he wheeled round, with astonishing
force, in an opposite direction.
Such a horse is well broken ; and although this at first may
appear useless, it is far otherwise. It is only carrying that
M'hich 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
strain, 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 in-
stantly, from the power of the two opposed animals, almost cut
him in twain. On the same principle the races are managed ;
tlie course is only two or three hundred yards long, the wish
being to have horses tliat can make a rapid dash. The race-
horses are trained not only to stand with their hoofs touchmg a
line, but to draw all four fett together, so as at the first spring
to bring into plaj the full action of the hind-quarters. In Chile
154 BANDA ORIENTAL. [chap. viii.
1 was told an anecdote, which I believe was true ; and it offers
.1 good illustration of the use of a well-broken animal. A re-
i*pectable 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 drawing
their sabres and giving chace. The man, on his good and fleet
beast, kept just ahead : as he passed a thick bush he wheeled
round it, and brought up his horse to a dead check. The pur-
suers were oblifjed to shoot on one side and ahead. Then in-
stantly 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 horseman hip
t\vo 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 P^nglish spurs, the slightest touch of which pricks the skin,
it would be impossible to break in a horse after the South Ame-
rican fashion.
At an estancia near Las Yacas large numbers of mares arc
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
thinof for which I ever saw mares used, was to tread out wheat
from the ear ; for which purpose they were driven round a cir-
cular enclosure, where the wheat-sheaves were strewed. The
man employed for slaughtering the mares happened to bo cele-
brated for his dexterity with the lazo. Standing at the distance of
twelve vards from the mouth of the corral, he has laid a waijer
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, fasten her front legs
together, drive her out, throw her down, kill, skin, and stake the
iiide for drying (which latter is a tedious job) ; and he engaged
that he would ])erform this whole operation on twenty-two ani-
mals in one day. Or he Avould kill and take the skin off" fifty in
the same time. This would hjive been a prodigious task, for it is
1853.] iJKMAilNS OF THE TOXODON. 155
considered a good day's work to skin and stake the hides of fifteen
or sixteen animals.
November 26f/{.—l set out on my return in a direct line for
Monte Video. Having heard of some g-iant's bones at a n^igji-
bouring farm-house on the Sarandis, a small stream entering thn
Rio Negro, I rode there accompanied by my host, and purchaseu
for the value of eighteen pence the head of the Toxodon.* 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, embedded by itself on the
banks of the Rio Tercero, at the distance of about 180 mile?
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 JMylodon.
The bones of this head are so fresh, that they contain, accord-
ing to the analysis by Mr. T. Reeks, seven 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
estuary deposit which forms the Pampas and covers the granitic
rocks of Banda Oriental, must be extraordinarily 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 siiort 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
marvellous property of certain rivers, which had the power of
changing small bones into large ; or, as some maintained, the
bones thcnselves grew. 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 tiieir bones have been
exposed by the streams intersecting the subaqueous deposit in
which they were originally embedded. AYe may conclude that
the whole area of the Pampas is one v.ide sepulchre of these
extinct gigantic quadrupeds.
* I must express my obligation to Mr. Keano, at whose house I was staying
on the Berquelo, and to Mr. Lunib at Buenos Ayres, for without their
assistance these vahiable remains would never have reached England.
i56 BANDA ORIEXTi^L. [chap. viii.
By the middle of the day, on the 28th, we arrived at Monte
Video, havins" been two davs and a half on the road. The
country for the whole way was of a very uniform character,
some parts being rather more rocky and hilly than near
tiie Plata. Not far from Monte Video we passed througli
tiie villaofe of Las Pietras. so named from some largre rounded
masses of syenite. Its appearance was rather pretty. In this
country a few fig-trees round a group of houses, and a site ele-
vated a hundred feet above the general level, ought always to be
called picturesque.
During the last six months I have had an opportunity of seeing
a little of the character of the inhabitants of these provinces.
The Gauchos, or countrymen, are very superior to those who
reside in tiie 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 hana, many robberica are committed, and there is much
bloodshed : the habit of constantly wearing the knife is the cliief
cause of the latter. It is lamentable to hear how many lives are
lost in trifling quarrels. In fighting, each party tries to mark
the face of his adversary by slashing his nose or eyes ; as is often
attested by deep and horrid-looking scars. Robberies are a
natural consequence 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 ; tlie
)ther that he was too poor. The number of horses and the pro-
fusion of food are the destruction of all industry. Moreover,
there are so many feast-diiys ; and again, nothing can succeed
without it be begun when the moon is on the increase; so that
half the month is lost from these two causes.
Police and justice are quite inefficient. 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 inliabitants of the country invariably assist a murderer
to escape : they seem to think that the individual sins against the
;.n)vernment, and not against the people. A traveller has no pro-
1833.] STATE OF SOCIETY. 157
tection besides his fire-arms ; and the constant habit of carrying
them is the main check to more frequent robberies.
The character of the his/her and more educated classes wlio
reside in the towns, partakes, but perhaps in a lesser degree, of the
g-Qod parts of the G audio, but is, I fear, stained by many vices of
which he is free. Sensuality, mockery of all religion, and the
grossest corruption, are far from uncommon. Nearly every
public officer can be bribed. The head man in the post-office
sold forged government franks. The governor and prime minister
openly combined to plunder the state. Justice, where gold came
into play, was hardly expected by any one. I knew an English-
man, who went to the Chief Justice (he told me, that not then
understanding 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 arrest
before a certain time a man wlio 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 the 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 officers, the people yet hope that a de-
mocratic form of government can succeed !
On first entering society in these countries, two or three
features strike one as particularly remarkable. 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
major at Lahia 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 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
gentlemen by profession appears to an Englishman something
strange.
When speaking of these countries, the manner in which they
153 mo PLATA. [CHAP. VI 11.
have been brought up by their unnatural parent, Spain, should
always be borne in mind. On the whole, perhaps, more credit
is due for what has been done, than blame for tliat which may be
deficient. It is impossible to doubt but that the extreme liberalism
of tliese countries must ultimately lead to good results. The very
g-eneral toleration of foreign religio'iis, the regard paid to the
means of education, the freedom of the press, the facilities
offered to all foreigners, and especially, as I am bound to add, to
every one professing the humblest pretensions to science, should
be recollected with gratitude by those who have visited Spanish
South America.
Decemher Gth. — 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 proceedino-
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 or 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 butterflies.
The seamen cried out " it was snowing butterflies," and such in
fact was the ap{>earance. More species than one were present,
but the main part belonged to a kind very similar to, but not
identical with, the common Eno:lish 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 Carabidge 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 voluntarily 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, Vanessa cardui ;*
* Lyell's Principles of Geology, vol. iii. p. 63.
1833.] FLOCKS OF BUTTERFLIES. 159
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 pelagic 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 in-
jured by the salt water. I lost some of the specimens, but those
wliich I preserved belonged to the genera Colymbetes, Hydropo-
rus, Hydrobius (two species), Notaphus, Cynucus, Adimonia, and
Scarabteus. At first I thought that these insects had been blown
from the shore ; but upon reflecting that out of the eight species
four were aquatic, and two others partly so in their habits, it ap-
peared to me most probable that they were floated into the sea
by a small stream which drains a lake near Cape Corrientes. On
any supposition it is an interesting circumstance to find live insects
swimming 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 observed 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 grasshoj)per (Acrydium), which flew on board,
when the Beagle was to windward of the Cape de Verd Islands,
and when the nearest 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 attention to this subject. The weather had been fine
and clear, and in the morning the air was full of patches of tlie
flocculent web, as on an autumnal day in England. The ship
* The flies which frequently accompany a ship for some days on ita
passage from harbour to harbour, wandering from the vessel, are soon lost,
and all disappear.
8
160 RIO PLATA [chap, viil
was sixty miles distant from the land, in the direction of a steady
though light breeze. Vast numbers of a small spider, about one-
tentli of an inch in length, and of a dusky red colour, were attached
to the webs. There must have been, I should suppose, some
thousands on the ship. The little spider, when first coming in
contact with the rigging, was always seated on a single thread,
and not on the flocculent mass. This latter seems merely to be
produced by the entanglement 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, running about, sometimes letting itself
fall, and then reascending the same thread ; sometimes employing
itself in making a small and very irregular 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 con-
sequence of the little insect having passed through a dry and rare-
fied atmosphere? Its stock of web seemed inexhaustible. While
watching some that were suspended by a single thread, I several
times observed that the slightest breath of air bore them away
out of sight, in a horizontal line. On another occasion (25th)
under similar circumstances, I repeatedly observed the same kind
of small spider, either when placed or having crawled on some
little eminence, elevate its abdomen, send forth a thread, and then
sail away horizontally, but with a rapidity which was quite un-
accountable. I thought I could perceive that the spider, before
performing the above preparatory steps, connected its legs toge-
ther with the most delicate threads, but I am not sure whether
this observation m as 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 Citigrade (therefore quite different from the gossamer), while
standing on the summit of a post, darted forth four or five threads
183:i.J AERONAUT SPIDERS. Kil
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 ascend-
ing 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 circum-
stances, the atmosphere 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 th« 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 the lines, renders it probable
that the habit of sailino: throu2:h 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 : althoiigli,
as we have seen, the young of other spiders do possess the power
of performing aerial voyages.*
During our different passages south of the Plata, I often towed
astern a net made of bunting, and thus caught many curious ani-
mals. Of Crustacea there were many strange and undescribed
genera. One, which in some respects is allied to the Notopods
(or those crabs which have their posterior 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 terminating in a simple
claw, ends in three bristle-like appendages of dissimilar lengths —
* Mr. Blackball, in his Researches in Zoology, ha.s many excellent ob-
servations on the habits of spiders.
1&2 ATLANTIC OCEAN. [chap. viii.
the longest equalling that of the entire leg. These claws are
very thin, and are serrated with the finest teeth, directed back-
wards : 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 crea-
tures is extremely small : south of the latitude 35°, I never suc-
ceeded in catching anything besides some beroe, and a few species
of minute entomostracous Crustacea. In shoaler water, at the
distance of a few miles from the coast, very many kinds of Crus-
tacea and some other animals 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 Ento-
mostraca. Yet whales and seals, petrels and albatross, are ex-
ceedingly 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 putrid whale lasts for a long time. The central and inter-
tropical parts of the Atlantic swarm with Pteropoda, Crustacea,
and Radiata, and with their devourers the flying-fish, and again
with their devourers the bonitos and albicores ; I presume that
the numerous lower pelagic animals feed on the Infusoria, 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 ?
While sailing a little south of the Plata on one very dark
night, the sea presented a wonderful and most beautiful spec-
tacle. There was a fresh breeze, and every part of the sur-
face, which during the day is seen as foam, now glowed with
a j)ale light. The vessel drove before her bows two billows
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 iiorizon, from the re-
flected glare of these livid flames, was not so utterly obscun.'
as over the A'ault of the heavens.
IRr.n.] PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE SEA. 163
As we proceed further southward the sea is seldom phospho-
rescent ; and off Cape Horn I do not recollect more than once
having seen it so, and then it was far from being brilliant. This
circumstance 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 superfluous on my part to make any observations on the
subject. 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 hemisphere, to be the
common cause of this phenomenon. The particles were so
minute as easily to pass tlirough fine gauze ; yet many were dis-
tinctly 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 scarcely 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 during one night, I allowed it to become
partially dry, and having occasion twelve hours afterwards to
employ it again, I found the whole surface sparkled as brightly
as when first taken out of the water. It does not appear pro-
bable in this case, that the particles 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 scintillate with bright green sparks,
I believe it is generally 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 luminous at con-
siderable 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 water, passed
* An abst'.act is given in No IV. of the Magazine of Zoology and
Ifotany.
164 PORT DESIRE. [chap. vm.
over, without disturbing these patches. Therefore we must sup-
pose that some animals were congregated together at a greater
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 expected
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 frequency and rapid-
ity of the flashes. I have already remarked that the phenome-
non is very much more common in warm than in cold countries ;
and I have sometimes imagined that a disturbed electrical con-
dition 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 common cases is produced by the
agitation of the fluid in contact with the atmosphere, I am in-
clined 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
purified.
December 23rd. — We arrived at Port Desire, situated in lar.
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
character. 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 composed of well-rounded shingle mixed with a wliitisli
earth. Here and there scattered tufts of brown 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
obscured. When standing in the middle of one of those desert
Ibys.J SPANISH SETTLEMENT. 165
plains and looking towards the interior, the view is generally
bounded by the escarpment of another plain, rather higher, but
equally level and desolate; and in every other direction the hori-
zon is indistinct from the trembling mirage which seems to rise
from the heated surface.
In such a country the fute of the Spanish settlement was soon
decided ; tiie dryness of the climate during the greater part of
the year, and the occasional hostile attacks of the Avandering
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 attempts to colonize this side of America
south of 41°, have been miserable. Port Famine expresses by its
name the lingering and extreme sufferings of several hundred
wretched people, of whom one alone survived to relate their mis-
fortunes. 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 P'lora.* On the
arid plains 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 val-
leys a few finches and insect-feetlers. An ibis (Theristicus me-
lanops— a species said to be found in central Africa) is not
uncommon on the most desert parts : in their stomachs I found
grasshoppers, cicadas, small lizards, and even scorpions- '\ At
one time of the year these birds go in flocks, at another ii pairs ;
their cry is very loud and sinoular, like the neighing of the
g;;anaco
* I found here a species of cactus, described by Professor Henslow, under
the name of Opuntia Dartiinii (Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. i.
p. 466), -which was remarkable by the irritability of the stamens, -when I
inserted either a piece of stick or the end of my finger in the flower. The
sogTnents of the perianth also closed on the pistil, but more slowly than the
stamens. Plants of this family, generallj' considered as tropical, occur in North
America (Lewis and Clarke's Travels, p. 221), in the same high latitude
as here, namely, in both cases, in 47°.
t These insects were not uncommon beneath stones. I found one cannihal
v.orpiou quietly devouring another.
J66 PORT DESir.E. Tchap. titi.
The guanaco, or wild llama, is the characteristic quadrupeJ
of the plains of Patagonia ; it is the South American represent-
ative of the camel of the Eas 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 con-
tinent, as far south as the islands near Cape Horn. It generally
lives in small herds of from half a dozen to thirty in each ; but
on the banks of the St. Cruz we saw one herd which must have
contained 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 longdistance their peculiar shrill neighing note of alarm.
If he then looks attentively, he will probably see the herd stand-
ing in a line on the side of some distant hill. On approaching
nearer, a few more squeals are given, and off they set at an ap-
parently 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 motionless 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 ? Do they mistake a man in
the distance for their chief enemy the puma ? Or does curiosity
overcome their timidity ? That they are curious is certain ; 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 reconnoitre him. It was an artifice that was
repeatedly 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 performance. On the moun-
tains of Tierra del Fuego, I have more than once seen a guanaco,
Dn being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but prance and
leap about in the most ridiculous manner, apparently in defiance
as 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
1833.J HABITS OF THE GUANACO. 1G7
bold, and readily attack a man by striking him from behind with
both knees. It is asserted that the motive for these attacks is
jealousy on account of their females. The wild guanacos, how-
ever, 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 horseback, they
soon become bewildered, and know not which way to run. This
greatly facilitates the Indian 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 tliey were seen swimming from island to island.
Byron, in his voyage, says he saw them drinking salt water.
Some of our officers 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 together ; two
one day passed quite close to me, squealing and trying to bite
each other ; and several were shot with their hides deeply scored.
Herds sometimes 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
approaching the sea, for they had wheeled w ith the regularity of
cavalry, and had returned back in as straight a line as they liad
advanced. The guanacos have one singular habit, which is to
me quite inexpliL'able ; namely, that on successive days they
drop their dung in the same defined heap. I saw one of these
lieaps w hich 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 favourite spots for lying down
to die. On the banks of the St. Cruz, in certain circumscribed
spaces, which were generally bushy and all near the river, the
ground was actually white with bones. On one such spot I
168 PATAGONIA. [chap. viii.
counted between ten and twenty heads. I particularly examined
the bones ; they did not appear, as some scattered ones which 1
had seen, gnawed or broken, as if dragged together by beasts of
prey. The animals in most cases nmst iiave crawled, before
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 wounded guana-
cos at the St. Cruz invariably walked towards the river. At
St. Jago in the Cape de Verd islands, I remember having seen
in a ravine a retired corner 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 trifling circumstances, be-
cause in certain cases they might explain the occurrence of a
number of uninjured 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.
One day the yawl was sent under the command of Mr. Chaffers
with three days' provisions to survey the upper part of the har-
bour. In the morning we searched for some watering-places
mentioned in an old Spanish chart." AVe found one creek, at the
head of which there was a trickling rill (the first we had seen)
of brackish >yater. 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 resem-
bling chalk in appearance, but verj'^ different from it in nature.
From the softness of these materials it was worn into many
gulleys. 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 vividly 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.*
* Shelley, Lines on M. Blauc,
1834.] INDIAN GRAVE. 169
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 tlie 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 insigni
ficant in size, it would be difficult to account for its origin,
except from the melting snow on the Cordillera. At the spot
where we bivouacked, we were surrounded by bold cliffs 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 grave 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
fragment, 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 grave must have been of extreme
antiquity), for I found in another place some smaller heaps,
beneath which a very few crumbling fragments could yet bf;
distinguished as having belonged to a man. Falconer states,
that wliere 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 in-
troduction of horses, these Indians must have led nearly the
same life as the Fuegians now do, and therefore generally have
resided in the neighbourhood of the sea. The common prejudice
of lying where one's ancestors have lain, would make the now
170 PORT ST. JULIAN. [chap. viii.
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 country is nearly similar to that
of Port Desire, but perhaps rather more sterile. One da}'^ 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 exhausted. 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 atmos-
phere ; 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, during 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 Co-
lymbetes not quite dead, which must have lived in some not far
distant pool. Three other insects (a Cincindela, like hyhrida,
a Cymindis, and a Harpalus, which all live on muddy flats occa-
sionally overflowed by the sea), and one other found dead on the
plain, complete the list of the beetles. A good-sized fly (Ta-
banus) was extremely 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 frequently occurs in the case of mus-
quitoes — 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. Differently from
Europe, where the tertiary formations appear to have accu-
mulated in bays, here along hundreds of miles of coast we have
one great deposit, including many tertiary shells, all apparently
extinct The most common shell is a massive gigantic oyster.
1834.1 GEOLOGY OF PATAGONIA. 17j
Bometinies even a foot in diameter. These beds are covered by
others of a peculiar soft white stone, including much gypsum,
and resembling chalk, but really of a pumiceous nature. It is
highly remarkable, from being composed, to at least one-
tenth part of its bulk, of Infusoria : Professor Ehrenberg ha*;
already ascertained in it tliirty oceanic forms. This bed extends
for 500 miles along the coast, and probably for a considerably
srreater 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 Eio Colorado to be-
tween 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 extends 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 great bed of pebbles, with-
out including the mud necessarily derived from their attrition,
was piled into a mound, it would form a great mountain chain !
When we consider that all these pebbles, countless as the grains
of sand in the desert, have been derived from the slow falling of
masses of rock on tlie old coast-linee and banks of rivers ; and
that these fragments have been dashed into smaller pieces, and
that each of them has since been slowly 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, subsequently to the
deposition of the white betls, and long subsequently to the under-
lying 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 Pata-
gonia to a height of between 300 and 400 feet), within the period
of the now existins;' 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,forn\ing at successive levels the long lines of
IT2 GEOLOGY OP PATAGONIA. [chap, viil
cliffs or escarpments, which separate the different plains as they
rise like steps one behind the other. The elevatory 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 corresponding
heights at far distant points. The lowest plain is 90 feet high ;
and the highest, whiiph I ascended 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 S. Cruz slopes up to a height
of 3000 feet at the foot of the Cordillera. I have said that
within the period of existing sea-shells Patagonia has been up-
raised 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 affected only by upward movements : the
extinct tertiary shells from Port St. Julian and Santa Cruz cannot
have lived, according to Professor E. Forbes, in a greater depth
of water than from 40 to 250 feet ; but they are now covered
with sea-deposited strata from 800 to 1000 feet in thickness :
hence the bed of the sea, on which these shells once lived, must
luive sunk downwards several hundred feet, to allow of the accu-
nuilation of the superincumbent strata. AVhat a history of geo-
logical changes does the simply -constructed coast of Patagonia
reveal !
At Port St. Julian *, in some red mud capping the gravel
on tlie 90-feet plain, I found half the skeleton of the Macrau-
«;henia Patachonica, a remarkable quadruped, full as large as a
camel. It belongs to tlie same division of the Pachydermata with
the rhinoceros, tapir, and palseotherium; but in the structure of the
bones of its long neck it shows a clear relation to the camel, or
rat her 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 before the mud was deposited in
which the Macrauchenia was intombed, it is certain that this
curious quadruped lived long after the sea was inhabited by its
* I have lately heartl that Capt, Sulivan, E.N., has found numerous fossil
bones, embedded iu regular strata, on the banks of the R. 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 dis-
covery.
1834.] TYPES OF ORGANIZATION CONSTANT. 17?
present shells. I was at first much surprised how a large quad-
ruped could so lately have subsisted, in lat. 49° 15', on these
wretched gravel plains with their stunted vegetation ; but the
relationship of the Macrauchenia to the guanaco, now an inha-
bitant of the most sterile parts, partly explains this difficulty.
The relationship, though distant, between the Macrauchenia
and the Guanaco, between the Toxodon and the Capybaj-a, —
the closer relationship between the many extinct Edentata and
the living sloths, ant-eaters, and armadillos, now so eminently
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 Europe 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 quadru-
peds now inhabiting the provinces in which the caves occur ;
and the extinct species are much more numerous than those now
living : there are fossil ant-eaters, armadillos, tapirs, peccaries,
guanacos, opossums, and numerous South American gnawers and
monkeys, and other animals. This wonderful relationship in the
same continent between 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 disappearance from it, tlian any
other class of facts.
It is impossible to reflect on the changed state of the American
continent without the deepest astonishment. Formerly it mu.st
have swarmed with great monsters : now we find mere pigmies,
compared with the antecedent, allied races. If BufFon 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 power,
rather than that it had never po.ssessed great vigour. The
greater number, if not all, of these extinct quadrupeds lived at
a late period, and were tlie contemporaries of most of the exist-
ing sea-shells. Since they lived, no ver}^ great 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 irre-
174 CAUSES OF EXTINCTION. [chap. viii.
sistibly hurried into the belief of some great catastrophe ; but
thus to destroy animals, both large and small, in Southern Pata-
gonia, 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 examination, moreover, of the geology of La
Plata and Patatronia, leads to the belief that all the features of
tlie 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 tempera-
ture, which at about the same time destroyed the inhabitants of
tropical, temperate, and arctic latitudes on both sides of the
globe. In North America we positively know from Mr. Lyell,
that the large quadrupeds lived subsequently to that period, when
boulders were brought into latitudes at which icebergs now never
arrive : from conclusive but indirect reasons we may feel sure,
that in the southern hemisphere the Macrauchenia, also, lived
long subsequently to the ice-transporting boulder-period. Did
man, after his first inroad into South America, destroy, as has
been suggested, the unwieldy Megatherium and the other Eden-
tata ? We must at least look to some other cause for the destruc-
tion 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 ? Did those plains fail of pasture, which have since been
overrun by thousands and hundreds of thousands of the descend-
ants of the stock introduced by the Spaniards ? Have the subse-
quently introduced species consumed the food of tlie great ante-
cedent races ? Can we believe that the Capybara has taken the
food of the Toxodon, the Guanaco of the Macrauchenia, the ex-
isting small Edentata of their numerous gigantic prototypes?
Jl.^ertainly, no fact in the long history of the world is so startling
as the wide and repeated exterminations of its inhabitants.
Nevertheless, if we consider the subject under another point cA
1834.] CAUSES OF EXTINCTION. 175
view, it will appear less perplexing. AYe do not steadily bear in
mind, how profoundly ignorant we are of die conditions of exi.^t-
ence of every animal ; nor do we always remember, 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 average, remains constant ; yet the tendency in every animal to
increase by propagation is geometrical ; and its surprising effects
have nowhere been more astonishingly shown, than in the cai^e
of the European animals run wild during the last few centuries
in America. Every animal in a state of nature regularly breeds ;
yet in a species long established, any great increase in numbers is
obviously impossible, and must be checked by some means. "VVe
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, asain, that one should be abundant in one district, and
another, filling the same place in the economy of nature, should
be abundant in a neighbouring district, differing very little in its
conditions. If asked how this is, one immediately replies that
it is determined by some slight difference in climate, food, or the
number of enemies : yet how rarely, if ever, we can point out
the precise cause and manner of action of the check ! We are,
therefore, driven to the conclusion, that causes generally quite
inappreciable by us, determine whether a given species shall be
abundant or scanty in numbers.
In the cases where we can trace the extinction of a species
throuf'^h 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 * between a species
destroyed 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 remarked by several able observe} s ;
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
* See the excellent remarks on this subject by Mr. Lyell, in his Vv'wi-
ciples of (jleology.
176 CAUSES OF EXTINCTION. [chat. viii.
extinct. If then, as appears probable, species first become rare
and then extinct — if the too rapid increase of every species, even
the most favoured, 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 dis-
trict— why should we feel such great astonishment at the rarity
being carried a step further to extinction ? An action going on,
on every side of us, and yet barely appreciable, might surely be
carried a little further, without exciting our observation. Who
would feel any great surprise at hearing that the Megalonyx was
formerly rare compared 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 evidence of less favourable conditions
for their existence. To admit that species generally become
rare before they become extinct — to feel no surprise at the com-
parative rarity of one species with another, and yet to call in
some extraordinary agent and to marvel greatly when a species
ceases to exist, appears to me much the same as to admit that
sickness in the individual is the prelude to death — to feel no sur-
prise at sickness — but when the sick man dies to wonder, and
to believe that he died through violence.
183-t.l KXPLOKING THE SAATA CliUZ. 177
CHAPTER IX.
Santa Cruz — Expedition up the River — Indians — Immense streams of
basaltic lava — Fragments not transported by the River — Excavation 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 — Geology — Streams of stones — Scenes of violence — Penguin —
Geese — Eggs of Doris — Compound animals,
SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA, AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS.
April ISth, 1834. — The Beagle anchored within the mouth of
the Santa Cruz. This river is situated about sixty miles south of
Port St. Julian. During the last voyage Captain Stokes pro-
ceeded thirty miles up it, but then, from the want of provisions,
was obliged to return. Excepting what was discovered at that
time, scarcely anything was known about this large river. Gap-
tain Fitz Eoy now determined to follow its course as far as time
would allow. On the 18th tliree whale-boats started, carrvins:
three weeks' provisions ; and the party 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 /light nearly above the tidal influence.
The river here assumed a size and appearance which, even at
the highest point we ultimately reached, was scarcely diminished.
It was generally from three to four hundred yards broad, and in
ihe middle about seventeen feet deep. The rapidity of the cur-
rent, which in its whole course runs at the rate of from four to
six knots an hour, is perhaps its most remarkable feature. The
water 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 pebbles, 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
173 S. CRUZ. PATAGONIA. [chap, ix
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 oppo-
site sides a remarkable correspondence.
April I9th. — Against so strong a current it was, of course,
ijuite impossible to row or sail : consequently 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 arrange-
ments made by Captain Fitz Roy were verj^ good for facilitating
the work of all, and as all had a share in it, I will describe the
sjstem. The party, including 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 independent 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 up 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.
During this day we tracked but a short distance, for there
were many islets, covered by thorny bushes, and the channels
between them were shallow.
April 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 twenty altogether. Beyond the place where we slept last
night, the country is completely terra i?icog??.ifa, for it was there
that Captain Stokes turned back. We saw in the distance a
gi'reat smoke, and found the skeleton of a horse, so we knew that
Indians were in the neighbourhood. On the next morning (21st)
tracks of a party of horse, and marks left by the trailing of the
fJnizos, or long spears, were observed on the ground. It was
generally thought that the Indians had reconnoitred us during
■834. J ZOOLOGY. 179
the night. Shortly afterwards we came to a dpot where, from
the fresh footsteps of men, children, and horses, it was evident
that the party had crossed the river.
April 22d. — The country remained the same, and was ex-
tremely uninteresting-. The complete similarity of the produc-
tions 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, w^ere 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 waterfowl is very scanty ; for there is nothing to support
life in the stream of this barren river.
Patagonia, poor as she is in some respects, can however boast
of a greater stock of small rodents * than perhaps any other
country in the world. Several species of mice are externally
characterized by large thin ears and a very fine fur. These
little animals swarm amongst the thickets in the valleys, 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 abun-
dant, probably derives its entire support from these small animals.
The guanaco is also in his proper 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
almost everywhere on the banks of the river ; and the remains
of several guanacos, with their necks dislocated and bones broken,
showed how they had met their death.
April 24th. — Like the navigators of old when approaching an
unknown land, we examined and watched for the most trivial
* The deserts of Syria are characterized, according to Voluey (torn, i.,
p. 35 1 ), by woody bushes, numerous rats, gazelles, and hares. In ihe land-
scape of Patagonia, the guanaco replaces the gazelle, and the agouti the
iiare
ISO S. CRUZ, PATAGONIA. [chap. ix.
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 remained 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 moun-
tains themselves, instead of the masses of vapour condensed by
liieir icy summits.
April 26th. — 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
liad noticed the presence of a few small pebbles of a very cellular
basalt. I'hese gradually increased in number and in size, but
none were as large as a man's head. This morning, however,
pebbles of the same rock, but more compact, suddenly became
abundant, and in the course of half an hour we saw, at the dis-
tance 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 encumbered with these basaltic masses.
Above that limit immense fragments of primitive rocks, derived
from the surrounding boulder-formation, were equally numerous.
None of the fragments of any considerable 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 reaches occur in any
part, this example is a most striking one, of the inefficiency of
rivers in transporting even moderately-sized fragments.
The basalt is only lava, which has flowed beneath 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 thick-
ness ; following up the river course, the surface imperceptibly
rose and the mass became thicker, so that at forty miles above
tlie first station it was 320 feet thick. What the tiiickness may
be close to the Cordillera, I have no means of knowing, but the
platform there attains a height of about three tliousand feet
above the level of the sea : we must therefore look to the moun-
tains of that great chain for its source ; and worthy of such a source
Are streams, that have flovred over the gently inclined bed of the
1834.] EXCAVATION OF THE VALLEY. I SI
sea to a distance of one hundred miles. At the first glance of
the basaltic cliffs on the opposite sides of the valley, it was evi-
dent that the strata once were united. What power, then, has
removed along a whole line of country, a solid mass of very
hard rock, which had an average thickness of nearly three hun-
dred feet, and a breadth varying from rather less than two miles
to four miles ? 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 formerly occupied by
an arm of the sea. It is needless in this work to detail the argu-
ments leading to this conclusion, derived from the form and the
nature 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 Ame-
rica 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 ? 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 inadmis.«^ible ; because, the same step-like
plains with existing sea-shells lying on their surface, which front
the long line of the Patagonian coast, sweep up on each side of
the valley of Santa Cruz. Ko possible action of any flood
could thus have modelled 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 been hollowed out.
Although we know that there are tides, which run within the
Narrov\ s 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 surf, must have required to have cor-
roded so vast an area and thickness of solid basaltic lava. Ke-
vertlieless, we must believe that the strata undermined by the
waters of this ancient strait, were broken up into huge frag-
Ib2 S. CRUZ, PATAGONIA. [chap, xx
ments, and these lying scattered on the beach, were reduced first
to smaller blocks, then to pebbles, and lastly to the most impal-
pable mud, which the tides drifted far into the Eastern or
Western Ocean.
With the change in the geological structure of the plains tlie
character of the landscape likewise altered. Wliile rambling
up some of the narrow and rocky defiles, I could almost have
fancied myself transported back again to the barren valleys ot
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 reservoir for the scanty rain-water ; and consequently
on the line where the igneous and sedimentary formations unite,
some small springs (most rare occurrences in Patagonia) burst
forth ; and they could be distinguished at a distance by the cir-
cumscribed patches of bright green herbage.
April 21th. — The bed of the river became rather narrower,
and hence the stream more rapid. It here ran at the rate of six
knots an hour. From this cause, and from the many great
angular fmgments, tracking the boats became both dangerous
and laborious.
This day I shot a condor. It measured from tip to tip of the
winjrs, eiijht 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 degrees 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 ; y^et only a few stragglers occasionally visit the sea-
coast. A line of cliff near the mouth of the Santa Cruz is fre-
quented by these birds, and about eighty miles up the river,
where the sides of the valley are formed by steep basaltic pre-
cipices, 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
.831.] THE COXDOK 183
shores of the Pacific, and at night several roost together in one
tree ; but in the early part of summer, they retire to the most in-
accessible 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 montlis of November and December lays two large white
eggs on a shelf of bare rock. It is said that the young condors
cannot fly for an entire year ; and long after they are able, they
continue to roost by night, and hunt by day with their parents.
The old birds generally live in pairs ; but among the inland ba-
saltic cliffs of the Santa Cruz, I found a spot, where scores must
usually haunt. On coming suddenly to the brow of the preci-
pice, 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 gregarious bird. In this
part of the country they live altogether 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 occasions extend their daily excur-
sions to any great distance from their regular sleeping-places.
The condors may oftentimes be seen at a great height, soaring
over a certain spot in the most graceful circles. On some occa-
sions I am sure that they do this only for pleasure, but on others,
the Chileno countryman tells you that they are watching 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 con-
dors frequently attack young goats and lambs ; and the shep-
herd dogs are trained, whenever th§y pass over, to run out, and
looking upwards to bark violently, The Chilenos destroy and
catch numbers. Two methods are used ; one is to place a car-
cass on a level piece of ground within an enclosui"e of sticks with
an opening, and when the condors are gorged, to gallop up on
9
184 S. CRUZ, PATAGONIA. [chap, ix.
horseback to the entrance, and thus enclose them : for when this
bird has not space to run, it cannot give its body sufficient mo-
mentum to rise from the ground. The second method is to mark
the trees in which, frequently to the number of five or six toge-
ther, they roost, and then at night to climb up and noose them.
They are such heavy sleepers, as I have myself witnessed, that
this is not a difficult task. At Valparaiso, 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 carrion. 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 assert that the condor will
live, and retain its vigour, between five and six weeks without
eating : I cannot 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 o\erlooked, that the birds have discovered their
prey, and have picked the skeleton clean, before the flesh is in
the least degree tainted. Eemembering the experiments of M.
Audubon, on the little smelling powers of carrion-hawks, I tried
in the above-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 forw^ards, carrying it in my hand at the
distance of about three yards from them, but no notice whatever
was taken. I then threw^ it on the ground, witliin one yard of
an old male bird ; lie 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 Lmg row began struggling and flapping its
* I noticed that several hours before any one of the condors died, all the
lice, "with which it was infested, crawled to the outside leathers. I was
assured thit this alwavs happened.
1834.] CARRION-VULTURES. 185
wings. Under the same circumstances, it would have been quite
impossible to have deceived a dog. The evidence in favour of and
against the acute smelling powers of carrion- vultures is singu-
larly balanced. Professor Owen has demonstrated that the olfac-
tory nerves of the turkey -buzzaid (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 occa-
sions collect on the roof of a house, when a corpse had become
offensive from not having been buried : in this case, the intelli-
gence could hardly have been acquired by sight. On the other
hand, besides the experiments of Audubon and that one by my-
self, Mr. Bachman has tried in the United States many varied
plans, showing that neither the turkey -buzzard (the species dis-
sected by Professor Owen) nor the gallinazo find their food by
smell. He covered portions of highly offensive 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 inch of the putrid mass, without dis-
covering it. A small rent was made in the canvass, and the offal
was immediately discovered ; the canvass was replaced by a fresli
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. Bachman.*
Often when lying down to rest on the open plains, on looking
upwards, I have seen carrion-hawks sailing through the air at a
great height. Where the country is level I do not believe a
space of the heavens, of more than fifteen degrees above the ho-
rizon, 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 between 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 over-
looked ? When an animal is killed by the sportsman in a lonely
valley, may he not all the while be watched from above by the
sharp-sighted bird ? And will not the manner of its descent
* Loudon's Magazine of Nat. Hist., vol. vii.
186 S. CRUZ, PATAGONIA. [chap, ix,
^M^M^^i^M^"^—^™i*^^M^»^"^»^^^^^— M^i^^^"^— ^^1— I — ^^M^—^i^»^.M ■■ I ^ ■■■■■■■ II I I ■■■HI I Ml. I ■
proclaim throughout the district 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. Except when rising from the
ground, I do not recollect ever having seen one of these birdg
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, descending and ascending without
giving a single flap. As they glided close over my head, I in-
tently watched from an oblique position, the outlines of the sepa-
rate and great terminal feathers of each wing ; and these separate
feathers, if there had been the least vibratory movement, would
have appeared as if blended together ; but they were seen dis-
tinct against the blue sky. The head and neck were moved fre-
quently, and apparently with force ; and the extended wing-s
peemed 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 expanded
with an altered inclination, the momentum gained by the rapid
descent seemed to urge the bird upwards with the even and
steady movement of a paper kite. In the case of any bird soar-
ing^ 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 tiie momentum 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
nmst suppose, is sufficient for this. However this may be, it is
truly wonderful and beautiful to see so great a bird, hour after
hour, without any apparent exertion, wheeling and gliding over
mountain and river.
April 29th. — From some high land we hailed with joy the
whi^e 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 frag-
ments of various ancient slaty rocks, and of granite. The plain
bordering the valley had here attained an elevation of about
iSnv.] TRACES OF INDIANS. 187
1100 feet above the river, and its character ^vas much altered.
The well-rounded pebbles of porphyry were mingled with many
immense angular fragments of basalt and of primary rocks. The
first of these erratic boulders which I noticed, was sixty-seven miles
distant from the nearest mountain ; another which I measured
was five yards square, and projected five feet above the gravel.
Its edges were so angular, and its size so great, that I at first
mistook it for a rock i7i 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 gigantic
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 wdth 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 ap-
peared to have been lying long on the ground. Between the place
where the Indians had so latelv crossed the river and this neig^h-
bourhood, though so many miles apart, the country appears to be
quite unfrequented. At first, considering the abundance 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 chace. 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 e^^e of the
highest lava cliff, and they resembled, but on a small scale, those
near Port Desire.
3Iay 4/A. — Captain Fitz Eoy determined 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 pro-
ceed any further. Everywhere we met with the same produc-
tions, and tlie same dreary landscape. AYe were now one hun-
dred and forty miles distant from the Atlantic, and about sixty
from the nearest 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 Cordillera. But we viewed these grand mountains
188 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [chap, ix
with regret, for we w^ere obliged to imagine their nature and pro-
ductions, 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, althou«-h reallv
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.
oth. — Before sunrise we commenced our descent. We shot
down the stream with great rapidity, generally at the rate often
knots an hour. In this one day we effected what had cost us
five-and-a-lialf hard days' labour in ascending. On the 8th, 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 g^reat tertiarv
formation of Pata^-onia.
On March 1st, 1833, and again on 3Iarch I6th, 1834, the Beagle
anchored in Berkeley Sound, in East Falkland Island. Tliis archi-
pelago is situated in nearly the same latitude with the mouth of
the Strait of Magellan ; it covers a space of one hundred and
twenty by sixty geographical miles, and is a little more than half
the size of Ireland. After the possession of tliese 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 individual, 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 Avas consequently murdered. A British officer
was next sent, unsupported by any power : and when we ar-
rived, 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 undulat-
ing land, with a desolate and wretched aspect, is everjnvhere
covered by a peaty soil and wiry grass, of one monotonous brown
colour. Here and there a peak or ridge of grey quartz rook
breaks through the smooth surface. Every one lias heard of the
climate of these regions ; it may be compared to that whicli is
CHAi'. IX.] HUNTING WILD CATTLE. 189
experienced at the height of between one and two thousand feet,
on the mountains of North Wales; having however less sunsliiuf'
and less frost, but more wind and rain.*
IGth. — I will now describe a short excursion which I made
round a part of this island. In the morning I started with six
horses and two Gauchos: the latter were capital men for the
purpose, and well accustomed to living on their own resources.
The weather was verj^ boisterous and cold, with heavy hail-storms.
AVe got on, however, pretty well, but, except the geology, nothing
could be less interesting than our day's ride. The country is
uniformly the same undulating moorland ; the surface being co-
vered by light brown withered grass and a few very small shrubs,
all springing out of an elastic peaty soil. In the valleys here
and there might be seen a small flock of wild geese, and every-
.vhere the ground was so soft that the snipe were able to feed.
Besides these two birds there were few otliers. There is one
main range of hills, nearly two thousand feet in height, and com-
posed of quartz rock, the rugged 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, foi
they had been lately much harassed.
In the evening we came across a small herd. One of my com-
panions, St. Jago by name, soon separated a fat cow ; he threw
the bolas, and it struck her legs, but failed in becoming entan-
gled. Then dropping his hat to mark the spot where tlie balls
were left, while at full gallop, he uncoiled his lazo, and after a
most severe chace, 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 killing 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 trained,
would canter up, and with his chest give her a violent push. But
* From accounts published since our voyage, and more especially from
several interesting letters from Capt. 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 en the fact of wheat seldom ripening here, I can hardly believe
that the climate in summer is so fine and dry as it has lately been repre-
sented.
l£0 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [chap. 12.
when on level ground it does not appear an easy job for one man
to kill a beast mad with terror. jS^or 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 ; other-
wise, it stands motionless leaning on one side. This horse, how-
ever, was a young one, and would not stand still, but gave in to
the cow as she struggled. It was admirable to see with what
dexterity St. Jago dodged behind the beast, till at last he con-
trived 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
lio-htning. He cut off pieces of flesh with the skin to it, but
without any bones, sufficient for our expedition. 'W^'e 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 com-
mon beef as venison is to mutton. A large circular piece taken
from the back is roasted on the embers with the hide downwards
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, ' carne 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. AYe rode across the island to
the neck of land which joins the Rincon del Toro (the great
peninsula at the S.AV. extremity) to the rest of the Island. From
the great number of cows which have been killed, there is a
large proportion of bulls. These wander about single, or two
and three together, and are very savage. I never saw such mag-
nificent beasts ; they equalled in the size of their huge heads and
necks the Grecian marble sculptures. Capt. Sulivan informs
me tliat the hide of an average-sized bull weighs forty-seven
Dounds, whereas a hide of this weight, less thoroughly dried, is
considered as a very heavy one at Monte Video. The young
bulls generally run away for a short distance ; but the old ones
do not stir a step, except to rush at man and horse ; and many
viorses 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 failing, were obliged to make a
large circuit. The Gauclios in revenge determined to emasculate
CHAP. IX.] WILD HORSES. 191
him and render him for the future harmless. It was very inter-
estino- to see how art completely mastered 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
powerless on the ground. After the lazo has once been drawn
tio-htly round the horns of a furious animal, it does not at first
appear an easy thing to disengage it again without killing the
beast ; nor, I apprehend, would it be so if the man was by him-
self. 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 cattle, were introduced by the
French in 1764, since which time both have greatly increased.
It is a curious fact, that the horses have never left the eastern
end of the island, although there is no natural boundary to pre-
vent them from roaming, and that part of the island is not more
tempting than the rest. The Gauchos whom I asked, though
asserting this to be the case, were unable to account for it, ex-
cept from the strong attachment which horses have to any loca-
lity to which they are accustomed. Considering that the island
does not appear 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 supervene, is inevitable ; but why has
the increase ©f the horse been checked sooner than that of the
cattle? Capt. Sulivan has taken much pains for me in this-
inquiry. The Gauchos employed here attribute it chiefly to
tlie stallions constantly roaming from place to place, and com-
pelling the mares to accompany them, whether or not the young
foals are able to follow. One Gaucho told Capt. Sulivan that
he had watclied a stallion for a whole hour, violently kicking
and bitinjr a mare till he forced her to leave her foal to its fate.
Capt. Sulivan can so far corroborate this curious account, that
192 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [chap, ijr,
ne has several times found young foals dead, whereas he lias
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 oi
the ground their hoofs often grow irregularly to a great length,
and this causes lameness. The predominant 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 unfit to be used in taking
wild cattle with the lazo : in consequence, it is necessarj' 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 increased in size ; and they
are much more numerous than the horses. Capt. Sulivan in-
forms 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 remarkable circumstance,
that in different parts of this one small island, different colours
predominate. Round Mount Usborne, at a height of from 1000
to 1 500 feet above the sea, about half of some of the herds are
mouse or lead-coloured, a tint which Is not common in other
parts of the island. Near Port Pleasant dark brown prevails,
whereas south of Choiseul Sound (which almost divides 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 observed. Capt. Sulivan remarks, that the difference in the
prevailing colours was so obvious, that in looking for the herds
near Port Pleasant, they appeared 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 season than the other coloured beasts on the lower
land. It is interesting thus to find the once domesticated cattle
breaking into three colours, of which some one colour would in
ill probability ultimately prevail over the others, if the herds
were left undisturbed for the next several centuries.
roAP. IX.] WILD RABBITS. 19:!
The rabbit is another animal which has been introduced, 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 colonies had not been carried
there. I should not have supposed that these animals, natives of
northern 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 thouirht a more favourable climate, the rabbit cannot
live out of doors. The first few pair, moreover, had here tc
contend against pre-existing enemies, in the fox and some large
hawks. The French naturalists have considered the black va-
riety a distinct species, and called it Lepus Magellanicus.* 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 laughed 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 off-
ppring. Of the latter I now possess a specimen, and it is marked
about the head differently from the French specific description.
This circumstance sliows how cautious naturalists should be in
making species ; for even Cuvier, on looking at the skull of one
of these rabbits, thouy,ht it was probably distinct !
The only quadruped native to the island f is a large wolf-like
fox (Canis antarcticus), whicli is common to both East and
* Lesson's Zoology of the Voyage of the Coquille, torn. i. p. 168. All
the early voyagers, and especially Bougainville, distinctly state that the
wolf-like fox was the only native animal on the island. The distinction ot
the rabbit as a species, is taken from peculiarities in the fur, from the shupe
of the head, and from the shortness of the ears. I may here observe that
the difference between the L'ish and English hare rests upon nearly simiJar
characters, only more strongly marked.
t 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 have great tusks.
194 KALKj.AND islands. [chap. is.
West Falkland. I have no doubt it is a peculiar sp-^cies, and
confined to this archipelago ; because many sealers, Gauchos,-
and Indians, >v]io have visited these islands, all maintain that no
Buch animal is found in any part of South America. Molina,
from a similarity in habits, thought that this was the same with
his " culpeu ;" * but I have seen both, and they are quite distinct.
These wolves are well known, from Byron's account of their
lameness and curiosity, which the sailors, who ran into the
water to avoid them, mistook for fierceness. To this day their
manners remain the same. They have been observed to enter a
tent, and actually pull some meat from beneath the head of a
sleeping seaman. The Gauchos also have frequently in tlie
evening killed them, by holding out a piece of meat in one han<i,
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 num-
bers 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. Salvador Bay and Berkeley Sound. Within a very
few years after these islands shall have become reg-ularlv settled,
in all probability this fox will be classed with the dodo, as an
animal which has perished 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. Tlit.
valley was pretty well sheltered from tlie 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 bullock 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 day. At night we
managed, however, with our saddle-cloths to keep ourselves
pretty well dry and w^arm ; but the ground on which we slept
was on each occasion nearly in the state of a bog, and there was
* The "culpeu" is the Canis Magellanicus brought home by Captjiia
King from the Strait of Magellan, it is corflmon in Chile.
JHAP. IX.] ART IN MAKING A FIKE. I0g
not a dry spot to sit dowu on after our day's ride. I have in
another part stated how singular it is that there sliould be abso-
lutely no trees on these islands, although Tierra del Fuego is
covered by one large forest. The largest bush in the island
(belonging to the family of Compositse) 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
burning while fresh and green. It Mas very surprising to see
the Gauchos, in the midst of rain and everything soaking wet,
with nothing more than a tinder-box and piece of rag, inmiedi*
ately make a fire. They sought beneath the tufts of grass and
bushes for a few dry twigs, and these they rubbed into fibres ;
then surrounding 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
dc'-rees 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.
I9th. — Each morning, from not having ridden for some time
previously, I was very stiff. I was surprised to hear the Gauchos,
who have from infancy almost lived on horseback, say that,
under similar circumstances, they always suflfer. St. Jago told
me, that having been confined for three months by illness, he
went out hunting wild cattle, and in consequence, 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 thi^
is on account of the swampy ground, 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 parly
endeavours to get as close as possible to the herd without being
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 entangled, are left for some days, till they become a
little exhausted by hunger and struggling. They are then let
free and driven towards a small herd of tame animals, which
liavo been brought to the spot on purpose. From their previoiis
IS6 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [chap. ix.
treatment, being too much terrified to leave the herd, they are
easily driven, if their strength last out, to the settlement.
The weather continued so very bad that we determined to
make a push, and try to reach the vessel before night. From
the quantity of rain whicli 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 tliem without
falling. To complete our discomforts 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 us 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 \\ith perfect symmetry, and the appearance
of some of the masses is in consequence most singular. Pernety*
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 amphitheatre. Tiie quartz rock must have been quite pasty
when it underwent such remarkable flexures without being
shattered into fragments. As the quartz insensibly passes into
the sandstone, it seems probable that the former owes its origin
to the sandstone havins^ been heated to such a deijree that it
became viscid, and upon cooling crystallized. AVhile in the soft
state it must have been pushed up through th^ overlyins"
beds.
In many parts of the island the bottoms of the valleys are
covered in an extraordinary manner by myriads of great loose an-
gular fragments of the quartz rock, forming " streams of stones."
The«e have been mentioned with surprise by every voyager since
the time of Pernety. The blocks are not waterworn, theii
* Peruety, Voyage aux Isles Malouines, p. 526.
CHAP. Tx.J STREAMS OF STONES. I97
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 irregular piles, but
are spread out into level sheets or great streams. It is not pos-
sible to ascertain their thickness, but the water of small stream-
lets can be heard trickling through the stones many feet below
the surface. The actual depth is probably great, because the
crevices between the lower fragments must long ago have been
filled uj) with sand. The width of these sheets of stones varies
from a few hundred feet to a mile ; but the peaty soil daily en-
croaches 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 uninterrupted
band half a mile wide, by jumping from one pointed stone to
another. So large were the fragments, 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 of ten degrees 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 measuring the angle ; but to give a common
illustration, I may say that the slope would not have checked
the speed of an English mail-coach. In some places, a con-
tinuous stream of these fragments followed up the course of a
valley, and even extended lo 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 ruins of some vast and ancient cathedral. In endeavouring
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 myriads of fragments. The expression
" streams of stones," which immediately occurred to every one,
conveys the same idea. These scenes are on the spot rendered
198 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [chap. ix.
more striking- by the contrast of the low, rounded forms of the
ot^ighbouring 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 ? 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 nature now lies. As the fragments in the
valleys are neither rounded nor the crevices filled up with sand,
Ave must infer that the period of violence was subsequent to the
land having been raised above the waters of the sea. In a trans-
verse section within these valleys, the bottom is nearly 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 nearest slopes ; and that since, by a vibratory move-
ment of overwhelming force,* the fragments have been levelled
into one continuous sheet. If during the earthquakej which in
1835 overthrew Concepcion, 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
gand on a vibrating board, and find their level ? I have seen, in
the Cordillera of the Andes, the evident marks where stupen-
dous 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 convulsion, of which in historical
records we might in vain seek for any counterpart : yet the
progress of knowledge will probably some day give a simple
explanation of this phenomenon, as it already has of the so long-
* " Nous n'avons pas ete mohis saisis d'etonnement a la vfie de I'innom-
brable quantite de pierres de toutes grandeurs, bouleversees les unes sur les
autres, et cependant rangees, comme si elles avoient ete' amoncelees negli-
gemment pour remplir des ravins. On ne se lassoit pas d'admirer les efiets
prodigieux de la nature." — Pernety, p. 526.
t An inhabitant 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 slightest shock of an earthquake
tniAP. IX J HABITS OF SOME I3IRDS. 199
thought inexplicable transportal of the erratic boulders, which
are strewed over the plains of Europe.
I have little to remark on the zoology of these islands. I have
before described the carrion-vulture or Polyborus. There are
some other hawks, owls, and a few small land-birds. The water-
fi)wl 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 determined. 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 the jackass 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 undisturbed, its note is very deep and
solemn, and is often heard in the night-time. In diving, its
little wing-s are used as fins; but on the land, as front lesrs.
Whtn crawling, it may be said on four legs, through the tus-
sucks 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 fishing, it comes to the surface for the purpose of breathing
with such a spring, and dives again so instantaneously, that I
defy any one at first sight to be sure that i* was not a fish leaping
for sport.
Two kinds of geese frequent the Falklands. The upland
species (Anas Magellanica) is conmion, in pairs and in small
ilock«, throughout the island. They do not migrate, but build
2<K3 FALKLAND LSLANDS. Ichap- ix.
on the small outlying islets. This is supposed to be from fear
of the foxes : and it is perhaps 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 Tierra del Fuego, the snow-white gander, invariably accom-
panied 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 a great loggerheaded duck or 'goose (Anas
brachyptera), which sometimes weighs twenty-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 appro-
priately, steamers. Their wings are too small and weak to allow
of flight, but by tlieir aid, partly swimming and partly flapping
the surface of the water, they move very quickly. The manner it
sometliirig like that by which the common house-duck escapes when
pursued by a dog; but I am nearly sure 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 exceedingly curious.
Thus we find in South America three birds which use their
wings for other purposes 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
Deinornis, possess only rudimentary representatives 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 sur-
prisingly heavy and strong : the head is so strong that I have
scarcely been able to fracture it with my geological hammer :
and all our sportsmen soon discovered how tenacious these bird^
were of life. When in the evening pluming themselves in a
flock, they make the same odd mixture of sounds which bull-
frog's do within the tropics.
In Tierra del Fuego, as well as at the Falkland Islands, I made
-mAP. IX.] ZOOPHYTES. 201
many observations on the lower marine animals,* but they are
of little general interest. I will mention only one class of lacts,
relating- to certain zoophytes in the more highly organized divi-
sion of that class. Several genera (Flustra, Eschara, Cellaria,
Crisia, and others) agree in having singular moveable organs
(like tliose of Flustra a^■icularia, 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 move-
ment, 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 triangular hood, with a beautifully-fitted trap-door, which evi-
dently 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
thim, though small, are in every respect perfect. When the
polypus was removed by a needle from any of the cells, tliese
organs did not appear in the least affected. AYhen one of tlie
vulture-like heads was cut off from a cell, tlie lower mandible
retained its power of opening and closing. Perhaps the most
singular part of their structure is, that w^hen tliere were more
than two rows of cells on a branch, the central cells were fur-
nished 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
* I was surprised to find, on counting the eggs of a large -vrhite Doris
(this sea slug was three and a half inches long), how extraordinarily
numerous they were. From two to five eggs (each three-thousandths of an
inch in diameter) were contained in a spherical little case. These were
arranged two deep in transverse rows forming a ribbon. The ribbon ad
hered by its edge to the rock in an oval spire. One which I found, mei -
sured nearly twenty inches in length and half in breadth. By counting h.iw
many balls were contained in a tenth of an inch in the row, and how man\
i-ows in an equal length of the ribbon, on the most moderate computatiup
there Mere six hundred thousand eggs. Yet this Doris was certainly nut
very common : although I was often searching under the stones, I saw only
seven individuals. Nofallaci/ is more common with naturalists, than that the
numbers ojan indicidual .species depend on its powers of propagation.
2!?2 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [chap. ix.
forwards at the rate of about five seconds each turn ; others
moved rapidly and by starts. When touched witli a needle, the
beak generally seized the point so firmly, that the whole branch
might be shaken.
These bodies liave no relation whatever with the production of
the eg^s or gemmules, as they 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 appear 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 horny 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 leaf or
flower-buds.
In another elegant little coralline (Crisia?), each cell was fur-
nished 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
sometimes all on both sides of a branch, sometimes only those on
one side, moved together coinstantaneously ; sometimes each
moved in regular order one after another. In these actions we
apparently behold as perfect a transmission of will in the zoo-
phyte, though composed of thousands of distinct polypi, 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 in-
stance of uniform action, though of a very different nature, in a
zoophyte closely allied to Clytia, and therefore very simply or-
ganized. 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 phosphorescent with a green
liglit : I do not think I ever saw any object more beautifully so.
But the remarkable circumstance was, that the flashes of licrht
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
'O
CHAP. IX.] COMPOUND ANIMALS. 203
plant-like body producing an egg, capable of swimming about
and of choosing a proper place to adhere to, which then sprouts
into branches, each crowded with innumerable distinct animals,
o'^en of complicated organizations? The branches, moreover,
as we have just seen, sometimes possess organs capable of move-
ment and independent of the polypi. Surprising as this union
of separate individuals in a common stock must always appear,
every tree displays the same fact, for buds must be considered
as individual plants. It is, however, natural to consider a
j)olypus, furnished with a mouth, intestines, and other organs,
a^ a distinct individual, whereas the individuality of a leaf-bud is
not easily realised ; so that the union of separate individuals in
a common body is more striking in a coralline tiian in a tree.
Our conception of a compound animal, where in some respects
the individuality of each is not completed, may be aided, by re-
flecting on the production of two distinct creatures by bisecting
a single one with a knife, or where Nature herself performs the
task of bisection. We may 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 pro-
pagated by buds seem more intimately related to each other, than
eggs or seeds are to their parents. It seems now pretty well esta-
blished that plants propagated by buds all partake of a common
duration of life ; and it is familiar to every one, what singular
and numerous peculiarities are transmitted with certaintj'^, by
buds, layers, and grafts, which by seminal propagation never op
only casually reappear.
804 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
CHAPTER X.
rierra del Fuego, first arrival— Good Success Bay — An account of the
Fuegians on board — Interview -with the savages — Scenery 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.
TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
December 11 fh, 1832. — Having now finished with "^atagonia
and the Falkland Islands, I will describe our first arrival in
Tierra 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, inhos-
pitable Staten-land was visible amidst the clouds. In the after-
noon we anchored in the Bay of Good Success. While entering
we were saluted in a manner becominof the inhabitants of this
savage land. A group of Fuegians partly concealed by the en-
tangled forest, were perched on a wild point overhanging the
sea ; and as we passed by, they sprang up and waving their
tattered cloaks sent forth a loud and sonoro' "^ shout. The
savages followed 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 suflficient
to show me how widely different it was from any thing I had
ever beheld. At night it blew a gale of wind, and heavy squalls
from the mountains swept past us. It would have been a bad
time out at sea, and we, as well as others, may call this Gootl
Success Bay.
In the morning the Captain sent a party to communicate with
tlie Fuegians. When we came within hail, one of the four
natives who were present avivanced to receive us, and began to
CHAP. X.] INTERVIEW WITH THE NATIVES. 205
shout most vehemently, wishing- to direct us where to land.
When we were on shore the party looked rather alarmed, but
continued tallying and making gestures with great rapidity. It
was without exception the most curious and interesting spectacle
I ever beheld : I could not have believed how wide was the dif-
ference between savage and civilized man : it is greater than
between a wild and domesticated animal, inasmuch as in man
there is a greater power of improvement. The chief spokesman
was old, and appeared to be the head of the family ; the threi*
others were powerful young men, about six feet high. The
women and children had been sent away. These Fuegians are a
very different race from the stunted, miserable wretches farther
westward ; and they seem closely allied to the famous Patago-
nians of the Strait of Magellan. Their only garment consists of
a mantle made of guanaco skin, with the wool outside; this they
wear just thrown over their shoulders, leaving their persons as
often exposed as covered. Their skin is of a dirty coppery 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 broad transverse bars ; one, painted
bright red, reached from ear to ear and included the upper lip ;
the other, white like chalk, extended above and parallel to the
first, so that even his eyelids were thus coloured. The other
two men were ornamented 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.
Tlieir very attitudes were abject, and the expression of their
countenances distrustful, surprised, and startled. After we had
presented them with some scarlet cloth, which they immediately
tied round their necks, they became good friends. This was
shown by the old man patting our breasts, and making a chuck-
ling kind of noise, as people do when feeding chickens. I
walked with the old man, and this demonstration of friendship
was repeated several times ; it was concluded by three hard slaps,
which were given me on the breast and back at the same time,
lie then bared his bosom for me to return the compliment, Mhicli
being done, he seemed highly pleased. The language of these
people, according to our notions, scarcely deserves to be called
S06 TlERllA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
articulate. Captain Cook has compared 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 coughed or yawned,
or made any odd motion, they immediately imitated us. Some
of our party began to squint and look awry ; but one of the
young Fuegians (whose whole face was painted black, excepting
a white band across his eves) succeeded in making- far more
hideous grimaces. They could repeat with perfect correctness
each word in any sentence we addressed them, and they remem-
bered 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 instance, could follow an American
Indian through a sentence of more than three words ? All
savages appear to possess, to an uncommon degree, this power ot
mimicry. I was told, almost in the same words, of the same
ludicrous habit among the Caffres : the Australians, likewise,
lave long been notorious for being able to imitate and describe
tlie gait of any man, so that he may be recognised. How can
this faculty be explained ? is it a consequence of the more prac-
tised habits of perception and keener senses, common to all men
in a savage state, as compared with those long civilized?
When a song was struck up by our party, I thought the
Fueorians would have fallen down with astonishment. With
equal surprise they viewed our dancing ; but one of the young-
men, when asked, 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 v/ould tempt them to take a
gun in their hands. They begged for knives, calling them by
the Spanish 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 former voyage of the Adventure and Beiigle
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
gi eat jeopardy of a party employed on tlie survey ; and some of
these natives, as v.ell as a child whom he bought for a pearl-button,
he took with him to Enfrland. determinino^ to educate them and
CHAP. X. FUEGIANS ON BOARD.
207
instruct them in religion at kis own expense. To settle these
natives in their own country, was one chief inducement to Cap-
tain Fitz Roy to undertake our present voyage ; and before tht*
Admiralty had resolved to send out this expedition, Captain
Fitz Eoy had generously chartered a vessel, and would himself
have taken them back. The natives were accompanied by a mis-
sionary, 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 small-pox, a boy and a little
girl, were originally 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-grown,
short, thick, powerful man: his disposition was reserved, taci-
turn, morose, and when excited violently passionate ; his affec-
tions were very strong towards a few friends on board ; his intel-
lect good. Jemmy Button was a universal favourite, but likewise
passionate; the expression of his face at once showed his nice
disposition. He was merry and often laughed, and was remark-
ably sympathetic with any one in pain : when the water was
rough, 1 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 patriotic 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 declared that there
was no Devil in his land. Jemmy was short, thick, and fat, but
vain of his personal 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 look-
ing-glass; and a merry-faced little Indian boy from the Rio Negro,
whom we had for some months on board, soon perceived this, and
used to mock him : Jemmy, who was always rather jealous ol
the attention paid to this little 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 doubtless partalcon of the same character, with the mi.
10
Z08 TIERRA DEL FUEGC. [cuap. x
serable, 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 anything, especially languages. This she showed in
picking up some Portuguese and Spanish, when left on shore for
only a short time at Rio de Janeiro and Monte Video, and in
her knowledge of English. York Minster was very jealous of
any attention 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 understand a good
deal of English, it was singularly difficult to obtain much in-
formation from them, concerning the habits of their countrymen :
this was partly owing to their apparent difficulty in understand-
ing the simplest alternative. Every one accustomed to very
young children, knows how seldom 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 under-
stood anything which they had asserted. Their sight was re-
markably acute : it is Mell known that sailors, from long prac-
tice, can make out a distant object much better than a landsman ;
but both York and Jemmy were much superior to any sailor on
board : several times they have declared what some distant ob-
ject 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 quarrel with the officer 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 con-
versation one with another on the subject. The old man ad-
dressed a long harangue to Jemmy, which it seems was to invite
hira 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
^;have ; yet he had not twenty dwarf hairs on his face, whilst wh
CHAP, x.j SCENERY OF THE MOUNTAINS. 209
all wore our vintiimmed beards. They examined the colour of
his skin, and compared it with ours. One of our arms being
bared, they expressed the liveliest surprise 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
mistook two or three of the officers, who were rather shorter and
fairer, though adorned with large beards, for the 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 tiptoe. He opened his mouth to
show his teeth, and turned his face for a side view ; and ail this
was done with such alacrity, that I dare say he thought himself
the handsomest man in Tierra del Fuego. After our first feel-
ing of grave astonishment was over, nothing could be more
ludicrous than the odd mixtiire of surprise and imitation which
these savages 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 moun-
tain 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 suc-
ceeded by a band of peat, with minute alpine plants ; and this
again is succeeded by the line of perpetual snow, which, accord-
ing to Captain King, in the Strait of Magellan descends to be-
tween 3000 and 4000 feet. To find an acre of level land in any
part 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 putrefying
vegetable matter, which, from being soaked with water, yields
lo the foot.
Finding it nearly hopeless to push my way through the wood,
I followed the course of a mountain torrent. At first, from the
waterfalls and number of dead trees, T could hardly crawl along ;
210 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
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 the grandeur of the scene. The gloomy depth of the
ravine well accorded with the universal ^igns of violence. On
every side were lying irregular masses of rock and torn-up 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 great slip had cleared a straight space
down the mountain side. By this road I ascended to a consider-
able elevation, and obtained a good \ie\v of the surrounding
woods. The trees all belong to one kind, the Fagus betuloides ;
for tJie number of the other species of Fagus and of the Win-
ter's Bark, is quite inconsiderable. T his beech keeps its leaves
throughout the year ; but its foliage is of a peculiar brownish-
green colour, with a tinge of yellow. As the M'hole landscape is
thus coloured, it has a sombre, dull appearance ; nor is it often
enlivened by the rays of the sun.
December 20th. — One side of the harbour is formed by a hill
about 1500 feet high, which Captain 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 mountain 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 dwin-
dled away, and we were then compelled to crawl blindly among
the trees. These, from the effects of the elevation and of the
impetuous winds, were low, thick, and crooked. At length we
reached that wliich from a distance appeared like a carpet of fine
green turf, but which, to our vexation, turned out to be a com-
pact mass of little beech-trees about four or five 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.
CHAP. X.J CAPE HORN. 211
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 were 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 w^ell-beaten and straight path made
by the guanacos ; for these animals, like sheep, always follow
the same line. When we reached the hill we found it the high-
est in the immediate neighbourhood, and the waters flowed to
the sea in opposite directions. AVe obtained a wide view over
the surrounding country : to the north a swampy moorland ex-
tended, but to the south we had a scene of savage magnificence,
well becoming Tierra del Fuego. There was a degree of myste-
rious grandeur in mountain behind mountain, with the deep in-
tervening 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 Magellan, looking due southward from
Port Famine, the distant channels between the mountains ap-
peared from their gloominess to lead beyond the confines of this
world.
Dece?7iber 21st. —The Beagle got under way: and on the
succeeding day, favoured to an uncommon degree by a fine
easterly breeze, we closed in wdth 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 Wig-
wam Cove. This is a snug little harbour, not far from Cape
Horn ; and here, at Christmas-eve, we anchored in smooth water.
The only tiling w^ich reminded us of the gale outside, v/as every
212 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap, x
now and then a pufF from the mountains, which made the ship
surge at her anchors.
December 25th. — Close by the cove, a pointed hill, called
Kater's Peak, rises to the height of 1700 feet. The surround-
ing islands all consist of conical masses of greenstone, associated
sometimes with less regular hills of baked and altered clay -slate.
This part of Tierra del Fuego may be considered 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 inhabitants, living chiefly upon
shell -fish, are obliged constantly to change their place of resi-
dence ; but they return at intervals to the same spots, as is evi-
dent 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
invariably 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 w^hole 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 form 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 better, for
they are covered with seal-skins. We were detained here several
days by the bad w^eather. The climate is certainly wretched :
the summer solstice was now passed, yet every day snow fell on
the hills, and in the valleys there was rain, accompanied 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
atmosphere, 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 Fuegians. These were the
CHAP.x.] WIIETCHED STATE OF THE NATIVES. 213
most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere beheld. On
the east coast the natives, as we have seen, have guanaco cloaks,
and on the west, they possess seal-skins. Amongst these central
tribes the men generally have an otter-skin, or some small scrap
about as large as a pocket-handkerchief, which is barely suffi-
cient to cover their backs as low down as their loins. It is
laced across the breast by strings, and according as the wind
blows, it is shifted from side to side. But these Fuegians in the
canoe were quite naked, and even one full-grown woman was
absolutely so. It was raining heavily, and the fresh water,
together with the spray, trickled down her body. In another
ha°bour 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 thaw^ed on
ner 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
liair entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures vio-
lent. Viewing such men, one can hardly make oneself believe
that they are fellow-creatures, and inhabitants of the same world.
It is a common 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
w'ithout any hook, jerk out little fish. If a seal is killed, or the
floating carcass of a putrid whale discovered, it is a feast ; and
such miserable food is assisted by a few tasteless berries and
fungi.
They often suffer from famine : I heard Mr. Low, a sealing-
master intimately acquainted with the natives of this country,
give a curious account of the state of a party of one hundred
and fifty natives on the west coast, who were very thin and m
great distress. A succession of gales prevented the women from
getting shell-fish on the rocks, and they could not go out in
214 TIERKA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
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 whales-blubber
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. Fi-om the con-
current, 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 before they kill their dogs : the boy, being asked by Mr.
Low why they did this, answered, " Doggies eaten 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
Avhich are considered best to eat. Horrid as such 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 moun-
tains, but that they are pursued by the men and brought back
to the slaughter-house at their own fire-sides !
Captain Fitz Roy could never ascertain that the Fuegians have
any distinct belief in a future life. They 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 friends. We have no reason to believe
that they perfonii any sort of religious worship ; though perhaps
tlie muttering of the old man before he distributed the putrid
blubber to his famished party, may be of this nature. Eacb
family or tribe has a wizard or conjuring doctor, whose office
CHAP. X.J RELIGION OF THE FUEGIANS. 21*
we could never clearly ascertain. Jemmy believed in dreams,
though not, as I have said, in the devil : I do not think that
our Fuegians were much more superstitious than some of the
sailors ; for an old quarter-master firmly believed that tiie suc-
cessive heavy gales, which we encountered off Cape Horn, were
caused by our having the Fuegians on board. The nearest ap-
|)roach to a religious 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 was
evidently a retributive punishment 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 feathers blown by the wind.
His brother said (York imitating his manner), " What that ?"
and crawling onwards, he peeped over the cliff, and saw " wild
man" picking his birds ; he crawled a little nearer, and then
hurled down a great stone and killed him. York declared 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, hoAv
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
York said, when we found the place like the form of a hare,
W'here 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 insane.
The different tribes have no government or chief; yet each
is surrounded 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. Their country is a broken mass of wild
rocks, lofty hills, and useless forests: and these are viewed
through mists and endless storms. The habitable land is re-
duced to the stones on the beach ; in search of food they are
pompelled unceasingly to wander from spot to spot, and so steep
216 TIERRA DEL FUEGO [chap. x.
is the coast, that they can only move about in their wretched
canoes. They cannot know the feeling of having a home, and
still less that of domestic affection ; for the husband is to the
wife a brutal master to a laborious slave. Was a more horrid
deed ever perpetrated, 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 compare, 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 animals ; for
it is not improved by experience : the canoe, their most inge-
nious 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 ? What could have tempted, or what change compelled a
tribe of men, to leave the fine regions of the north, to travel
down the Cordillera or backbone of America, to invent and
build canoes, which are not used by tlie tribes of Chile, Peru,
and Brazil, and then to enter on one of the most inhospitable
countries within the limits of the globe 'i Although such re-
flections 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 sup-
pose that they enjoy a sufficient share of happiness, of whatever
kind it may be, to render life worth having. Nature by making
habit omnipotent, and its effects hereditary, hais fitted the Fue-
gian to the climate and the productions of his miserable 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 ge* 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 January, 1833, by carrying a press of
Bail, we fetched within a few miles of the great rugged mountain
of York Minster (so called by Captain Cook, and the origin of
3HAP. X.J THE BEAGLE CHANNEL. 217
the name of the elder Fuegiaii), 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 veiy
heavy, and we did not know exactly where we were : it was a
most unpleasant sound to hear constantly repeated, " keep a good
look-out to leeward." On tlie 13th the storm raged vvith its full
fury : our horizon was narrow ly 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 great sea broke over us, and
filled one of the whale-boats, which was obliged to be instantly
cut away. The poor Beagle trembled 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 for ever. 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
10 put on. Captain Fitz Roy gave up the attempt to get west-
ward by the outside coast. In the evening we ran in behind
False Cape Florn, and dropped our anchor in forty-seven
fathoms, fire flashing from the windlass as the chain rushed
round it. How delightful was that still night, after having been '
so long involved in the din of the warring elements !
January \3th^ 1833. — The Beagle anchored in Goeree Eoads.
Captain Fitz Roy having resolved to settle the Fuegians, accord-
ing to their wishes, in Ponsonby Sound, four boats were equipped
to carry them there tlirough 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 Loch •
ness 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 greater 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
218 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
Tierra del Fuego in an east and west line, and in the middle i^
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.
l^th. — Three whale-boats and the yawl, with a party ol
twenty-eight, started under the command of Captain Fitz Roy.
In the afternoon we entered the eastern mouth of the channel,
and shortly afterwards found a snug little cove concealed by
some surrounding islets. Here we pitched our tents and lighted
our fires. Nothingr could look more comfortable than tliis scene.
Tlie glassy water of the little harbour, with the branches of the
trees 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 pictm*e of quiet retirement. The
next day (20th) we smoothly glided onwards in our little fleet,
and came to a more inhabited district. 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
Tierra del Fuego, or the land of fire), both to attract our atten-
tion 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 arms round their heads, and sent forth the most hideous
yells.
At dinner-time we landed affiong a party of Fuegians. At
first they were not inclined to be friendly ; for until the Captain
pulled in a-head of the other boats, they kept their slings in their
hands. We soon, however, delighted them by trifling presents,
such as tying red tape round their heads. They liked our bis-
cuit : but one of the savages touched with his finger some of the
meat preserved in tin eases 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 thorouglily ashamed of his
countrymen, and declared his own tribe were quite different, in
which he was wofully mistaken. It was as easy to please us 1^
CHAP. X.] ASTONISHMENT OF NATIVES AT FIRE-ARMS. 219
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
their favourite word in as many intonations as possible, they
would then use it in a neuter sense, and vacantly repeat " yam-
merschooner." After yammerschoonering 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 ujiinhabited 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. An European labours under great
disadvantages when treating 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 armed 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 flourished a cutlass near
them, at which they only laughed ; he then twice fired his pistol
close to a native. The man both times looked astounded, and
carefully but quickly rubbed his head ; he then stared awhile,
and gabbled to his companions, but he never seemed to think of
riuming away. We can hardly put ourselves in the position of
these savages, and understand their actions. In the case of this
Fuegian, the possibility of such a sound as the report of a gim
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 ;
120 TIEREA DEL FUEGO. [chat, x
for the fact of a body being invisible from its velocity would
perhaps be to him an idea totally inconceivable. Moreover, the
extreme force of a bullet, that penetrates a hard substance with-
out 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 musket, without being in the
least aware how deadly an instrument it is.
22c?. — After having passed an unmolested night, in what
would appear to be neutral territory between Jemmy's tribe and
the people whom we saw yesterday, we sailed pleasantly along,
I do not know anything which shows more clearly the hostile
state of tlie diiferent tribes, than these wide border or neutral
tracts. Although Jemmy Button well knew the force of our
party, he was, at first, unwilling to land amidst tlie hostile tribe
nearest to his own. He often told us how the savas^e Oens men
" when the leaf red," crossed the mountains from the eastern
coast of Tierra del Fuego, and made inroads on the natives of
this part of the country. It was most curious to watch him
when thus talking, and see his eyes gleaming and his whole face
assume a new and wild expression. As we proceeded along the
Beagle Channel, the scenery assumed a peculiar and very mag-
nificent character ; but the effect was much lessened from the
lowness of the point of view in a boat, and from looking along
the valley, and thus losing all the beauty of a succession of ridges.
The mountains were here about three thousand feet high, and
terminated in sharp and jagged points. They rose in one un-
broken 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 Ponsonby 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 out
CHAP. X.] SETTLEMENT AT WOOLLYA. 221
great surprise, to be streaming with perspiration at undergoing
such a roasting. They seemed, however, very well pleased, and
all joined in the chorus of the seamen s songs : but the manner
in which they were invariably a little behindhand was quite
ludicrous.
During the night the news had spread, and early in the morn-
ing (23d) a fresh party arrived, belonging to the Tekenika, or
Jemmy's tribe. Several of them had run so fast tliat their noses
were bleeding, and their mouths frothed from the rapidity with
which they talked ; and with their naked bodies all bedaubed with
black, white,* and red, 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 Woolly a, surrounded by
islets, eveiy 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
Mas bordered by «ome acres of good sloping land, not covered
(as elsewhere) either by peat or by forest-trees. Captain Fitz
Roy originally intended, as before stated, to have taken York
Minster and Fuegia to their own tribe on the west coast ; but as
* 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 four-
teen polygastrica, and four phytolitharia. He says that they are all inha-
bitants of fresh-water ; this is 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 striking 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 d.cl
Fuego, are old, known iu.u.».
222 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. :*
they expressed a wish to remain here, and as the spot was singu-
larly favourable, Captain Fitz Roy determined to settle here the
whole party, including- Matthews, the missionary. Five days
were spent in building for them three large wigwams, in landing
their goods, in digging two gardens, and sowing seeds.
The next morning after our arrival (the 24th) the Fuegians
began to pour in, and Jemmy's mother and brothers arrived.
Jemmy recognised the stentorian voice of one of his brothers at a
prodigious distance. The meeting was less interesting than that
between a horse, turned out into a field, when he joins an old com-
panion. 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 searched everywhere for him, thinking that
he mio-ht have been left after having been taken in the boat.
. The women took much notice of and w^ere very kind to Fuegia.
We had already perceived that Jemmy had almost forgotten his
own language. I should think there was scarcely another human
being with so small a stock of language, for his English was
very imperfect. It was laughable, but almost pitiable, to hear
him speak to his wild brother in English, and then ask him in
Spanish (" no sabe?") whether he did not understand 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, w^iilst the men lounged about all day
long, watching us. They asked for everything 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 attention to any-
thing: else, not even to our boats. Of all the thinQ:s which York
saw, during his absence from his country, nothing seems more
to have astonished him than an ostrich, near Maldonado : breath-
less with astonishment he came running to Mr. Bynoe, with
whom he 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
effectually : and the poor fellow was so mobbed and shouted at
CHAP. X.] SETTLEMENT AT WOOLLVA. 223
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, however, on the
27th, every woman and child disappeared. 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 frightened 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 sleeping Fuegian, plainly
showed, as it was said, that he should like to cut up and eat our
man. Captain Fitz Roy, 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. Mat-
thews, with his usual quiet fortitude (remarkable in a man appa-
rently 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 delighted to find
all quiet, and the men employed in their canoes spearing fish.
Captain Fitz Roy determined to send the yawl and one whale-
boat back to the ship ; and to proceed with the two other boats,
one under his own command (in which he most kindly allowed
me to accompany him), and one under Mr. Hammond, to survey
the western parts of the Beagle Channel, and afterwards to return
and visit the settlement. The day to our astonishment was over-
poweringly hot, so that our skins were scorched : with this beau-
tiful weather, the view in the middle of the Beagle Channel was
very remarkable. Looking towards either hand, no object inter-
cepted the vanishing points of this long canal between the moun-
tains. The circumstance of its being an arm of the sea was
rendered very evident by several huge whales* spouting in dif-
ferent directions. On one occasion I saw two of these monsters,
probably male and female, slowly swimming one after the other,
within less than a stone's throw of the shore, over which the
beech-tree extended its branches.
* One day, off the East coast of Tierra del Fuego, we saw a grand sight
n 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 reverberated like a distant broadside.
E24 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. ^chap. x.
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-fashion ; but when lying
in our blanket-bags, on a good bed of smooth pebbles, we passed
most comfortable nights.
It was my watch till one o'clock. There is something very
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 breath-
ing of the seamen beneath the tents, and sometimes by the cry of
a night-bird. The occasional barking of a dog, heard in the dis-
tance, reminds one that it is the land of the savage.
January 29th. — Early in the morning we arrived at the point
where the Beagle Channel divides into two arms ; and we en-
tered the northern one. The scenery here becomes even grander
than before. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the
granitic axis, or backbone of the country, and boldly rise to a
height of between three and four thousand 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 any thing
more beautifid than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and
especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse
of snow. The fragments which had fallen from the glacier into
the water, were floating away, and the channel with its icebergs
presented, for the space of a mile, a miniature likeness of the Polar
Sea. The boats being hauled on shore at our dinner-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 immediately
we saw the smooth outline of a wave travelling towards us. The
men ran down as quickly as they could to the boats ; for the chance
of their being dashed to pieces was evident. One of the seamen
just caught hold of the bows, as the curling breaker reached it ;
CHAP. x.j GLACIERS EiNTERING THE SEA. 295
he was knocked over and over, but not hurt ; and the boats,
though thrice lifted on high and let fall again, received no dam-
age. This was most fortunate for us, for we were a hundred
miles distant from the ship, and we should have 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 was formed by a spur of mica-slate ; tlie head
by a cliff of ice about forty feet high ; and the other side by a
promontory fifty feet high, built up of huge rounded fragments of
granite and mica-slate, out of which old trees were growing.
This promontory was evidently a moraine, heaped up at a period
when the glacier had greater dimensions.
When we reached the western mouth of this northern branch
of the Beagle Channel, we sailed amongst many unknown deso-
late islands, and the weather was wretchedly bad. "We met with
no natives. The coast was almost everywhere so steep, that we
liad several times to pull many times 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 far-
thest point westward which we reached was Stewart Island, a
distance of about one hundred and fifty miles from our ship. "We
returned into the Beagle Channel by the southern arm, and
thence proceeded, with no adventure, back to Ponsonby Sound.
February Qth. — "We arrived at WooUya. Matthews gave so
bad an account of the conduct of the Fuegians, that Captain
Fitz Roy determined to take him back to the Beagle ; and ulti-
mately he was left at New Zealand, where his brother was a mis-
sionary. From the time of our leaving, a regular system of
plunder commenced ; fresh parties of the natives kept arriving :
York and Jemmy lost many things, and Matthews almost every
thing which had not been concealed underground. Every article
seemed to have been torn up and divided by the natives. Mat-
thews described the watch he was obliged 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 asked to leave his
wigwam, immediately returned vvith a large stone in his hand ;
226 TIEPtRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
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. Another 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 Fue-
gians with their savage countrymen ; but it was a great comfort
that they had no personal fears. York, being a powerful resolute
man, was pretty sure to get on well, together with his wife Fue-
gia. Poor Jemmy 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, • damned fools.' Our three Fuegians,
though they had been only three 5'ears with civilized men, would,
1 am sure, have been glad to have retained their new habits ; but
this was obviously 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 made sail back to
the ship, not by tlie Beagle Channel, but by the southern coast.
The boats were heavily laden and the sea rough, and w'e 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
w^e 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 February in the succeeding year (1834),
the Beagle anchored in a beautiful little cove at the eastern en-
trance of the Beagle Channel. Captain Fitz Roy determined on
the bold, and as it proved successful, attempt to beat against the
westerly winds by the same route, which Me had follow^ed in the
boats to the settlement at Woollya. We did not see many
natives until we were near Ponsonby Sound, where we were fol-
lowed by ten or twelve canoes. The natives did not at all un-
CHAP. X.] FUEGIANS. 227
derstand the reason of our tacking-, and, instead of meeting us at
each tack, vainly strove to follow us in our zig-zag 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 " yammerschooner." When, entering some quiet
little cove, we have looked round and thought to pass a quiet
night, the odious word " yamraerschooner" has shrilly eounded
from some gloomy nook, and then the little signal-smoke has
curled up 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 faint halloo from
an all-powerful voice, heard at a prodigious distance, would
reach our ears, and clearly could we distinguish — " yammer-
schooner." But now, the more Fuegians the merrier ; and very
merry work it was. Both parties laughing, wondering, gaping
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 see the undisguised smile
of satisfaction with which one young woman with her face
painted black, tied several bits of scarlet cloth round hor head
with rushes. Her husband, who enjoyed the very universal pri-
vilege in this country of possessing two wives, evidently became
jealous of all the attention paid to his young wife ; and, after a
consultation Avith his naked beauties, was paddled away by
them.
Some of the Fuegians plainly showed that they had a fair
..otion of barter. I gave one man a large nail (a most valuable
present) without making any signs for a return ; but he imme-
diately 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 invariably 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
E28 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
things, the use of which must have been evident to the natives.
Simple circumstances — such as the beauty of scarlet cloth or
blue beads, the absence of women, our care in washing our-
selves,— excited their admiration far more than any grand or
complicated object, such as our ship. Bougainville has well
remarked concerning these people, that they treat the " chef-
d'oeuvres de I'industrie humaine, comme ils traitent les loix de
la nature et ses phenomenes."
On the 5th of March, we anchored in the cove at Woollya,
out 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 jn 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 recognise him till
he was close to us ; for he was ashimed of himself, and turned
his back to the ship. "VVe had left him plump, fat, clean, and
well dressed ; — I never saw so complete and grievous a cliange.
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
vv ish 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
liis young and nice-looking wife, \yith his usual good feeling,
he brought two beautiful otter-skins for two of his best friends,
and some spear-lieads and arrows 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 some English : an old man spontaneously announced
• .Jemmy Button's wife.' Jemmy had lost all his propert}'.
He told us that York Minster had built a large canoe, and with
his wife Fuegia,* had several months since gone to his own
* Captain Sulivan, who, since his voyage in the Beagle, has been em-
ployed on the survey of the Falkland Islands, heard from a sealer in (1842 ?),
CHAP. X.] FAREWELL VISIT TO WOOLLY A. 229
country, and had taken farewell by an act of consummate vil-
lainy ; 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 morning 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.
Every soul on board was heartily sorry to shake hands with him
fur the last time. I do not now doubt that he will be as happy
as, perhaps happier than, if he had never left his own country.
Every one must sincerely hope that Captain Fitz Roy's noble
hope may be fulfilled, of being rewarded for the many generous
sacrifices which he made for these Fuegians, by some ship-
wrecked sailor being protected by the descendants of Jemmy
Button and his tribe ! When Jemmy reached the shore, he
lighted a signal fire, and the smoke curled up, bidding us a last
and long farewell, as the ship stood on her course into the open
sea.
The perfect equality among the individuals composing the
Fuegian tribes, must for a long time retard their civilization.
As we see those animals, whose instinct compels them to live 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 civilized always have the most arti-
ficial governments. For instance, the inhabitants of Otaheite,
who, when first discovered, were governed by hereditary kings,
had arrived at a far higher grade than another branch of the
same people, the New Zealanders, — who, although benefited by
being compelled to turn their attention to agriculture, were re-
publicans in the most absolute sense. In Tierra del Fuego,
until some chief shall arise with power sufficient to secure any
acquired advantage, such as the domesticated animals, it seems
scarcely possible tliat the political state of the country can be
th-Jt Avh n 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 terra pi'obably bears a
double interpretation) some days on board.
230 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. x.
improved. At present, even a piece of cloth given to one L?
torn into shreds and distributed ; and no one individual becomes
richer than another. On the other hand, it is difficult to under-
stand how a chief can arise till there is property of some sort by
which he might manifest his superiority and increase his power.
I believe, in this extreme part of South America, man exists
in a lower state of improvement than in any other part of the
world. The South Sea Islanders of the two races inhabitins:
the Pacific, are comparatively civilized. The Esquimaux, in his
subterranean hut, enjoys some of the comforts of life, and in his
canoe, when fully equipped, manifests much skill. Some of the
tribes of Southern Africa, prowling about in search «f roots, and
living concealed on the wild and erid plains, are sufficiently
wretched. The Australian, in the simplicity of the arts of life,
comes nearest the Fuegian : he can, however, boast of his boo-
merang, his spear and throwing-stick, his method of climbinf>-
trees, of tracking animals, and of hunting. Akhough the Aus-
tralian may be superior in acquirements, it by no means follows
that he is likewise superior 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
tlie reverse.
I
1834.] STRAIT OF MAGELLAN.
231
CHAPTER XL
Strait of Magellan— Port Famine— Ascent of Mount Tarn— Forests— Edible
Fungus— Zoology— Great Sea-weed— Leave Tierra del Fuego— Climate^
Fruit-trees and productions of the southern coasts— Height of snow-line
on the Cordillera— Descent 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 SOUTHERN COASTS.
liV the end of May, 1834, we entered for the second time the
eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan. The country on both
sides of this part of the Strait consists of nearly level plains, like
those of Patagonia. Cape Negro, a little within the secontl
Narrows, may be considered as the point where the land begins
to assume the marked features 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 Gre-
gory Bay, that is about sixty miles, the difference is still more
wonderful. At the former place, we have rounded mountains
concealed by impervious forests, which are drenched with the
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 atmospheric currents*, although rapid,
turbulent, and unconfined by any apparent limits, yet seem to
follow, like a river in its bed, a regularly determined course.
During our previous visit (in January), we had an interview
* The south-westerly breezes are generally very dry. January ^gth,
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
ram, followed by a very heavy squall with rain,— settled into heavy gale
with large cumuli.— cleared up, blowing very strong from S.S.W. TemDera-
hire 6U°, dew-point 42^,— ditlerence 18°.
11
232 TIERRA DEL FUKGO. [chap. xi.
lit 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 average 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 were 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 de-
termined 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, help-
ing themselves with knives, forks, and spoons : nothing was so
much relished as sugar. This tribe has had so much commu-
nication with sealers and whalers, that most of the men can speak
a little English and Spanish ; and they are half civilised, and
proportionally demoralised.
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 arranged
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 unsuspecting: they asked us to come again. They seem to
like to have Europeans to live with them ; and old Maria, an im-
portant 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 having, ac-
cording to Mr. Low, six or seven, and all the women, and even
children, their one own horse. In the time of Sarmiento (1580),
these Indians had bows and arrows, now long since disused ; they
then also possessed some horses. This is a very curious fact, show-
mg the extraordinarily rapid multiplication of horses in South
America. The horse was first landed at Buenos Ayres in 1537,
1834.] PORT FAMINE. 233
and the colony being- then for a time deserted, the horse ran wild ; *
in 1580, only forty-three years afterwards, we hear of them at the
Strait of Magellan ! 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.
June \st. — We anchored in the fine bay of Port Famine. It
was now the beginning of winter, and I never saw a more cheer-
less prospect ; the dusky woods, piebald with snow, could be only
seen indistinctly through a drizzling hazy atmosphere. Wo
were, however, lucky in getting two fine days. On one of these,
Mount Sarmiento, a distant mountain 6800 feet high, presented
a very noble spectacle. I was frequently surprised, in the
scenery of Tierra 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, namely, that the whole mass,
from the summit to the water's q(\^q^ is generally in full view!
I remember having seen a mountain, first from the Bea^-le
Channel, where the whole sweep from the summit to the base
was full in view, and then from Ponsonby Sound across several
successive ridges ; and it was curious to observe in the latter
case, as each fresh ridge aflTorded fresh means of jud^ino- of the
distance, how the moiintain rose in height.
Before reaching Port Famine, two men were seen rannino-
along the shore and hailing the ship. A boat was sent for thenu
They turned out to be two sailors who had run away from a
sealing-vessel, and liad joined the Patagonians. These Indians had
treated them with their usual disinterested hospitality. They
had parted company through accident, and were then proceedino-
to Port Famine in hopes of finding some ship. I dare say thev
were worthless vagabonds, but I never saw more miserable look-
ing ones. Tliey had been living for some days on mussel-shells
and berries, and their tattered clothes had been burnt by sleep-
ing so near their fires. They had been exposed nioht and day,
without any shelter, to the late incessant gales, with rain, sleet'
and snow, and yet they were in good health.
During our stay at Port Famine, the Fuegians twice came and
plagued us. As there were many instruments, clothes, and men
* Rengger, Natur. dcr Sacugethiere von Paraguay. S. 334.
234 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [cuap. xi
on shore, it was thought necessary to frighten them away. The
first time a few great guns were 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 be-
hind the trees, and for every discharge of the muskets they fired
their arrows ; all, however, fell short of the boat, and the officer
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 Fuegians were here very troublesome, and to frighten
them a rocket was fired at night over their wigwams : it answered
effectually, and one of the oflftcers told me that the clamour first
raised, and the barking of the dogs, was quite ludicrous in con-
trast with the profound silence which in a minute or two after-
wards prevailed. The next morning not a single Fuegian was
in the neighbourhood.
When the Beagle w^as here in the month of February, I
started one morning 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 moun-
tain (but unluckily 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 was the wood, that it was necessary to
have constant 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 stirred 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 barri-
caded by great mouldering trunks, which had fallen down in
every direction. When passing over these natural bridges, one's
course was often arrested by sinking knee deep into the rotten
'834.] FORESTS.
23.':
wood ; at other times, when attempting to lean against a firm
tree, one was startled by finding a mass of decayed matter 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 ; irregular chains of hills, mottled with patches
of snow, deep yellowish-green valleys, and arms of the sea inter-
secting 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 a.scent ; for the weight of the body
forced a passage, and all the slips and falls were in the ricrht
direction. °
I have already mentioned the sombre and dull character of tlie
evergreen forests,* in which two or three 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 moun-
tains of Europe, though so many thousand miles distant. The
central part of Tierra del Fuego, where the clay-slate formation
occurs, is most favourable to the growth 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.
Ivear 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 several of the beech were as much as thirteen feet.
Captain King also mentions a beech which was seven feet in
diameter seventeen feet above the roots.
There is one vegetable production deserving notice from it';
importance as an article of food to the Fuegians. It is a globu-
fi.I5.^P*^'"?'? ^""^ '''^°'''"' "^^ ^^^* ^° ^P"l (our October), the leaver oi
those trees which gi-ow near the base of the"^ mountains, change co our bu
not those on the moreelevated parts. I remember having read some ob.er
va ions, showing that in England the leaves fall earlier in a warm and fine
autumn than in a late and cold one. The change in the coIourTein Aere
retarded m the more elevated, and therefore colder situations mfstlS
owing to the same genera] law of vegetation. The trees of Tierra del
Fuego during no part of the year entirely shed their leaves
i36 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. lCHAp. xx.
lar, bright-yellow fungus, which grows in vast numbers on the
beech-trees. When young it is elastic and turgid, with a smooth
surface ; but when mature, it shrinks, becomes tougher, and has its
entire surface deeply pitted or honey-
combed, as represented in the accom-
panying wood-cut. This fungus be-
longs to a new and curious genus ;* I
found a second species on another spe-
cies of beech in Chile ; and Dr. 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 relation-
ship between parasitical fungi and the trees on which they grow,
in distant parts of the world ! In Tierra del Fuego the fungus
in its tough and mature state is collected in large quantities by
the women and children, and is eaten uncooked. It has a muci-
laginous, 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 fun-
gus. In New Zealand, before the introduction of the potato,
the roots of the fern were largely consumed ; at the present time,
I believe, Tierra del Fuego is the only country in the world
where a cryptogamic plant affords 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 ctenomys
allied to or identical with the tucutuco, two foxes (Canis Magel-
lanicus and C. Azarae), a sea-otter, the guanaco, and a deer.
Most of these animals 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
* Described from my specimens, and notes by the Rev. J. M. Berkeley, in
the Linnean Transactions (vol. xix. p. 37), under the name of Cyttaria
Darwinii : the Chilian species is the C. Berteroii. This genus is allied to
Bulgaria.
1834.] ZOOLOGY.
237
to believe that the land was once joined, and thus allowed ani-
mals so delicate and helpless as the tucutuco and Reithrodon to
pass over. The correspondence of the cliffs is far from proving
any junction ; because such cliffs generally are formed by the ht
tersection of sloping deposits, which, before the elevation of the
land, had been accumulated near the then existing shores. It is
however, a remarkable coincidence, that in the two large islands
cut off by the Beagle Channel from the rest of Tierradel 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 crj^stal-
line rocks: in the former, called Navarin Island, both foxes and
guanacos occur; but in the latter, Hoste Island, although simi-
lar in every respect, and only separated by a channel a litde 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 Magellanicus) hops in a skulkin-
manner among the entangled mass of the fallen and decaying
trunks. But the creeper (Oxyurus tupinieri) is the commonest
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 appears more nu-
merous 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 from 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 familiaris) ; nor
does it, like that bird, run up the trunks of trees, but industri-
ously, after the manner of a willow-wren, hops about, and
searches for insects on every twig and branch. In the more
open parts, three or four species of finches, a thrush, a starling (or
Icterus), two Opetiorhynchi, and several 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, a^
238
TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [chap. xi.
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 place, and from Jemmy
Button with regard to Tierra del Fuego. On the banks of the
Santa Cruz, in 50° south, I saw a frog ; 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 charac-
ter 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 fore-
seen ; but with respect to frogs, this was not so obvious
Beetles occur in very small numbers : it was lo.ig before
I could believe that a country as large as Scotland, covered with
vegetable productions and with a variety of stations, could be so
unproductive. The few which I found were alpine species (Har-
palidce and Heteromidae) living under stones. The vegetable-
feeding Chrysomelidse, so eminently characteristic of the Tropics,
are here almost entirely absent ;* I saw very few flies, butterflies,
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 species 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 number of
* I believe I must except one alpine Haltica, and a single specimen of a
Melasoma. Mr. Waterhouse informs me, that of the Harpahdae there are
ei'^ht or nine species— the forms of the greater number bemg very peculiar ;
of^'Heteromera, four or five species; of Rhyncophora six or seven; and
of the following families one species in each : Staphylinidse, li^latendse,
Cobrionidffi, Melolouthidffi. The species in the other orders are even fewer.
In all the orders, the scarcity of the individuals is even more reinarkable
than that of the species. Most of the Coleoptera have been carefully de-
scribed by Mr. Waterhouse in the Annals of Nat. Hist«
18'^'t-] GREAT SEA-WEED.
239
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
groMs on every rock from low-water mark to a great depth,
both on the outer coast and within the channels.* I believe'
during the voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, not one rock
near the surface was discovered which was not buoyed by this
floating weed. The good service it thus affords to vessels navi-
gating near this stormy land is evident ; and it certainly has
saved many a one from being wrecked. I know few thino-g more
surprising than to see this plant growing 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 sufliciently strong to support
the weight of the large loose stones, to which in the inland chan-
nels they grow 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 perpendicular direction, but makes a very acute angle
with the bottom, and much of it afterwards spreads many fathoms
on the surface 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 Captain Cook.
Captain Fitz Roy, moreover, found it growing f up from the
* Its geographical range is remarkably wide; it is found from the
extreme southern islets near Cape Horn, as far nokh on the eastern coas^
(accordmg to information given me by Mr. Stokes) as lat 4^-X
on the western coast, as Dr. Hooker tells me, it extends to the R San
Francisco in California, and perhaps even to K;mtschatka We thus have
an immense range m latitude; and as Cook, who must have been well
rn'on^tude^ '^'''''' '"""^ '' ^' ^^rgaelen Land, no less than 74(1°
t Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, vol. i. p. 363.-It appears that sea-
roIdCT T'T-^' ^^'''^'; ^^^- Stephenson found (wfws Voyage
T u v^'^i'f '^' ^'?\- "• P- --^^ t^^t a rock uncovered only at sprinc-tidef
which had been chiselled smooth in November, on the follLi^g^May that'
wo Sr '^r'''^', afterwards, was thickly covered with FucSs dig t^t^
two feet, and t. esculentus six ft-et, in length. uig.iaius
240 TIERRA DEL FUEGO. [cuap. xi.
greater depth of forty-five fathoms. The beds of this sea-weed,
even when of not great breadth, make excellent natural floating
breakwaters. It is quite curious to see, in an exposed harbour,
how soon the waves from the open sea, as they travel through
the straggling stems, sink in height, and pass into smooth
water.
The number of living creatures of all Orders, whose existence
intimately depends on the kelp, is wonderful. A great 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 £is to be of a
white colour. We find exquisitely delicate structures, some in-
habited by simple hydra-like polypi, others by more organized
kinds, and beautiful compound Ascidiae. 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-
fi.sh, beautiful Holuthurise, Planariae, and crawling nereidous
animals of a multitude 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 structures. In Chiloe, where the
kelp does not thrive very well, the numerous shells, corallines,
and Crustacea are absent ; but there yet remain a few of the
Flustraceae, and some compound Ascidiae ; the latter, however,
are of difl^erent species from those in Tierra del Fuego : we
here see the fucus possessing 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 terrestria:
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 food or shelter ; with their destruc-
tion 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 tliis miserable land, would
redouble his cannibal feast, decrease in numbers, and perhaps
cease to exist.
1834.] MOUNT SAKMIENTO. 1^41
June Wi. — AYe 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
discovered. Our course lay due soutli, down that gloomy pas-
sage which I have before alluded to, as appearing to lead to
another and worse world. The wind was fair, but the atmos-
phere 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 interest-
*"o 5 jagged points, cones of snow, blue glaciers, strong outlines,
marked on a lurid sky, were seen at different distances and heights.
l\\ the midst of such scenery we anchored at Cape Turn, close
to Mount Sarmiento, which was then hidden in the clouds. At
the base of the lofty and alm.ost perpendicular sides of our little
cove there was one deserted wigwam, 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 warring 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 Sarmiento, and display it
to our view. This mountain, which is one of the highest in
Tierra del Fuego, has an altitude of 6800 feet. Its base, for
about an eighth of its total height, is clothed by dusky woods,
and above this a field 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 descended 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 Dart of the channel ; but the water was so
242 CLIMATE AND PKODUCTIONS OF [chap. xi.
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 \Oth. — In the morning we made the best of our way
into the open Pacific. The Western coast generally consists of
low, rounded, quite barren 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 mig-ht 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 East and West 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 is enough to make a
landsman dream for a week about shipwrecks, peril, and death ; and
with this sight we bade farewell for ever to Tierra del Fuego.
The following discussion on the climate of the southern parts
of the continent with relation to its productions, on the snow-
line, on the extraordinarily low descent of the glaciers, and
on the zone of perpetual congelation in the antarctic islands, may
be passed over by any one not interested in these curious sub-
jects, 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 fo"rs**^r
edition of this work.
Oil- the Climate mid Productions of Tierra del Fuego ana
of the South-ivest Coast. — The following table gives the mean
temperature of Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and, for
comparison, that of Dublin : —
J ^.. , Summer Winter Mean of Summer
i^autuae. 'lemp. Temp and Winter.
Tierra del Fuego . . 53° 38'S. 50^ 33°-08 41^*54
Falkland Islands . . 51 30 S. 51 — —
Dublin .... 53 21 N. 59 *54 39 "2 49 -37
Hence we see that the central part of Tierra del Fuego i«
colder in winter, and no less than 9.^° less hot in summer, than
Dublin. According to Von Bueh the mean temperature of
July (not the hottest month in the year) at Saltenfiord in Nor-
way, is as high as 57 ''.S, and this place is actually 13° nearer
;834.] TIERRA DEL FUEGO AND THE WEST COAST, 243
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 parrots
feeding on the seeds of the Winter's Bark, in lat. do"" S. I have
already remarked to what a degree the sea swarms with living
creatures ; and the shells (such as the Patellae, Fissurellge, Chitons,
and Barnacles), according to Mr. G. B. Sowerby, are of a much
larger size, and of a more vigorous growth, than the analogous
species in the northern hemisphere. A large Voluta 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 characterised 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 geologist were to find in lat. 39^ on
the coast of Portugal, 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 tropical ; but judging from South America, such
an inference might be erroneous.
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
further northward, I may mention that in Chiloe (corresponding
in latitude with the northern parts of Spain) the peach seldom
produces fruit, whilst strawberries and apples thrive to perfec-
tion. Even the crops of barley and wheat f are often brought
into the houses to be dried and ripened. At Yaldivia (in the
same latitude of 40°, with Madrid) grapes and figs ripen, but are
not common ; olives seldom ripen even partially, and oranges
* With respect to Tierra del Fuego, the results are deduced from the
observ-ations 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 temperature (reduced from careful ob-
servation at midnight, 8 a.m., noon, and 8 p.m.) of the three hottest months
viz. December, January, ana February. The temperature of Dublin is
taken from Barton.
t Agiieros, Descrip Hist, de la Prov. de Chiloe, I7<i!, p 94.
U4 HEIGHT OF SXOW-LINE. [chap. xi.
not at all. These fruits, in corresponding latitudes in Europe,
are well known to succeed to perfection ; and even in this con-
tinent, at the Rio Negro, under nearly the same parallel with
Valdivia, 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 un-
favourable 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 entangled mass to the heiglit
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, flou-
rishes even as far south as 45° S.
An equable climate, evidently due to the large area of sea
compared with the land, seems to extend over the greater part of
the southern hemisphere ; and as a consequence, the vegetation
partakes of a serai-tropical character. Tree-ferns thrive luxuri-
antly in Yan 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 orchi-
deous plants are parasitical on the trees. In the Auckland
Islands, ferns, according to Dr. DiefFenbach,* have trunks so
thick and high that they may be almost called tree-ferns ; and
in these islands, and even as far south as lat. 55° in the Mac-
quarrie Islands, parrots abound.
0?i the Height of the Suow-lhie, and on the Descent of the
Glaciers^ in South America. — For the detailed authorities for
the following table, I must refer to the former edition : —
T f. J Heijjht in feet ^,
Latitude of Snow-line. Observer.
Equaforial region ; mean result 15,748 Humboldt.
Bolivia, lat. 16° to 18° S. . . 17,000 Pentland.
t'entral Cliile, lat. 33° S. . . 14,500 to IS.OCO Gillies, and the Author.
(;hil 16, lat. 41° to 43° S. . . 6,000 Officers of the Beagle, and the Author.
f ierra del Fuego, 54° S. . . 3,500 to 4,000 King.
As the height of the piane of perpetual snow^ seems chiefly to
* Sefi the German Translation of this Journal : and for the other facts
Mr. Brown's Appendix to Flinders's Voyage.
1834.] DESCENT OF GLACIEKS. 245
be determined by the extreme heat of the summer, rather than
by the mean temperature of the year, we ought not to be sur-
prised at its descent in the Strait of Magellan, where the sum-
mer is so cool, to only 3500 or 4000 feet above the level of the
Bea ; 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 Cordil-
lera behind Chiloe (with its highest points ranging from only
6600 to 7500 feet) and in central Chile* (a distance of only 9'
of latitude), is truly wonderful. The land from the southward
of Chiloe 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 O'ther hand, a little northward of Con-
cepcion, 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 perpetual snow undergoes the above remark-
able flexure 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 conceive, mainly
depend (subject, of course, to a proper supply of snow in the
upper region) on the lowness of the line of perpetual snow on
steep mountains 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 asto-
nished \vhen I first saw a range, only from 3000 to 4000 feet in
height, in the latitude of Cumberland, with every valley filled
* On the Cordillera of central Chile, I believe the snow-line varies ex-
ceedingly in height in different summers. I was assured that during one
very dry and long summer, all the snow disappeared from Aconcagua,
although it attains the prodigious height of 23,000 feet. It is probable that
much of the snow at these great heights is evaporated, rather than thawed.
t 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 of Ingenio, I saw some large
date palm-trees.
J46
FLOATING ICEBERGS.
[chap, XI.
with streams of ice descending to the sea-coast. Almost every
arm of the sea, ^vhich penetrates to the interior higher chain,
not only in Tierra 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 channels. These falls, as noticed in the last chapter, pro-
duce great waves which break on the adjoining coasts. It is
known that earthquakes frequently cause masses of earth to fall
from sea-cliffs : how terrific, then, would be 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 w ould 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 out-
wards, and one of them must have been at least 168 feet in total
mii;^::^
4G° 40'.
—50'
47° OQT,
* Bulkeley's and Cummin's Faithful Narrative of the Loss of the Wager
rh3 earthquake happened August 25, 1741.
.834.] ERRATIC BOULDERS.
247
height. Some of the icebergs were loaded with blocks of no
inconsiderable size, of granite and other rocks, different from the
clay-slate of the surrounding mountains. The glacier furthest
from the Pole, surveyed during the voyages 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 sea-
coast. But even a few miles northward of this glacier, in the
Laguna de San Rafael, some Spanish missionaries * encountered
" many icebergs, some great, some small, and others middle-
sized," in a narrow arm of the sea, on the 22nd of the month
corresponding 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 de-
scend to the sea-coast, within 7^° of latitude, or 450 miles, of a
harbour, where three species of Oliva, a Yoluta, 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 21° 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-
ferns !
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
icebergs being charged with fragments of rock, explains the origin
and position of the gigantic boulders of eastern Tierra del Fuego,
on the high plain of Santa Cruz, and on the island of Chiloe.
In 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 unstrati-
fied formation of mud and sand, containing rounded and angular
fragments of all sizes, which has originated j in the repeated
* Agiieros, Desc. Hist, de Chiloe, p. 227.
t Geological Transactions, vol. vi, p. 415,
us CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS OF [chap. xi.
ploughing up of the sea-bottom by the stranding of icebergs, antl
by the matter transported on them. Few geologists now doubt
that those erratic boulders which lie near lofty mountains, have
been pushed forward by the glaciers themselves, and that those
distant from mountains, and embedded in subaqueous deposits,
have been conveyed 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 geo-
graphical 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^ of latitude, measured from the
same point. On the other hand, in the intertropical parts of
America, Asia, and Africa, they have never been observed ; nor
at the Cape of Good Hope, nor in Australia.*
0?i the Climate and Productions of the Antarctic Idands. —
Considering the rankness of the vegetation in Tierra del Fuego,
and on the coast northward of it, the condition of the islands south
and south-west of America is truly surprising. Sandwich 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 broad, in
the latitude of Yorkshire, " in the very height of summer, is in
a manner wholly covered with frozen snow." It can boast only
of moss, some tufts of grass, and wild burnet : it has only one
land-bird {Anthus correndera), 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 lichens, moss, and a little grass ;
and Lieut. Kendall -f found the bay, in which he was at anchor,
beginning to freeze at a period corresponding with our 8th of
September. The soil here consists of ice and volcanic ashes
* I have given details Tthe first, I believe, published) on this subject in the
first edition, and in the Appendix to it. I have there shown that the appa-
rent exceptions to the absence of erratic boulders in certain hot countries,
are due to erroneous observations : several statements there given, I have
since found confirmed by various authors.
t Geographical Journal, 1800, pp. 65, G6.
1834.] THE AINTARCTIC ISLANDS. 249
interstratified ; and at a little deptli beneath the surface it must
remain perpetually congealed, for Lieut. Kendall found the body
of a foreign sailor which had long- been buried, with the flesh
and all the features perfectly preserved. 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,* 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 continents, the winter is rendered
excessively cold by 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 other 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 per-
petually 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 quadrupeds require a luxuriant vege-
tation for their support, 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 supported. The perfect preservation of the carcasses
of the Siberian elephants and rhinoceroses is certainly one of the
most wonderful fects in geology ; but independently of the
• Kichardson's Append, to Back's Exped , and Humboldt's Fragm. Asiat.,
torn, ii. p. 386.
250 UECAFITULATION. [chap. xi.
imagined difficulty of supplying them with food from the adjoin-
ing countries, the whole case is not, I thinlc, so perplexing as it
has generally been considered. The plains of Siberia, like those
of the Pampas, appear to have 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 pre-
serve the flesh ; and hence, carcasses drifted beyond the shallow
parts near an arctic coast, would have only their skeletons pre-
served : now in the extreme northern parts of Siberia bones are
infinitely numerous, 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 shallow part of the Arctic Sea, would be preserved for an inde-
finite period, if it were soon afterwards covered with mud, suffi-
ciently thick to prevent the heat of the summer-water penetrat-
ing 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 corrupting it.
Recapitulation. — I will recapitulate the principal facts with
regard to the climate, ice-action, and 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 Terebra, 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 tht^
* Messrs. Dease and Simpson, in Geograph. Journ., vol. viii. pp. 218
ind 220.
f Cuvier (Ossemens Fossiles, torn. i. p. 151), from Billing's Voyage.
1834.J RECAPITULATION. 251
jaguar would haunt tlie Pyrenees. In the latitude of Mont
Blanc, but on an island as far westward as central North America,
tree-ferns and parasitical Orchideae would thrive amidst the thick
woods. Even as far north as central Denmark, humming-birds
would be seen fluttering about delicate flowers, and parrots feed-
ing amidst the evergreen woods ; and in the sea there, we shouhl
have a Voluta, and all the shells of large size and vigorous
growth. Nevertheless, on some islands only 360 miles northward
of our new Cape Horn in Denmark, a carcass buried in the
soil (or if washed into a shallow sea, and covered up with
mud) would be preserved perpetually frozen. If some bold
navigator attempted 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 awav
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 covered with everlasting snow," and would
have each bay terminated by ice-cliffs, whence great masses
would be yearly detached : 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 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 astonish-
ing glaciers." These lonely channels would frequently rever-
berate with the falls of ice, and so often would great waves rush
along their coasts ; numerous icebergs, some as tall as cathedrals,
and occasionally loaded with " no inconsiderable blocks of rock,"
would be stranded on the outlvino- islets ; at intervals violent
earthquakes would shoot prodigious masses of ice into the waters
below. Lastly, some Missionaries attempting to penetrate a long
arm of the sea, would behold the not lofty surrounding moun-
tains, sending down their many grand icy streams to the sea-
coast, 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 Antarciic Ocean. This
252 CENTRAL CHILE. [chap, xil
CHAPTER XII.
Valparaiso — Excursion to the foot of the Andes - Structure of the land —
Ascend the Bell of Quillota — Shattered masses of greenstone— Immense
valleys — Mines— State of miners — Santiago — Hot-baths of Cauquenes —
Gold-mines— Grinding-mills — Perforated stones — Habits of the Puma —
El Turco and Tapacolo — Humming-birds.
CE^TRAL CHILE.
July 2^rd. — The Beagle anchored late at night in the bay of
Valparaiso, th-e chief seaport of Chile. When morning came,
everything appeared delightful. After Tierra del Fiiego, 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 anchor-
age 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 dow^n, the houses are
piled up on each side of it. The rounded hills, being only par-
tially protected by a very scanty vegetation, are worn into num-
berless little gullies, which expose a singularly bright red soil.
From this cause, and from the low whitewashed houses with tile
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 pub-
lished by me (Geographical Journal, vol. ix. p. 528), of a gigantic boulder
embedded in an iceberg in the Antarctic Ocean, almost certainly one hundred
miles distant from any land, and perhaps much more distant. In the Ap-
pendix I have discussed at length, the probability (at that time hardly
thought of) of icebergs, when stranded, grooving and polishing rocks, like
glaciers. This is now a very commonly received 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 off North America
push before them pebbles and sand, and leave the submarine rocky I5ats
quite bare : it is hardly possible to doubt that such ledges must be polished
and scored in the direction of the set of the prevailing currents. Since
writing that Appendix, I have seen in North Wales (London Phil. Mag.,
vol. xxi. p. 180) the adjoining action of glaciers and of floating icebergs.
1 834. J BAY OF VALPARAISO.
253
roofs, the view reminded me of St. Cruz in Teneriife. 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 perceived. The volcano
of Aconcagua is particularly magnificent. This huge and irre-
gularly conical mass has an elevation greater than that of Chim-
borazo ; for, from measurements made by the officers in the
Beagle, its height is no less than 23,000 feet. The Cordillera,
however, 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 Cor-
field, an old schoolfellow and friend, to whose hospitality and
kindness I was greatly indebted, in having afl'orded me a mo^t
pleasant residence during the Beagle's stay in Chile. The im-
mediate 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 suffici-
ently abundant. The vegetation in consequence 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
steep parts of the hills. AVhen 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 remark-
able. I took several long walks while collecting objects of na-
tural 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 brushing through them became scented. I did
not cease from wonder at finding each succeeding day as fine as
the foregoing. What a difference does climate make in the en>
joyment of life ! How opposite are the sensations when viewino-
black mountains half-enveloped in clouds, and seeing another
range through the light blue haze of a fine day ! Ilie^'one for a
time may be very sublime; the other is all gaiety and haopy life
254 CENTRAL CHILE. [cnAP. xil
August \Ath. — I set out on a riding excursion, for the pur-
pose of geologising 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 tiie Hacienda of Quintero, the estate which formerly
belonged to Lord Cochrane. My object in coming here was to
see tlie great beds of shells, which stand some yards above the
level of the sea, and are burnt for lime. The proofs of the ele-
vation of this whole line of coast are unequivocal : at the height
of a few hundred feet old-lool^ing shells are num.erous, and I found
some at 1300 feet. These shells either lie loose on the surface,
or are embedded in a reddish-blaclc vegetable mould. I was
much surprised to find under the microscope that this vegetable
mould is really marine mud, full of minute particles of organic
bodies.
15/A. — AYe returned towards the valley of Quillota. The
country was exceedingly pleasant ; just such as poets would call
pastoral : green open lawns, separated by small valleys with
rivulets, and the cottages, we may suppose of the shepherds, scat-
tered 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 country
near Valparaiso, would never have imagined that there had
been such picturesque spots in Chile. As soon as we reached
the brow of the Sierra, the valley of Quillota was immediately
under our feet. The prospect v.as one of remarkable artificial
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 vegetable.
On each side huge bare mountains rise, and this from the con-
trast renders the patchwork valley the more pleasing. Who
ever called " Valparaiso " 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 Cordillera and the Pacific ; and this strip is itself
traversed by several mountain-lines, which in this part run paral-
lel to the great range. I>etween these outer lines and the main
J83-I.] THE BELL OF QUILLOTA. 255
Cordillera, a succession of level basins, generally openino- into
each other by narrow passages, extend far to the southward : in
tliese, the principal towns are situated, as San Felipe, Santiago,
San Fernando. These basins or plains, together with the trans-
verse flat valleys (like that of Quillota) which connect tliem 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
Tierra del Fuego and the western coast. Chile must formerly
have resembled the latter country in the configuration of its land
and water. The resemblance was occasionally sliown strikingly
when a level fog-bank covered, as with a mantle, all the lower
parts of the country: the white vapour curling into the ravines,
beautifully represented little coves and bays ; and here and there
a solitary hillock peeping up, showed that it had formerly stood
there as an islet. The contrast of these flat valleys and basins
with the irregular mountains, gave the scenery a character which
to me was new and very interestino-.
From the natural slope to seaward of these plains, they are very
easily irrigated, and in consequence singularly fertile. Without
this process the land would produce scarcely anything, for during
the whole summer the sky is cloudless. The mountains and hills
are dotted over with bushes and low trees, and exceptinf»- 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, manage to find sufficient pasture.
Once every year there is a grand " rodeo," when all the cattle
are driven down, counted, and marked, and a certain number
separated to be fattened in the irrigated fields. Wheat is exten-
sively cultivated, and a good deal of Indian corn : a kind of bean
is, however, the staple article of food for the common labourers.
The orchards produce an overflowing abundance of peaches, figs,
and grapes. With all these advantages, the inhabitants of tlie
country ought to be much more prosperous than they are.
^ I6th. — 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 Campana, or Bell Mountain, which is 6400 feet
high. The paths were very bad, but both the geology and scenery
amply repaid the trouble. We reached, by the evening, a spring
called the Agiia del Guanaco, which is situated at a o-reat hei"-ht.
12
256 CENTKAL CHILE. [chap, xn
?
This must he. an old name, for it is very many years since a gua-
naco drank its waters. During the ascent I noticed that nothing
but bushes grew 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 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. Tliey are
excessively numerous in some parts of Chile, and valuable on ac-
count of a sort of treacle made from the sap. On one estate neai
Petorca they tried to count them, but failed, after having num-
bered several hundred thousand. Every year in the early spring,
in August, very many are cut down, and when 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 ex-
pose a fresli surface. A good tree will give ninety gallons, and
all this must have been contained in the vessels of the apparently
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 ab-
solutely necessary to take care, in cutting dow^n 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, instead of checked, by the force of gravity. The sap is
concentrated by boiling, and is then called treacle, 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 Val-
paraiso, 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 a blight v/hite
speck. Anson expresses much surprise, 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 transparency of the air.
The setting of ihe sun was glorious ; the valleys being black,
1834.] THE BELL OF QUILLOTA. 257
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 goatsucker, were occasionally to be heard. Besides
these, fevv birds, or even insects, frequent these dry, parched
mountains.
August Vlth. — In the morning we climbed up the rough mass
of greenstone which crowns the summit. This rock, as fre-
quently happens, was much shattered and broken into huge
angular fragments. I observed, however, one remarkable cir-
cumstance, namely, that many of the surfaces presented every
degree of freyhness — some appearing as if broken the day before,
whilst on others lichens had either just become, or had long
grown, attached. 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 Mount
Wellington, in Van Diemen's Land, where earthquakes do not
occur ; and there I saw the summit of the mountain similarly
composed and similarly shattered, but all the blocks appeared
as*if they had been hurled into their present position thousands
of years ago.
We spent the day on the summit, and I never enjoyed one
more thoroughly. Chile, bounded by the Andes and the Pa-
cific, 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 valley of Quillota directly inter-
secting them. AYho can avoid wondering at the force which has
upheaved these mountains, and even more so at the countless
ages which it must have required, to have broken through, re-
moved, and levelled whole masses of them ? 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
it.s height by so many thousand feet. AVhen in that country, T
wondered how any mountain-chain could have supplied suih
2J8 CENTKAL CHILE. [chaf. xil
masses, and not have been utterly obliterated. We must not now
reverse the wonder, and doubt whether all-powerful time can
grind down mountains — even the gigantic Cordillera — into gravel
and mud.
The appearance of the Andes was different from that w^hich 1
had expected. The lower line of the snow was of course hoii-
zontal, and to this line the even summits of the range seen itd
quite parallel. Only at lon^- 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.
Almost 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 unexamined. 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 very
different set of 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 surprised to find that my
companions did not like to eat «it the same time with myself.
This feeling of inequality is a necessary consequence of the ex-
istence 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 cattle-breeding countries eastward of
the Andes. A traveller does not here meet that unbounded
hospitality whicli 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 ex-
pected to be given in the morning ; even a rich man will accept
two or three shilluigs. The Gaucho, although he may be a
3ut-throat, is a gentleman ; the Guaso is in few respects better,
but at the same time a vulgar, ordinary fellow. The two men,
although employed much in the same manner, are diflferent in
their habits and attire ; and the peculiarities of each are universal
ID their respective countries. The Gaucho seems pan of nia
^^^-^•1 QUILLOTA— SAN FELIPE.
259
horse, and scorns to exert himself excepting when on its back ;
tli-e Guaso may be hired to work as a labourer in the fields. The
former lives entirely on animal food ; the latter almost wholly
on vegetable. We do not here see the white boots, the broad
drawers, and scarlet chilipa ; the picturesque costume of the
Pampas. Here, common trowsers are protected bv black and
green worsted leggings. The poncho, however, is" common to
both. The chief pride of the Guaso lies 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 pomts. The stirrups are on the same scale, each consist-
ing of a square, carved block of wood, hollowed out, yet weio-h-
mg three or four pounds. The Guaso is perhaps more exp°ert
M'lth the lazo than the Gaucho ; but, from the nature of the
country, he does not know the use of the bolas.
Aiiffust ISth.—We descended the mountain, and passed some
beautiful little spots, with rivulets and fine trees. Havin- slept
at the same hacienda as before, we rode during the two succeed-
ing 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.
1 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
han Felipe, a pretty straggling town like Quillota. The valley
in this part expands 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 married a Spanish
Nvoman, and did not mean to return home ; but his admiration
for the mines of Cornwall remained unbounded. Amon-st
many other questions, he asked me, '' Now that Georo-e Rex^is
dead, how many more of the family of Rexes are yet alive ?"
This Rex certainly must be a relation of the great author Finis
who wrote all books ! '
These mines are of copper, and the ore is all shipped to
260 CENTEAL CHILE [chap. \u,
Swansea, to be smelted. Hence the mines have an aspect singu-
larly quiet, as compared to those in England : here no smoke,
furnaces, or great steam-engines, disturb the solitude of the sur-
rounding mountains.
The Chilian government, or rather the old Spanish law,
encourag-es 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
I he 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 : secondly, 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 dollars. It is very odd that, in a country
where mining had been extensively carried on for many years,
sO simple a process as gently roasting the ore to expel the sul
phur previous to smelting it, had never been discovered. A few
improvements have likewise been introduced in some of the simple
machinery ; but even to the present day, water is removed from
some mines by men carrying it up the shaft in leathern bags !•
The labouring men work very hard. They have little time
allowed for their meals, and during summer and winter they
begin when it is light, and leave oif at dark. They are paid one
pound sterling a month, and their food is given them : this for
breakfast consists of sixteen figs and two small loaves of bread ;
for dinner, boiled beans ; for supper, 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 shil-
lings per month, and are allowed a little charqui. But these
18S4.] MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 9X1
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 geology, as might have been ex-
pected, was very interesting. The shattered and baked rocks,
traversed by "innumerable dykes of greenstone, showed what com-
motions had formerly taken place. The scenery was much the
same as that near the Bell of Quillota — dry barren mountains,
dotted at intervals by bushes with a scanty foliage. The cactuses,
or rather opuntias, were here very numerous. I measured one
of a spherical figure, which, including the spines, was six feet
and four inches in circumference. The height of the common
cylindrical, 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 prevented me, during
the last two days, from making some interesting excursions. I
attempted to reach a lake which the inhabitants, from some un-
accountable reason, believe to be an arm 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 consulta-
tion, 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 difficulty 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 move by jump-
ing. The black sky showed that a fresh snow-storm was gather-
ing, and we therefore were not a little glad when we escaped.
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 26th. — We left Jajuel and again crossed the basin of
S. Felipe. The day was truly Chilian : 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 s'ate of Chile as compared to other countries, was very
262 CENTRAL CHILE. [cuaf. xii.
Imnible : " 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 w^e descended
into the small land-locked plain of G nitron. In the basins, sucii
as this one, which are elevated from one thousand to two thou-
sand feet above the sea, two species of acacia, which are 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 basin.-. We crossed a low ridge which separates Guitron
from 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,
abutting horizontally against the base of the Andes, w^hose snov.y
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 level
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 places on the plain, and in the
evening dined with several of the English merchants, whose hos-
pitality 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 in-
formed 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 return to Valparaiso by a rather longer excur-
sion to the south of the direct road.
September 5th. — By the middle of the day we arrived at one
of the suspension bridges made of hide, which crosses theMaypu,
a large turbulent river a few leagues southward of Santiago.
These Joridges are very poor affairs. The road, following 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
1834.] HOT SPRINGS OF CAUQUENES.
203
the evening we reached a comfortable farm-house, where there
were several very pretty sefioritas. 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 ? " I assured them I was a sort of Christian ;
but they would not hear of it — appealing to my own words,
" Do not your padres, your very bishops, marry ?" The absur-
dity of a bishop having a wife particularly struck them ; they
scarcely knew whether to be most amused or horror-struck at
such an enormity.
6fh. — 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 pro-
perties, are situated. The suspension bridges, in the less fre-
quented parts, are generally taken down during the winter when
the rivers are low. Such was the case in this valley, 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 difficult even to perceive
whether the horse is moving onward or standing still. In sum-
mer, 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 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 valley just without the
central Cordillera. It is a quiet, 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 escaping 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 au
unequal mixture of cold water : for those with the lowest tern-
664 CENTRAL CHILE. I^chap. xii.
perature have scarcely any mineral taste. After the great earth-
quake of 1822 the springs ceased, and the water did not return
for nearly a year. They were also much aifected by the earth-
quake 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 surface. 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 lived on the spot for
several years, ought to be well acquainted with the circumstance,
— which, if true, 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 phenomenon would seem to indicate, that in this district
heated rock occurred at a depth not very great.
One day I rode up the valley to the farthest inhabited spot.
Shortly above that point, the Cachapual divides into two deep
tremendous ravines, which penetrate directly into the great range.
I scrambled up a peaked mountain, probably more than six thou-
sand feet high. Here, as indeed everj' where else, scenes of the
highest interest presented themselves. It was by one of these
ravines, that Pincheira entered Chile and ravaged the neighbour-
ing countiy. This is the same man whose attack on an estancia
at the Rio Negro I 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 place
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
* Caldcleugh.. in Philosoph. Transact, for 1836.
1834.J FLOATING ISLANDS. 2G5
cattle to his secret rendezvous. Piiichcira was a capital horse-
man, 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.
September 13M. — AYe left the baths of Cauquenes, and rejoin-
ing the main road slept at the Eio Claro. From this place we
rode to the town of S. Fernando. Before arriving there, the last
land-locked basin had expanded into a great plain, which ex-
tended 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 forty leagues from Santiago ; and it was my farthest
point southward ; for we here turned at right angles 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 v/e 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 inter-
twined together, and on the surface of which other living ones
take root. Their form is generally circular, and their thickness
from four to six feet, of which the greater part is immejsed 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 ap-
pearance of many of the men, and inquired 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
trunks of trees, placed in a zigzag line up the shaft. Even beard-
less young men, eighteen and twenty years old, with little mus-
cular development of their bodies (they are quite naked excepting
drawers) ascend with this great load from nearly the same dei)th.
A strong man, who is not accustomed to this labour, perspires
* Annales des Scieuces Naturelles, March, 1833. M. Gay, a zealous and
able naturalist, was then occupied in studying everj' branch of natural history
throughout the kingdom of Chile.
266 CENTRAL CHILE. [chap. xii.
most profusely, with merely carrjang up his own body. With
this veiy severe labour, they live entirely on boiled beans and
bread. They would prefer having- bread alone ; but their
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 sovmds 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 im-
palpable powder ; the process of washing removes all the lighter
particles, and amalgamation finally secures the gold-dust. The
washing, 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 pow-
dered matrix 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 tlirown into a common heap. A
great deal of chemical action then commences, salts of various
kinds effloresce on the surface, and the mass becomes hard. After
having been left for a year or two, and then rewashed, it yields
gold ; and this process may be repeated even six or seven times ;
but the gold each time becomes less in quantity, and the inter-
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 grinding,
would without doubt raise the val.'ie of gold-ores many fold. It
IS curious to find how the minute particles of gold, being scat-
tered about and not corroding^ at last accumulate in some quan-
tity. A short time since a few miners, being out of work, ob-
tained permission to scrape the ground round the house and mill :
*hey washed the earth thus got togetlier, and so pr^)cured thirty
834.] INDIAN RELIC.
^67
dollars' worth of gold. This is an exact counterpart of what takes
place in nature. Mountains suffer degradation and wear away,
and Avith them the metallic veins which they contain. The
hardest rock is worn into impalpable mud, the ordinary metals
oxidate, and both are removed ; but gold, platina, and a few
others are nearly indestructible, and from their weig-ht, sinkinc^
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 appears, it is gladly
accepted of by them ; for the condition of the labourino- ao-ri-
culturists is much worse. Their wages are lower, and they live
almost 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 cultivating, and in return has his services (or
those of a proxy) for every day of his life, without any wages.
Until a father has a grown-up son, who can by his labour pay
the rent, there is no one, except on occasional days, 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 neighbourhood, and I
was shown one of the perforated 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 dia-
meter, 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
purpose. 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
.awyer. I was amused at being told the conversation which tock
* Burchell's Travels, vol. ii, p. 45.
168 CENTRAL CHILE. [chap, xii
place between them. Renous speaks 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 seriously for some
time, and then said, " It is not well, — hay un gato encerrado
aqui (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 England, do not you think
the King of England would very soon send us out of his coun-
try ?" And this old gentleman, from his profession, belongs to
the better informed and more intelligent classes ! Renous him-
self, 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 butterflies. This was rumoured through the town, and
at last the Padres and Governor consulted together, and agreed
it must be some heresy. Accordingly, when Renous returned,
he was arrested.
September \9th. — 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 clin ate 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 Rancagua. "We shortly lost all trees and even
bushes ; so that the inhabitants are nearly as badly off for firewood
as those in the Pampas. Never having heard of these plains, I
was much surprised at meeting with such scenery in Chile. The
plains belong to more than one series of different elevations, and
they are traversed by broad fiat-bottomed valleys ; both of which
circumstances, as in Patagonia, bespeak 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 formerly been consecrated. Dur-
ing the day I felt very unwell, and from that time till the end of
October did not recover.
September 22jid. — AVe continued to pass over green plaiiis
without a tree. The next day we arrived at a house near Nave-
1834.J THE PUMA. 269
dad, 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 from the tertiary formation some marine
shells.
24^/i. — Our course was now directed towards Valparaiso,
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
uncommon. This animal has a wide geographical range ; being
found from the equatorial forests, throughout the deserts of Pata-
cronia, as far south as the damp and cold latitudes (53° to 54°)
of Tierra del Fuego. I have seen its footsteps in the Cordil-
lera of central Chile, at an elevation of at least 10,000 feet.
In La Plata the puma preys chiefly on deer, ostriches, bizcacha,
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 vertebrae break :
I have seen in Patagonia, the skeletons of guanacos, with their
necks thus dislocated.
The puma, after eating its fill, covers the carcass with many
lar"^e bushes, and lies down to watch it. This habit is often the
cause of its being discovered ; for the condors wheeling in the
air, every now and then descend to partake of the feast, and
beino- angrily driven away, rise all together on the wing. The
Chileno Guaso then knows there is a lion watching his prey —
the word is given — and men and dogs hurry 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 who pretended to such powers
of discrimination. It is asserted, that if a puma has once been
betrayed by thus watching the carcass, and has then been hunted.
no CENTRAL CHILE. [chap, xil
it never resumes this habit ; but that having gorged itself, it wan-
ders far away. The puma is easily killed. In an open country,
it is first entangled with the bolas, then lazoed, and dragged
along the ground 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 particular
breed, called Leoneros : they are weak, slight animals, like long-
legged terriers, but are born with a particular instinct for this
sport. The puma is described as being very crafty : w hen 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 animal, 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 uncommon. It lives on the
ground, sheltered among the thickets whicli are scattered over
the dry and sterile hills. With its tail erect, and stilt-like legs,
it may be seen every now and then popping from one bush to
another with uncommon quickness. It really requires little ima-
gination to believe that the bird is ashamed of itself, and is aware
of its most ridiculous figure. On first seeing it, one is tempted
to exclaim, ' A vilely stufifed specimen has escaped 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 wdiich it utters when concealed
amongst the bushes, are as strange as its appearance. It is said
to build its nest in a deep hole beneath the ground. I dis-
sected several specimens : the gizzard, w hich w as very muscu-
lar, contained beetles, vegetable fibres, and pebbles. From this
character, from the length of its legs, scratching feet, membran-
ous covering to the nostrils, short and arched wings, this bird
seems in a certain degree to connect the thrushes with the galli-
naceous order.
1834.] I1UMMING-I31KDS.
271
The second species (or P. albicollis) is allied to the first in its
general form. It is called Tapacolo, or " cover your poste-
rior ;" and well does the shameless little bird deserve 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 scattered over the barren bills,
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, unwillingness to take flight, and ni-
dification, it bears a close resemblance to the Turco ; but its ap-
pearance is not quite so ridiculous. The Tapacolo is very crafty :
when frightened by any person, it will remain motionless at the
bottom of a bush, and will then, after a little while, try with
nuich address to crawl away on the opposite side. It is also an
active bird, and continually making a noise: these noises are
various and strangely odd ; some are like the cooing of doves,
others like the bubbling of water, and many defy all similes.
The country people say it changes its cry five times in the year
— according to some change of season, I suppose.*
Two species of humming-birds are common ; Trochilus forfi-
catus 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 tiie
Avooded island of Chiloe, which has an extremely humid climate,
this little bird, skipping from side to side amidst the dripping
foliage, is perhaps more abundant than almost any other kind. I
opened the stomachs of several specimens, shot in difl?erent parts
of the continent, and in all, remains of insects were as numerous
as in the stomach of a creeper. When this species migrates in
the summer southward, it is replaced by the arrival of anotlier
species coming from the north. This second kind (Trochilus
gigas) is a very large bird for the delicate family to which it be-
longs : when on the wing its appearance is singular. Like others
of the genus, it moves from place to place with a rapidity which
* It is a remarkable fact, that Molina, though describing in detail all the
birds and animals of 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.
872 CENTRAL CHILE. [chap, xii
may be compared to that of Syrphus amongst flies, and Sphinx
among moths ; 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 hovering by a
flower, its tail is constantly expanded and shut like a fan,
the body being kept in a nearly vertical position. This action
appears to steady and support the bird, between the slow
movements of its wings. Although flying from flower to flower
in search of food, its stomach generally contained abundant re-
mains 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.
.834.1 ASPECT OF CHILOE. 273
CHAPTER XIII.
Chiloe — General aspect — Boat excursion — Native Indians — Castro — Tame
fox — Ascend San Pedro — Chonos Archipelago — Peninsula of Tres Montes
— Granitic range — Boat-wrecked sailors — Low's Harbour — Wild potato —
Formation of j>eat — Myopotamus, otter and mice — Cheucau and Barking-
bird — Opetiorhynchus — Singular character of Ornithology — Petrels.
CHILOE AND CHONOS ISLANDS.
November lOth. — The Beagle sailed from Valparaii-o to the
Bouth, for the purpose of surveying the southern part of Chile,
the island of Chiloe, and the broken land called the Chonos Ar-
chipelago, as far south as the Peninsula of Tres Montes. On the
21st we anchored in the bay of S. Carlos, the capital of Chiloe.
This island is about ninety miles long, with a breadth of rather
less than thirty. The land is hilly, but not mountainous, and is
covered by one great forest, except where a few green patches have
been cleared round the thatched cottages. From a distance the
view somewhat resembles that of Tierra del Fuego ; but the woods,
when seen nearer, are incomparably more beautiful. Many kinds
of fine evergreen trees, and plants with a tropical character, here
take the place of the gloomy beech of the southern shores. In
winter the climate is detestable, and in summer it is only a little
better. I should think there are few parts of the world, within
the temperate regions, where so much rain falls. The winds are
very boisterous, and the sky almost always clouded ; to have a
week of fine weather is something wonderful. It is even difficult
to get a single glimpse of the Cordillera : during our first visit,
once only the volcano of Osorno stood out in bold relief, and
that was before sunrise ; it was curious to watch, as the sun rose,
the outline gradually fading away in the glare of the eastein
sky.
The inhabitants, from their complexion and low stature, ap-
pear to have three-fourths of Indian blood in their veins. They
are an humble, quiet, industrious set of men. Although the fer-
274 CHiLOE. [chap. xtu.
tile soil, resulting from the decomposition of the volcanic rocks,
supports a rank vegetation, yet the climate is not favourable to
any production which requires much sunshine to ripen it. There
is very little pasture for the larger quadrupeds ; and in conse-
quence, the staple articles of food are pigs, potatoes, and fish.
The people all dress in strong woollen garments, which each
family makes for itself, and dyes with indigo of a dark blue co-
lour. The arts, however, are in the rudest state ; — as may be
seen in their strange fashion of ploughing, their method of spin-
ning, grinding corn, and in the construction of their boats. The
forests are so impenetrable, that the land is nowhere cultivated
except near the coast and on the adjoining islets. Even where
paths exist, they are scarcely passable from the soft and swampy
state of the soil. The inhabitants, like those of Tierra del Fue-
go, move about chiefly on the beach or in boats. Although
with plenty to eat, the people are very poor : there is no demand
for labour, and consequently the lower orders cannot scrape to-
gether money sufficient to purchase even the smallest luxuries.
There is also a great deficiency of a circulating medium. I have
seen a man bringing on his back a bag of charcoal, with which
to buy some trifle, and another carrying a plank to exchange
for a bottle of wine. Hence every tradesman must also be
a merchant, and again sell the goods which he takes in ex-
change.
November 24.fh. — The yawl and whale-boat were sent under
the command of Mr. (now Captain) Sulivan, to survey the east-
ern or inland coast of Chiloe ; and with orders to meet the
Beagle at the southern extremity of the island ; to which point
she would proceed by the outside, so as thus to circumnavigate
the whole. I accompanied this expedition, but instead of going
in the boats the first day, I hired horses to take me to Chacao,
at the northern extremity of the island. The road followed the
coast ; every now and then crossing promontories covered by fine
forests. In these shaded paths it is absolutely necessary that the
whole road should be made of logs of wood, which are squared
and placed by the side of each other. From the rays of the sun
never penetrating the evergreen foliage, the grouna is so damp
and soft, that except by this means neither man nor horse would
be able to pass along. I arrived at the village of Chacao,
1834.J BOAT EXCURSION. 27b
shortly after the tents belonging to the boats were pitched for
the night.
The land in this neighbourhood has been extensively cleared,
and there were many quiet and most picturesque nooks in the
forest. Chacao was formerly the principal port in the island ;
but many vessels having been lost, owing to the dangerous cu'--
rents and rocks in the straits, the Spanish government burnt the
church, and thus arbitrarily compelled the greater number of
inhabitants to migrate to S. Carlos. We had not long bivou-
acked, before the barefooted son of the governor came down to
reconnoitre us. Seeing the English flag hoisted at the yawl's
mast-head, he asked, with the utmost indifference, whether it
was always to fly at Chacao. In several places, the inhabitants
were much astonished at the appearance of men-of-war's boats,
and hoped and believed it was the forerunner of a Spanish fleet,
coming to recover the island from the patriot government of
Chile. All the men in power, however, had been informed of
our intended visit, and were exceedingly civil. AVliile we were
eating our supper, the governor paid us a visit. He had been a
lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish service, but now was miserably
poor. He gave us two sheep, and accepted in return two cotton
handkerchiefs, some brass trinkets, and a little tobacco.
25fh. — Torrents of rain : we managed, however, to run down
the coast as far as Huapi-lenou. The whole of this eastern side
of Chiloe has one aspect : it is a plain, broken by valleys and
divided into little islands, and the whole thickly covered with
one impervious blackish-green forest. On the margins there
are some cleared spaces, surrounding the high-roofed cottages.
26ih. — The day rose splendidly clear. The volcano of Osorno
was spouting out volumes of smoke. This most beautiful moun-
tain, formed like a perfect cone, and white with snow, stands
out in front of the Cordillera. Another great volcano, with a
saddle-shaped summit, also emitted from its immense crater little
jets of steam. Subsequently we saw the lofty-peaked Corco-
vado — well deserving the name of " el famoso Corcovado." Thus
we beheld, from one point of view, three great active volcanos,
each about seven thousand feet high. In addition to this, far to
the south, there were other lofty cones covered with snow, which,
although not known to be active, must be in their origin vol-
276 CHILOE. [chap. xm.
eanic. The line of the Andes is not, in this neighbourhood,
nearly so elevated as in Chile ; neither does it appear to form so
perfect a barrier between the regions of the earth. This great
range, although running in a straight north and south line,
twing to an optical deception, always appeared more or less
curved ; for the lines drawn from each peak to the beholder's
eye, necessarily converged like the radii of a semicircle, and as
it was not possible (owing to the clearness of the atmosphere and
the absence of all intermediate objects) to judge how far distant
the farthest peaks were off, they appeared to stand in a flattisli
semicircle.
Landing at midday, we saw a family of pure Indian extraction.
The father was singularly like York Minster ; and some of the
younger boys, with their ruddy complexions, might have been
mistaken for Pampas Indians. Everything I have seen, con-
vinces me of the close connexion of the different American tribes,
who nevertheless speak distinct languages. This party could
muster but little Spanish, and talked to each other in their own
Tongue. It is a pleasant thing to see the aborigines advanced to
the same degree of civilization, however low that ma,y be, which
their white conquerors have attained. More to the south we saw
many pure Indians : indeed, all the inhabitants of some of the
islets retain their Indian surnames. In the census of 1832, there
■were in Chiloe and its dependencies forty-two thousand souls :
the greater number of these appear to be of mixed blood. Eleven
thousand retain their Indian surnames, but it is probable that
not nearly all of these are of a pure breed. Their manner of life
is the same with that of the other poor inhabitants, and they are
all Christians ; but it is said that they yet retain some strange
superstitious ceremonies, and that they pretend to hold commu-
nication with the devil in certain caves. Formerly, every one
convicted of this offence was sent to the Inquisition at Lima.
Many of the inhabitants who are not included in the eleven
thousand with Indian surnames, cannot be distinguished by their
appearance from Indians. Gomez, the governor of Lemuy, is
descended from noblemen of Spain on both sides ; but by con-
stant intermarriages with the natives the present man is an
Indian. On the other hand, the governor of Quinchao boasts
much of his purely kept Spanish blood.
:834.J TENURE OF LAND 27?
We reached at night a beautiful little cove, north of the
island of Caucahue. The people here complained of want of
land. This is partly owing to their own negligence in not clear-
ing the woods, and partly to restrictions by the government,
which makes it necessary before buying ever so small a piece, to
pay two shillings to the surveyor, for measuring each quadia
(150 yards square), together with whatever price he fixes for the
value of the land. After his valuation, the land must be put up
three times to auction, and if no one bids more, the purchaser
can have it at that rate. All these exactions must be a serious
check to clearing the ground, where the inhabitants are so ex-
tremely poor. In most countries, forests are removed without
much diflEiculty by the aid of fire ; but in Chiloe, from the damp
nature of the climate, and the sort of trees, it is necessary first to
cut them down. This is a heavy drawback to the prosperity of
Chiloe. In the time of the Spaniards the Indians could not hold
land ; and a family, after having cleared a piece of ground, might
be driven away, and the property seized by the government.
The Chilian authorities are now performing an act of justice by
making retribution to these poor Indians, giving to each man,
according to his grade of life, a certain portion of land. The
value of uncleared ground is very little. The government gave
Mr. Douglas (the present surveyor, who informed me of these
circumstances) eight and a half square miles of forest near San
Carlos, in lieu of a debt ; and this he sold for 350 dollars, or
about 70/. sterling.
The two succeeding days were fine, and at night we reached
the island of Quinchao. This neighbourhood is the most culti-
vated part of the Archipelago ; for a broad strip of land on the
coast of the main island, as well as on many of the smaller ad-
joining ones, is almost completely cleared. Some of the farm-
houses seemed very comfortable. I was curious to ascertain
how rich any of these people might be, but Mr. Douglas says
that no one can be considered as possessing a regular income.
One of the richest landowners might possibly accumulate, in a
long industrious life, as much as lOOOZ. sterling ; but should this
happen, it would all be stowed away in some secret corner, for it
is the custom of almost every family to have a jar or treasure*
chest buried in the ground
278 CHILOE. [chap, xiil
November 30th. — Early on Sunday morning we reached Castro,
the ancient capital of Chiloe, but now a most forlorn and de-
serted place. The usual quadrangular arrangement of Spanish
towns could be traced, but the streets and plaza were coated with
fine green turf, on which sheep were browsing. The church,
which stands in the middle, is entirely built of plank, and has a
picturesque and venerable appearance. The poverty of the
place may be conceived from the fact, that although containing
some hundreds of inhabitants, one of our party was unable any-
where to purchase either a pound of sugar or an ordinary knife.
No indi\idual possessed either a watch or a clock ; and an old
man, who was supposed to have a good idea of time, was em-
ployed to stiike the church bell by guess. The arrival of our
boats was a rare event in this quiet retired corner of the world ;
and neirly all the inhabitants came down to the beach to see us
pitch our tents. They were \ery civil, and offered us a house ;
and one man even sent us a cask of cider as a present. In the
afternoon we paid our respects to the governor — a quiet old man,
who, in his appearance and manner of life, was scarcely superior
to an English cottager. At night heavy rain set in, which was
hardly sufficient to drive away from our tents the large circle of
lockers on. An Indian family, who had come to trade in a
canoe from Caylen, bivouacked near us. They had no shelter
during the rain. In the morning I asked a young Indian, who
was wet to the skin, how he had passed the night. He seemed
perfectly content, and answered, " Muy bien, seiior."
December 1st. — TVe steered for the island of Lemuy. I was
mxious to examine a reported coal-mine, which turned out to be
lignite of little value, in the sandstone (probably of an ancient
tertiary epocli) of wliich these islands are composed. When we
reached Lemuy we had much difficulty in finding any place to
pitch our tents, for it was spring-tide, and the land was wooded
down to the water's edge. In a short time we were surrounded
by a large group of the nearly pure Indian inhabitants. They
were much surprised at our arrival, and said one to the other,
" This is the reason we have seen so many parrots lately ; the
cheucau (an odd red-breasted little bird, whicli inhabits the thick
forest, and utters very peculiar noises) has not cried ' beware '
for nothing." They were soon anxious for barter. INIonev wa^
S34.J POVERTY OF THE INDIANS.
279
scarcely worth anything, but their eagerness for tobacco was
something quite extraordinary. After tobacco, indigo came next
in value ; then capsicum, old clothes, and gunpowder. The latter
article was required for a very innocent purpose : each parish Jias
a public musket, and tlie gunpowder was wanted for makino- a
noise on their saint or feast days. '^
The people here live chiefly on shell-fish and potatoes. At
certain seasons they catch also, in " corrales," or hedcres under
water, many fish which are left on the mud-banks as° the tide
falls. Ihey occasionally possess fowls, sheep, goats, pigs, horses,
and cattle; the order in which they are here mentioned, ex-
pressing their respective numbers. I never saw anything more
obliging and humble than the manners of these people They
generally began with stating, that they were poor natives of the
place, and not Spaniards, and that they were in sad want of
tobacco and other comforts. At Caylen, the most southern
island, the sailors bought with a stick of tobacco, of the value of
three-halfpence, two fowls, one of which, the Indian stated, had
skin between its toes, and turned out to be a fine duck ; and with
some cotton handkerchiefs, worth three shillings, three sheep
and a large bunch of onions were procured. The yawl at this
place was anchored some way from the shore, and we had fears
for her safety from robbers during the night. Our pilot, Mr
Douglas, accordingly told the constable of the district that we
always placed sentinels with loaded arms, and not understandino-
Spanish, if we saw any person in the dark, we should assuredly
shoot him. The constable, with much humility, a-reed to the
perfect propriety of this arrangement, and promised us that no
one should stir out of his house during that nio-ht.
During the four succeeding days we continued sailing south-
ward. Ihe general features of the countrv remained the same
but It was much less thickly inhabited. On the large island of
Tanqui there was scarcely one cleared spot, the trees on every
side extenoing their branches over the sea-beach. I one day
noticed, growing on the sandstone cliffs, some very fine plants of
tbe panke (Gunnera scabra), which somewhat resembles the
rhubarb on a gigantic scale. The inhabitants eat the stalks,
which are subacid, and tan leather with the roots, and prepare a
black dye from them. The leaf is nearly circular, but deeplv
13
280
CHILOE. [chap. xin.
indented on its margin. I measured one wliich Mas nearly eight
feet in diameter, and therefore no less than twenty-four in cir-
cumference ! The stalk is rather more than a yard high, and
each plant sends out four or five of these enormous leaves, pre-
senting together a very noble appearance.
December 6th.— We reached Caylen, called " el fin del Cristi-
andad." In the morning we stopped for a few minutes at a
house on the northern end of Laylec, which was the extreme
point of South American Christendom, and a miserable hovel it
was. The latitude is 43° 10', which is two degrees farther south
than the Kio Negro on the Atlantic coast. These extreme Chris-
tians were very poor, and, under the plea of their situation, begged
for some tobacco. As a proof of the poverty of these Indians,
I may mention that shortly before this, we had met a man, who
had travelled three days and a half on foot, and had as many to
return, for the sake of recovering the value of a small axe and a
few fish. How very difficult it must be to buy the smallest article,
when such trouble is taken to recover so small a debt !
In the evening we reached the island of San Pedro, where we
found the Beagle at anchor. In doubling the point, two of the
officers landed to take a round of angles with the theodolite. A
fox (Canis fulvipes), of a kind said to be peculiar to the island,
and very rare in it, and which is a new species, was sitting on
the rocks. He was so intently absorbed in watching the work of
the officers, that I was able, by quietly walking up beliind, to
knock him on the head with my geological hammer. This fox,
more curious or more scientific, but less wise, than the generality
of his brethren, is now mounted in the museum of the Zoological
Society.
We stayed three days in tliis harbour, on one of which Captain
Fitz Roy, with a party, attempted to ascend to the summit of
San Pedro. The woods here had rather a different appearance
from those on the northern part of the island. The rock, also,
being micaceous slate, there was no beach, but the steep sides
dipped directly beneath the water. The general aspect in con-
sequence was more like that of Tierra del Fuego than of Chiloe.
In vain we tried to gain the summit : the forest was so impene-
trable, that no one who has not beheld it, can imagine so eii-
tano-led a mass of dving and dead trunks. I am sure that ofteu.
18S4.J SAN PEDRO. 281
for more than ten minutes together, our feet never touched the
ground, and we were frequently ten or fifteen feet above it, so
that the seamen as a joke called out the soundings. At other
times we crept one after another on our hands and knees, under
the rotten trunks. In the lower part of the mountain, noble
trees of the Winter's Bark, and a laurel like the sassafras with
fragrant leaves, and others, the names of which I do not know,
were matted together by a trailing bamboo or cane. Here we
were more like fishes struggling in a net than any other animal.
On the higher parts, brushwood takes the place of larger trees,
with here and there a red cedar or an alerce pine. I was also
pleased to see, at an elevation of a little less than 1000 feet, our
old friend the southern beech. They were, however, poor stunted
trees ; and I should think that this must be nearly their northern
limit. We ultimately gave up the attempt in despair.
December lOth. — The yawl and whale-boat, with Mr. Sulivan,
proceeded on their survey, but I remained on board the Beagle,
which the next day left San Pedro for the southw^ard. On the
13th we ran into an opening in the southern part of Guayatecas,
or the Chonos Archipelago ; and it was fortunate we did so, for
on the following day a storm, worthy of Tierra del Fuego, raged
with great fury. White massive clouds were piled up against a
dark blue sky, and across them black ragged sheets of vapour
were rapidly driven. The successive mountain ranges appeared
like dim shadows ; and the setting sun cast on the woodland a
yellow gleam, much like that produced by the flame of spirits of
wine. The water was white with the flying spray, and the wind
lulled and roared again through the rigging : it was an ominous,
sublime scene. During a few minutes there w^as a bright rain-
bow, and it was curious to observe the effect of the spray, which,
being carried along the surface of the water, changed the ordi-
nary semicircle into a circle — a band of prismatic colours being
continued, from both feet of the common arch across the bay,
close to the vessel's side: thus forming a distorted, but very
nearly entire ring.
We stayed here three days. The weather continued bad ; but
this did not much signify, for the surface of the land i/i all these
islands is all but impassable. The coast is so very rugged that
to attempt to walk in that direction requires continued scrambling
282
CIIONOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xm.
up and clown over the sharp rocks of mica-slate ; and as for the
woods, our faces, hands, and shin-bones all bore witness to the
maltreatment we received, in merely attempting to penetrate their
fni'bidden recesses.
December 18^/i.— We stood out to sea. On the 20th we bade
farewell to the south, and with a fair wind turned the ship's
head northward. From Cape Tres Montes we sailed pleasantly
along the lofty weather-beaten coast, which is remarkable for
the bold outline of its hills, and the thick covering of forest
even on the almost precipitous flanks. The next day a harbour
was discovered, which on this dangerous coast might be of great
service to a distressed vessel. It can easily be recognised by a
hill 1600 feet high, which is even more perfectly conical than
the famous sugar-loaf at Rio de Janeiro. The next^ day, after
anchoring, I succeeded in reaching the summit of this hill. It
was a laborious undertaking, for the sides were so steep that in
some parts it was necessary to use the trees as ladders. There
were also several extensive brakes of the Fuchsia, covered with its
beautiful drooping flowers, but very difficult to crawl through.
In these wild countries it gives much delight to gain the summit
of any mountain. There is an indefinite expectation of seeing
something very strange, which, however often it may be balked,
never failed with me to recur on each successive attempt. Every
one must know the feeling of triumph and pride which a grand
view from a height communicates to the mind. In these little
frequented countries there is also joined to it some vanity, that
you perhaps are the first man who ever stood on this pinnacle or
admired this view.
A strong desire is always felt to ascertain whether any human
being has previously visited an unfrequented spot. A bit of
wood with a nail in it, is picked up and studied as if it were
covered with hieroglyphics. Possessed with this feeling, I was
much interested by finding, on a wild part of the coast, a bed
made of grass beneath a ledge of rock. Close by it there had
been a fire, and the man had used an axe. The fire, bed, and
situation showed the dexterity of an Indian ; but he could scarcely
have been an Indian, for the race is in this part extinct, owing
to the Catholic desire of making at one blow Christians and
Slaves. I had at the time some misgivings that the solitary man
1834.] BOAT-WRECKED SAILORS. 28«
who had made his bed on this wild* spot, must have been some
poor shipwrecked sailor, who, in trying- to travel up the coast,
had here laid himself down for his dreary night.
December 2Wi. — The weather continued very bad, but it at
last permitted us to proceed with the survey. The time hung
heavy on our hands, as it always did when we were delayed from
day to day by successive gales of wind. In the evening another
harbour was discovered, where we anchored. Directly after-
wards a man was seen waving his shirt, and a boat was sent
which brought back two seamen. A party of six had run away
from an American whaling vessel, and had landed a little to the
southward in a boat, which was shortly afterwards knocked to
pieces by the surf. They had now been wandering up and down
the coast for fifteen months, without knowing which way to go,
or where they were. What a singular piece of good fortune it
was that this harbour was now discovered ! Had it not been for
this one chance, they might have wandered till they had grown
old men, and at last have perished on this wild coast. Their suf-
ferings had been very great, and one of their party had lost his
life by falling from the cliifs. They were sometimes obliged to
separate in search of food, and this explained the bed of the soli-
tary man. Considering what they had undergone, I think they
had kept a very good reckoning of time, for they had lost only
four days.
December SOth. — We anchored in a snug little cove at the
foot of some high hills, near the northern extremity of Tres
Montes. After breakfast the next morning, a party ascende I
one of these mountains, which was 2400 feet high. The scenery
Mas remarkable. The cliief part of the range was composed oi
grand, solid, abrupt masses of granite, which appeared as if they
had been coeval with the beginning of the world. The granite
was capped wdth mica-slate, and this in the lapse of ages had been
worn into strange finger-shaped points. These two formations,
thus differing in their outlines, agree in being almost destitute oi
vegetation. This barrenness had to our eyes a strange appear-
ance, from having been so long accustomed to the sight of an
almost universal forest of dark -green trees. I took much deligh.
in examining the structure of these mountains. The compli-
cated and lofty ranges bore a noble aspect of durability — equally
284
CIIONOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xm.
profitless, however, to man and to all otlier animals. Granite to
the geologist is classic ground : from its wide-spread limits, and
Its beautiful and compact texture, few rocks have been more
anciently recognised. Granite has given rise, perhaps, to more
discussion concerning its origin than any other formation. We
generally see it constituting the fundamental rock, and, however
formed, we know it is the deepest layer in the crust of this globe
to which man has penetrated. The limit of man's knowledge in
any subject possesses a high interest, which is perhaps increased
by its close neighbourhood to the realms of imagination.
January \st, 1835.— The new year is ushered in with the
ceremonies proper to it in these regions. She lays out no false
hopes : a heavy north-western gale, with steady rain, bespeaks
the rising year. Thank God, we are not destined here to see the
end of it, but hope then to be in the Pacific Ocean, where a blue
sky tells one there is a heaven,— a something beyond the clouds
above our heads.
The north-west winds prevailing for the next four days, we
)nly managed to cross a great bay, and then anchored in another
secure harbour. I accompanied the Captain in a boat to the
head of a deep creek. On the way the number of seals which we
saw was quite astonishing : every bit of flat rock, and parts of
the beach, were covered with them. They appeared to be of a
loving disposition, and lay huddled together, fast asleep, like so
many pigs ; but even pigs would have been ashamed of their
dirt, and of the foul smell which came from them. Each herd
was watched by the patient but inauspicious eyes of the turkey-
buzzard. This disgusting bird, with its bald scarlet head, formed
to wallow in putridity, is very common on the west coast, and
their attendance on the seals shows on what they rely for their
food. We found the water (probably only that of the surface)
nearly fresh :* this was caused by the number of torrents which,
in the form of cascades, came tumbling over the bold granite
mountains into the sea. The fresh water attracts the fish, and
these bring many terns, gulls, and two kinds of cormorant. We
saw also a pair of the beautiful black-necked swans, and several
small sea-otters, the fur of which is held in such high estimation.
In returning, we were again amused by the impetuous manner in
which the heap of seals, old and young, tumbled into the water
1835.1 WILD POTATO. 2«5
as the boat passed. They did not remain long- under water, but
rising, followed us with outstretched necks, expressing great
wonder and curiosity.
1th. — Having run up the coast, we anchored near the northern
end of tlie Chonos Archipelago, in Low's Harbour, where we
remained a week. The islands were here, as in Chiloe, composed
of a stratified, soft, littoral deposit ; and the vegetation in conse-
quence was beautifully luxuriant. The woods came down to
the sea-beach, just in the manner of an evergreen shrubbery
over a gravel walk. We also enjoyed from the anchorage a
splendid view of four great snowy cones of the Cordillera, in-
cluding " el famoso Corcovado :" the range itself had in this
latitude so little height, that few parts of it appeared above
the tops of the neighbouring islets. We found here a party
of five men from Caylen, " el fin del Cristiandad," who had
most adventurously crossed in their miserable boat-canoe, for
the purpose of fishing, the open space of sea which separates
Chonos from Chiloe. These islands will, in all probability, in
a short time become peopled like those adjoining the coast of
Chiloe.
The wild potato grows on these islands in great abundance,
on the sandy, shelly soil near the sea-beach. The tallest plant
was four feet in height. The tubers were generally small, but I
found one, of an oval shape, two inches in diameter : they re-
sembled in every respect, and had the same smell as English
potatoes ; but when boiled they shrunk much, and w ere watery
and insipid, without any bitter taste. They are undoubtedly
here indigenous : they grow as far south, according to Mr. Low,
as lat. 50", and are called Aquinas by the wild Indians of that part :
the Chilotan Indians have a different name for them. Professor
Henslow, who has examined the dried specimens which I brought
home, says that they are the same with those described by Mr.
Sabine * from Valparaiso, but that they form a variety which by
some botanists has been considered as specifically distinct. It is
remarkable that the same plant should be found on the sterile
* Horticultural Transact., vol. v. p. 249. Mr. Caldcleugh sent home two
tubers, which, being well manured, even the first season produced numerous
potatoes and an abundance of leaves. See Humboldt's interesting discussion
on this plant, wliich it appears was unknown in INIexico, — in Polit. Essay oa
New Spain, book iv. chap. ix.
286
CHONOS ARCHIPELAGO. l^hap. xiii.
mountains of central Chile, where a drop of rain does not fall for
more than six months, and within the damp forests of these
southern islands.
In the central parts of the Chonos Archipelago (lat. 45°), the
forest has very much the same character with that along the
whole west coast, for 600 miles southward to Cape Horn. The
arborescent grass of Chiloe is not found here ; while the beech of
Tierra del Fuego grows to a good size, and forms a considerable
proportion of the wood ; not, however, in the same exclusive
manner as it does farther southward. Cryptogamic plants here
find a most congenial climate. In the Strait of Magellan, as
I have before remarked, the country appears too cold and wet
to allow of their arriving at perfection ; but in these islands,
within the forest, the number of species and great abundance of
mosses, lichens, and small ferns, is quite extraordinary.* In
Tierra del Fuego trees grow only on the hill-sides ; every level
piece of land being invariably covered by a thick bed of peat ;
but in Chiloe flat land supports the most luxuriant forests. Here,
within the Chonos Archipelago, the nature of the climate more
closely approaches that of Tierra del Fuego than that of north-
ern Chiloe ; for every patch of level ground is covered by two
species of plants (Astelia pumila and Donatia magellanica),
which by their joint decay compose a thick bed of elastic peat.
In Tierra del Fuego, above the region of woodland, the for-
mer of these eminently sociable plants is the chief agent in the
production of peat. Fresh leaves are always succeeding one to
the other round the central tap-root ; the lower ones soon decay,
and in tracing a root downwards in the peat, the leaves, yet hold-
ing their place, can be observed passing through every stage of
decomposition, till the whole becomes blended in one confused
mass. The Astelia is assisted by a few otlier plants,— here and
there a small creeping Myrtus (M. nummularia), with a woody
stem like our cranberry and with a sweet berry,— an Empetrum
(E. rubrum), like our heath,— a rush (Juncus grandiflorus), are
nearly the only ones that grow on the swampy surface. These
plants, though possessing a verj^ close general resemblance to
* Bv sweepin- ^.ith my insect-net I procured from these situations a
consiSe 'number of mUe insects of the family of Staphyhmd^, ..^
others allied to Pselaphus, and minut. Hymenoptera. But ^tlie inos* ^^^:
racteristic family in number, both of ii dividuals and specie^, throughout Jie
more open part/of Chiloe and Chonos is that of the Tdephondfe.
I«35.^ FOKMATION OF PEAT. 287
the English species of the same genera, are different. In the
more level parts of the country, the surface of the peat is
broken up into little pools of water, which stand at different
heights, &nJ r.ppear as if artificially excavated. Small streams
of water, flowing underground, complete the disorganization of
the vegetable matter, and consolidate the whole
The climate of the southern part of America appears particu-
larly favourable to the production of peat. In the Falkland
Islands almost every kind of plant, even the coarse grass which
covers the whole surface of the land, becomes converted into this
substance : scarcely any situation checks its gTowth ; some of the
beds are as much as twelve feet thick, and the lower part becomes
so solid when dry, that it will hardly burn. Although every plant
lends its aid, yet in most parts the Astelia is the most efficient.
It is rather a singular circumstance, as being so very different from
what occurs in Europe, that I nowhere saw moss forming by its
decay any portion of the peat in South America. With respect
to the northern limit, at which the climate allows of that peculiar
kind of slow decomposition which is necessary for its production,
I believe that in Chiloe (lat. 41° to 42°), although there is much
swampy ground, no well characterized peat occurs : but in the
Chonos Islands, three degrees farther southward, we have seen
that it is abundant. On the eastern coast in La Plata (lat. 35°)
I was told by a Spanish resident, who had visited Ireland, that
he had often sought for this substance, but had never been able to
find any. He showed me, as the nearest approach to it which he
had discovered, a black peaty soil, so penetrated with roots as to
allow of an extremely slow and imperfect combustion.
The zoology of these broken islets of the Chonos Archipelago
is, as might have been expected, very poor. Of quadrupeds two
aquatic kinds are common. The Myopotamus Coypus (like a
beaver, but with a round tail) is well known from its fine fur,
which is an object of trade throughout the tributaries of La Plata.
It here, however, exclusively frequents salt water ; which same
circumstance has been mentioned as sometimes occurring with
the great rodent, the Capybara. A small sea-otter is very nu-
merous ; this animal does not feed exclusively on fish, but, like
the seals, draws a large supply from a small red crab, which
288 CHONOS ARCHIPELAGO. [cmap xiii.
swims in shoals near the surface of the water. Mr. Bynoe saw
one in Tierra del Fuego eating a cuttle-fish ; and at Low's
Harbour, another was killed in the act of carrying to its hole a
large volute shell. At one place I caught in a trap a singular
little mouse (i\I. brachiotis) ; it appeared common on several of
the islets, but the Chilotans at Low's Harbour said that it was
not found in all. What a succession of chances,* or what
changes of level must have been brought into play, thus to spread
these small animals throughout this broken archipelago !
In all parts of Chiloe and Chonos, two very strange birds
occur, which are allied to, and replace, the Turco and
Tapacolo of central Chile. One is called by the inhabi-
tants " Cheucau " (Pteroptochos rubecula) : it frequents the
most gloomy and retired spots within the damp forests. Some-
times, although its cry may be heard close at hand, let a person
watch ever so attentively he will not see the cheucau ; at other
times, let him stand motionless and the red-breasted little bird
will approach witliin a few feet in the most familiar manner. It
then busily hops about the entangled mass of rotting canes and
branches, with its little tail cocked upwards. The cheucau is
held in superstitious fear by the Chilotans, on account of its
strange and varied cries. There are three very distinct cries :
one is called " chiduco," and is an omen of good ; another,
" huitreu," which is extremely unfavourable ; and a third, which
I have forgotten. These words are given in imitation of the
noises ; and the natives are in some things absolutely governed by
them. The Chilotans assuredly have chosen a most comical
little creature for their prophet. An allied species, but rather
larger, is called by the natives " Guid-guid " (Pteroptochos
Tamil), and by the English the barking-bird. This latter name
is well given ; for I defy any one at first to feel certain that a
small dog is not yelping somewhere in the forest. Just as with
the cheucau, a person will sometimes hear the bark close by, but
in vain may endeavour by watching, and with still less chance by
beating the bushes, to see the bird ; yet at other times the guid-
* It is said that some rapacious birds bring their prey alive to their nests.
If so, in the course of centuries, every now and then, one might escape from
the young birds. Some such agency is necessary, to account for the distri-
Dution of the smaller gnawing animals on islands not very near each other.
1835.] ORNH'HOLOGY. 289
guid fearlessly comes near. Its manner of feeding and its general
habits are very similar to those of the cheucau.
On the coast,* a small dusky-coloured bird (Opetiorhynchus
Patagonicus) is very common. It is remarkable from its quiet
liabits ; it lives entirely on the sea-beach, like a sandpiper.
Besides these birds only few others inhabit this broken land.
In my rough notes I describe the strange noises, which, although
frequently heard within these gloomy forests, yet scarcely disturb
the general silence. The yelping of the guid-guid, and the sudden
whew- whew of the cheucau, sometimes come from afar off, and
sometimes from close at hand ; the little black wren of Tierra
del Fuego occasionally adds its cry ; the creeper (Oxyurus) fol-
lows the intruder screaming and twittering ; the humming-bird
may be seen every now and then darting from side to side, and
emitting, like an insect, its shrill chirp ; lastly, from tlie top of
some lofty tree the indistinct but plaintive note of the white-
tufted tyrant-flycatcher (Myiobius) may be noticed. From the
great preponderance in most countries of certain common genera
of birds, such as the finches, one feels at first surprised at meet
ing with the peculiar forms above enumerated, as tlie commonest
birds in any district. In central Chile two of them, namely, the
Oxyurus and Scytalopus, occur, although most rarely. When
finding, as in this case, animals which seem to play so insig-
nificant a part in the great scheme of nature, one is apt to wonder
why they were created. But it should always be recollected, that
in some other country perhaps they are essential members of
society, or at some former period may have been so. If America
south of 37° were sunk beneath the waters of the ocean, these
two birds might continue to exist in central Chile for a long
period, but it is very improbable that their numbers would
increase. We should then see a case which must inevitably have
happened with very many animals.
These southern seas are frequented by several species of
Petrels : tlie largest kind, Procellaria gigantea, or nelly (que-
brantahuesos, or break-bones, of the Spaniards), is a common
* I nny meution, as a proof of how great a difference there is between
the. seasons of the wooded and the open parts of this coast, that on September
2utn, in lat. 34'^, these birds had young ones in the nest, while among the
Chonos Islands, three months later in the summer, they were only laying ;
the difference in latitude between these two places being about 700 miles.
2lfO CHONOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xiii.
bird, both in the inland channels and on the open sea. In its
habits and manner of flight, there is a very close resemblance
with the albatross ; and as with the albatross, a person may
watch it for hours together without seeing on what it feeds.
The " break-bones " is, however, a rapacious bird, for it was
observed by some of the officers at Port St. Antonio chasing a
diver, w hich tried to escape by diving and flying, but was con-
tinually struck down, and at last killed by a blow on its head.
At Port St. Julian these great petrels were seen killing and
devouring young gulls. A second species (Puffinus cinereus),
which is common to Europe, Cape Horn, and tlie coast of Peru,
is of a much smaller size than the P. gigantea, but, like it, of a
dirty black colour. It generally frequents the inland sounds
in very large flocks : I do not think I ever saw so many birds of
any other sort together, as I once saw of these behind the island
of Chiloe. Hundreds of thousands flew in an irregular line for
several hours in one direction. Wlien part of the flock settled
on the water the surface was blackened, and a noise proceeded
from them as of human beings talking in the distance.
There are several other species of petrels, but I will only
mention one other kind, the Pelacanoides Berardi, which offers
an example of those extraordinary cases, of a bird evidently be-
longing 10 one well-marked family, yet both in its habits and
structure allied to a very distinct tribe. This bird never leaves
the quiet inland sounds. When disturbed it dives to a distance,
and on coming to the surface, with the same movement takes
flight. After flying by the rapid movement of its short wings
for a space in a straight line, it drops, as if struck dead, and
dives again. The form of its beak and nostrils, length of foot,
and even the colouring of its plumage, show that this bird is a
petrel : on the other hand, its short wings and consequent little
power of flight, its form of body and shape of tail, the absence of
a hind toe to its foot, its habit of diving, and its choice of situa-
tion, make it at first doubtful whether its relationship is not
equally close with the auks. It would undoubtedly be mistaken
for an auk, when seen from a distance, either on the wing, ox
when diving and quietly swimming about the retired channt'is ot
Tferra del Fuego.
18S5.J CHILOE 291
CHAPTER XIV.
San Carlos, Chiloe — Osomo in eruption, contemporaneously -with Aconcagua
and Coseguina — Ride to Cucao— Impenetrable forests — Valdivia — Indians
— Earthquake — Concepcion — Great earthquake — Rocks fissured — Appear-
ance of the former towns — The sea black and boiling — Direction of the
vibrations — Stones twisted round — Great Wave — Permanent elevation of
tlie land — Area of volcanic phenomena — The connexion between the
elevatory and eruptive forces — Cause of earthquakes — Slow elevation of
Mountain-chains.
CHILOE AND CONCEPCION : GREAT EARTHQUAKE.
On January the 15th we sailed from Low's Harbour, and three
days afterwards anchored a second time in the bay of S. Carlos
in Chiloe. On the night of the 19th the volcano of Osorno was
in action. At midnight the sentry observed sometliing like a
large star, which gradually increased in size till about three
o'clock, when it presented a very magnificent spectacle. By the
aid of a glass, dark objects, in constant succession, were seen, in
the midst of a great glare of red light, to be thrown up and to
fall down. The light was sufficient to cast on the water a long
bright reflection. Large masses of molten matter seem very
commonly to be cast out of the craters in this part of the Cor-
dillera. I was assured that when tlie Corcovado is in eruption,
great masses are projected upwards and are seen to burst in the
air, assuming many fantastical forms, such as trees : their size
must be immense, for they can be distinguished from the high
land behind S. Carlos, which is no less tlian ninety-three miles
from the Corcovado. In the morning the volcano became tran-
quil.
I was surprised at hearing afterwards that Aconcagua in Chile,
480 miles northwards, was in action on tliis same night ; and
still more surprised to hear, that the great eruption of Co-
seguina (2700 miles north of Aconcagua), accompanied by an
earthquake felt over a 1000 miles, also occurred within six hours
of this same time. This coincidence is the more remark-
able, as Coseguina had been dormant for tventy-six years:
1^1 CHILOK ICHAP. XIV
and Aconcagua most rarely shows any signs of action. It
is difficult even to conjecture, whether this coincidence waij
accidental, or shows some subterranean connection. If Vesuvius,
Etna, and Hecla in Iceland (all three relatively nearer each
other, than the corresponding points in South America) suddenly
burst forth in eruption on the same night, the coincidence would
be thought remarkable ; but it is far more remarlcable in this
case, where the three vents fliU on the same great mountain-
chain, and where the vast plains along the entire eastern coast,
and the upraised recent shells along more than 2000 miles
on the western coast, show in how equable and connected a
manner the elevatory forces have acted.
Captain Fitz Roy being anxious that some bearings should be
taken on the outer coast of Chiloe, it was planned that IMr. King
and myself should ride to Castro, and thence across the island to
the Capella de Cucao, situated on the west coast. Having hired
horses and a guide, we set out on the morning of the 22nd. We
had not proceeded far, before we were joined by a w oman and
two boys, who were bent on the same journey. Every one on
this road acts on a " hail fellow well met fashion ;" and one
may here enjoy the privilege, so rare in South America, of tra-
velling without fire-arms. At first, the country consisted of a
succession of hills and valleys : nearer to Castro it became very
level. The road itself is a curious affair ; it consists in its ^vhole
length, with the exception of very few parts, of great logs of
wood, which are either broad and laid longitudinally, or narrow
and placed transversely. In summer the road is not very bad :
but in winter, when the wood is rendered slippery from rain,
travelling is exceedingly difficult. At that time of the year, the
ground on each side becomes a morass, and is often overflowed :
hence it is necessary that the longitudinal logs should be fastened
down by transverse poles, which are pegged on each side into the
earth. These pegs render a fall from a horse dangerous ; as the
chance of alighting on one of them is not small. It is remark-
able, however, how active custom has made the Chilotan horses.
In crossing bad parts, where the logs had been displaced, they
skipped from one to the other, almost with the quickness and
certainty of a dog. On both hands the road is bordered by the
lofty forest-trees, with their bases matted together by canes.
1835.] CHILOE. 293
When occasionally a long reach of this avenue could be beheld,
It presented a curious scene of uniformity : the white line of
logs, narrowing in perspective, became hidden by the gloomy
forest, or terminated in a zigzag which ascended some steep hill.
Although the distance from S. Carlos to Co-stro is only twelve
leagues in a straight line, the formation of the road must have
been a great labour. I was told that several people had formerly
lost their lives in attempting to cross the forest. The first who
succeeded was an Indian, who cut his way through the canes in
eight days, and reached S. Carlos : he was re\A arded by the
Spanish government with a grant of land. During the summer,
many of the Indians wander about the forests (but chiefly in the
higher parts, where the woods are not quite so thick), in search
of the half-wild cattle which live on the leaves of the cane and
certain trees. It was one of these huntsmen who by chance dis-
covered, a few years since, an English vessel, which had been
wrecked on the outer coast. The crew were beginning to fail in
provisions, and it is not probable that, without the aid of this
man, they would ever have extricated themselves from these
scarcely penetrable woods. As it was, one seaman died on the
march, from fatigue. The Indians in these excursions steer by
the sun ; so that if there is a continuance of cloudy weather, they
cannot travel.
The day was beautiful, and the number of trees which were in
full flower perfumed the air; yet even this could hardly dis-
sipate the effect of the gloomy dampness of the forest. More-
over, the many dead trunks that stand like skeletons, never fail
to give to these primeval woods a character of solemnity, absent
in those of countries long civilized. Shortly after sunset we bi
vouacked for the night. Our female companion, who was rather
good-looking, belonged to one of the most respectable families in
Castro : she rode, however, astride, and -without shoes or stockings.
I was surprised at the total want of pride shown by her and her
brother. They brought food with them, but at all our meals sat
watching Mr. King and myself w^hilst eating, till we were fairly
shamed into feeding the whole party. The night was cloudless ;
and while lying in our beds, we enjoyed the sight (and it is a
high enjoyment) of the multitude of stars which illumined the
darkness of the forest.
894 CHILOE. [CHAP. XIV.
January 2?>rd. — We rose early in the morning, and reached
the pretty quiet town of Castro by two o'clock. The old governor
had died since our last visit, and a Chileno was acting in his
place. We had a letter of introduction to Don Pedro, whom v^ e
found exceedingly hospitable and kind, and more disinterested
than is usual on this side of the continent. The next day Don
Pedro procured us fresh horses, and offered to accompany us
himself. We proceeded to the south — generally following the
coast, and passing through several hamlets, each with its large
barn-like chapel built of wood. At Vilipilli, Don Pedro asked
the commandant to give us a guide to Cucao. The old gentle-
man offered to come himself; but for a long time nothing would
persuade him, that two Englishmen really wished to go to such
an out of the way place as Cucao. We were thus accompanied
by the two greatest aristocrats in the country, as was plainly to
be seen in the manner of all the poorer Indians towards them.
At Chonchi we struck across the island, following intricate
winding paths, sometimes passing through magnificent forests,
and sometimes through pretty cleared spots, abounding with corn
and potato crops. This undulating woody country, partially cul-
tivated, reminded me of the wilder parts of England, and there-
fore had to my eye a most fascinating aspect. At Vilinco, which
is situated on the borders of the lake of Cucao, onlv a few fields
were cleared ; and all the inhabitants appeared to be Indians.
This lake is twelve miles long:, and runs in an east and west
direction. From local circumstances, the sea-breeze blows very
regularly during the day, and during the night it falls calm :
this has given rise to strange exaggerations, for the phenomenon,
as described to us at San Carlos, was quite a prodigy.
The road to Cucao was so veiy bad that we determined to em-
bark in a periagua. The commandant, in the most authoritative
manner, ordered six Indians to get ready to pull us over, without
deigning to tell them whether they would be paid. The periagua
is a strange rough boat, but the crew were still stranger ; I doubt
if six uglier little men ever got into a boat together. They
pulled, however, very well and cheerfully. The stroke-oarsman
gabbled Indian, and uttered strange cries, much after the fashion
of a pig-driver driving his pigs. We started with a light breeze
a^i^ainst us, but yet reached the Capella de Cucao before it was
1835] RIDE TO CUCAO. 2»6
late. The country on each side of the lake was one unbroken
forest. In the same periagua with us, a cow was embarked. To
get so large an animal into a small boat appears at first a diffi-
culty, but the Indians managed it in a minute. They brought
the cow alongside the boat, which was heeled towards her ; then
placing two oars under her belly, with their ends resting on the
gunwale, by the aid of these levers they fairly tumbled the poor
beast, heels over head, into the bottom of the boat, and then
lashed her down with ropes. At Cucao we found an uninhabited
hovel (whicli is the residence of the padre when he pays this
Capella a visit), where, lighting a fire, we cooked our supper,
and were very comfortable.
The district of Cucao is the only inhabited part on the whole
west coast of Chiloe. It contains about thirty or forty Indian
families, who are scattered along four or five miles of the shore.
They are very much secluded from the rest of Chiloe, and have
scarcely any sort of commerce, except sometimes in a little oil,
which they get from seal-blubber. They are tolerably dressed
in clothes of their own manufacture, and they have plenty to eat.
They seemed, however, discontented, yet humble to a degree
which it was quite painful to witness. These feelings are, I
think, chiefly to be attributed to the harsh and authoritative
manner in which they are treated by their rulers. Our com-
panions, although so very civil to us, behaved to the poor Indians
as if they had been slaves, rather than free men. They ordered
provisions and the use of their horses, without ever condescending
to say how much, or indeed whether the owners should be paid
at all. In the morning, being left alone with these poor people,
we soon ingratiated ourselves by presents of cigars and mate. A
lump of white sugar was divided between all present, and tasted
with the greatest curiosity. The Indians ended all their com-
plaints by saying, " And it is only because we are poor Indians,
and know nothing ; but it was not so when we had a King."
The next day after breakfast, we rode a few miles northward
to Punta Huantamo. The road lay along a very broad beach,
on which, even after so many fine days, a terrible surf was
breaking. I was assured that after a heavy gale, the roar can
be heard at night even at Castro, a distance of no less than
twenty-one sea-miles across a hilly and woodetl country. We
290 CHILOE. [chap. xiv.
had some difficulty in reaching the point, owing to the intolerably
lad paths ; for everywhere in the shade the ground soon becomes
a perfect quagmire. The point itself is a bold rocky hill. It is
covered by a plant allied, I believe, to Bromelia, and called by
the inhabitants Chepones. In scrambling through the beds, our
hands were very much scratched. I was amused by observing
the precaution our Indian guide took, in turning up his trowsers,
thinking that they were more delicate than his own hard skin.
This plant bears a fruit, in shape like an artichoke, in which a
number of seed-vessels are packed : these contain a pleasant sweet
pulp, here much esteemed. I saw at Low's Harbour the Cliilo-
tans making chichi, or cider, with this fruit : so true is it, as
Humboldt remarks, that almost everywhere man finds means of
preparing some kind of beverage from the vegetable kingdom.
The savages, however, of Tierra del Fuego, and I believe of
Australia, have not advanced thus far in the arts.
The coast to the north of Punta Huantamo is exceedingly
rugged and broken, and is fronted by many breakers, on which
the sea is eternally roaring. Mr. King and myself were anxious
to return, if it had been possible, on foot along this coast ; but
even the Indians said it was quite impracticable. We were told
that men have crossed by striking directly through the woods
from Cucao to S. Carlos, but never by the coast. On these
expeditions, the Indians carry with them only roasted corn, and
of this they eat sparingly twice a day.
26ih. — Re-embarking in the periagua, we returned across the
lake, and then mounted our horses. The whole of Chiloe took
advantage of this week of unusually fine weather, to clear the
ground by burning. In every direction volumes of smoke were
curling upwards. Although the inhabitants were so assiduous
in setting fire to every part of the wood, yet I did not see a single
fire which they had succeeded in making extensive. We dined
with our friend the commandant, and did not reach Castro till
after dark. The next morning we started very early. After
having ridden for some time, we obtained from the brow of a
.steep hill an extensive view (and it is a rare thing on this road)
of the great forest. Over the horizon of trees, the volcano of
Corcovado, and the great flat-topped one to the north, stood out
in proud pre-eminence : scarcely another peak in the long range
IB35.J VALDIVIA. 297
showed its snowy summit. I hope it will be long before I forget,
this farewell view of the magnificent Cordillera fronting Chiloe.
At night we bivouacked under a cloudless sky, and the next
morning reached S. Carlos. We arrived on the right day, fo7
before evening heavy rain commenced.
February Ath. — Sailed from Chiloe. During the last week ]
made several short excursions. One was to examine a great beci
of now-existing shells, elevated 350 feet above the level of the
sea : from among these shells, large forest-trees were growing.
Another ride was to P. Huechucucuy. I had with me a guide
who knew the country far too well ; for he would pertinaciously
tell me endless Indian names for every little point, rivulet, and
creek. In the same manner as in Tierra del Fuego, the Indian
language appears singularly well adapted for attaching names to
the most trivial features of the land. I believe every one was
glad to say farewell to Chiloe ; yet if we could forget the gloom
and ceaseless rain of winter, Chiloe might pass for a charming
island. There is also something very attractive in the simplicity
and humble politeness of the poor inhabitants.
We steered northward along shore, but owing to thick weather
did not reach Valdivia till the night of the 8th. The next
morning the boat proceeded to the town, which is distant about
ten miles. We followed the course of the river, occasionally
passing a few hovels, and patches of ground cleared out of the
otherwise unbroken forest ; and sometimes meeting a canoe with
an Indian family. The town is situated on the low banks of the
stream, and is so completely buried in a wood of apple-trees that
the streets are merely paths in an orchard. I have never seen
any country, where apple-trees appeared to thrive so well as in
tliis damp part of South America : on the borders of the roads
there were many young trees evidently self-sown. In Chiloe
the inhabitants possess a marvellously short method of making
an orchard. At the lower part of almost every branch, small,
conical, brown, wrinkled points project : these are always ready
to change into roots, as may sometimes be seen, where any mud
has been accidentally splashed against the tree. A branch as
thick as a man's thigh is chosen in the early spring, and is cut
off just beneath a group of these points ; all the smaller branches
are lopped off, and it is then olaced about two feet deep in the
29« VALDIVIA. j,chap. xiv
ground. During the ensuing summer the stump throws out long
shoots, and sometimes even bears fruit : I was shown one which
had produced as many as twenty-three apples, but this was
thought very unusual. In the third season the stump is changed
(as I have myself seen) into a well-wooded tree, loaded with
fruit. An old man near Valdivia illustrated his motto, " Ne-
cesidad es la madre del invencion," by giving an account of the
several useful things he manufactured from his apples. After
making cider, and likewise wine, he extracted from the refuse a
white and finely flavoured spirit ; by another process he procured
a sweet treacle, or, as he called it, honey. His children and
pigs seemed almost to live, during this season of the year, in his
orchard.
February Wth. — I set out with a guide on a short ride, in
which, however, I managed to see singularly little, either of the
geology of the country or of its inhabitants. There is not much
cleared land near Valdivia : after crossing a river at the distance
of a few miles, we entered the forest, and then passed only one
miserable hovel, before reaching our sleeping-place for the
night. The short difference in latitude, of 150 miles, liEis given
a new aspect to the forest, compared with that of Chiloe. This
is owing to a slightly different proportion in the kinds of trees.
The evergreens do not appear to be quite so numerous ; and the
forest in consequence has a brighter lint. As in Chiloe, the lower
parts are matted together by canes : here also another kind (re-
sembling the bamboo of Brazil and about twenty feet in height)
grows in clusters, and ornaments the banks of some of the
streams in a very pretty manner. It is with this plant that the
Indians make their chuzos, or long tapering spears. Our resting-
house was so dirty that I preferred sleeping outside : on these
journeys the first night is generally very uncomfortable, because
one is not accustomed to the tickling and biting of the fleas. I
am sure, in the morning, there was not a space on my legs of
the size of a shilling, which had not its little red mark where
the flea had feasted.
\2th. — We continued to ride through the uncleared forest ;
only occasionally meeting an Indian on horseback, or a troop of
fine mules bringing alerce-planks and corn from the southern
plains. In the afternoon one of the horses knocked up : we
,835.] ARAUCARIAN INDIANS. 299
were then on a brow of a hill, which commanded a fine view of
the Llanos. The view of these open plains was verj' refreshing,
after being hemmed in and buried in the wilderness of trees.
The uniformity of a forest soon becomes very wearisome. This
west coast makes me remember witli pleasure the free, unbounded
plains of Patagonia ; yet, with the true spirit of contradiction, I
cannot forget how sublime is the silence of the forest. The
Llanos are the most fertile and thickly peopled parts of the
country ; as they possess tlie immense advantage of being nearly
free from trees. Before leaving the forest we crossed some flat
little lawns, around which single trees stood, as in an English
park : I have often noticed with surprise, in wooded undulatory
districts, that the quite level parts have been destitute of trees.
On account of the tired horse, I determined to stop at the Mission
of Cudico, to the friar of which I had a letter of introduction.
Cudico is an intermediate district between the forest and tlie
Llanos. There are a good many cottages, with patches of corn
and potatoes, nearly all belonging to Indians. The tribes de-
pendent on Valdivia are " reducidos y cristianos." The Indians
farther northward, about Arauco and Imperial, are still very
wild, and not converted ; but they have all much intercourse
with the Spaniards. The padre said that the Christian Indians
did not much like coming to mass, but that otherwise they showed
respect for religion. The greatest difficulty is in making them
observe the ceremonies of marriage. The wild Indians take as
many wives as they can support, and a cacique will sometimes
have more than ten : on entering his house, the number may be
told by that of the separate fires. Each wife lives a week in turn
with the cacique ; but all are employed in weaving ponchos, &c.
for his profit. To be the wife of a cacique, is an honour much
sought after by the Indian women.
The men of all these tribes wear a coarse woollen poncho :
those south of Valdivia wear short trowsers, and those north of
it a petticoat, like the chilipa of the Gauchos. All have their
long hair bound by a scarlet fillet, but with no other covering on
their heads. These Indians are good-sized men ; their cheek-
bones are prominent, and in general appearance they resemble
the great American family to which they belong ; but their
physiognomy seemed to me to be slightly different from that of
300 VALDiVIA. [cuAP.xir
any otiier tribe which I had before seen. Their expression is
generally grave, and even austere, and possesses much character :
this may pass either for honest bluntness or fierce determination.
The long black hair, the grave and much-lined features, and the
dark complexion, called to my mind old portraits of James I.
On the road we met with none of that humble politeness so uni-
versal in Chiloe. Some gave their " mari-mari '* (good morning)
with promptness, but the greater number did not seem inclined
to offer any salute. This independence of manners is probably a
consequence of their long wars, and the repeated victories which
they alone, of all the tribes in America, have gained over the
Spaniards.
I spent the evening very pleasantly, talkmg with the padre.
He was exceedingly kind and hospitable ; and coming from
Santiago, had contrived to surround himself with some few com-
forts. Being a man of some little education, he bitterly com-
plained of the total want of society. With no particular zeal
for religion, no business or pursuit, how completely must this
man's life be wasted ! The next day, on our return, we met
seven very wild-looking Indians, of whom some were caciques
that had just received from the Chilian government, their yearly
small stipend for having long remained faithful. They were
fine-looking men, and they rode one after the other, with most
gloomy faces. An old cacique, who headed them, had been, ]
suppose, more excessively drunk than the rest, for he seemed
both extremely grave and very crabbed. Shortly before this,
two Indians joined us, who were travelling from a distant mission
to Valdivia concerning some lawsuit. One w^as a good-humoured
old man, but from his wrinkled beardless face looked more like
an old woman than a man. I frequently presented both of them
with cigars ; and though ready to receive them, and I dare say
grateful, they would hardly condescend to thank me. A Chilotan
Indian would have taken off his hat, and given his " Dios le
page ! " The travelling was very tedious, both from the bad-
ness of tlie roads, and from the number of great fallen trees,
which it was necessary either to leap over or to avoid by making
long circuits. We slept on the road, and next morning reached
Valdivia, whence I proceeded on board.
A few days afterwards I crossed the bay with a party o\
1835.] GREAT EARTHQUAKE. 301
officers, and landed near the fort called NiebJa. The buildings
were in a most ruinous state, and the gun-carriages quite rotten.
Mr. Wickhani remarked to the commanding officer, tliat with
one discharge they would certainly all fall to pieces. The poor
man, trying to put a good face upon it, gravely replied, '' ISo, I
am sure, sir, they would stand two ! " The Spaniards must have
intended to have made this place impregnable. There is now-
lying in the middle of t!ie courtyard a little mountain of mortar,
which rivals in hardness the rock on which it is placed. It was
brought from Chile, and cost 7000 dollars. The revolution
having broken out, prevented its being applied to any purpose,
and now it remains a monument of the fallen greatness of
Spain.
I wanted to go to a house about a mile and a half distant, but
my guide said it was quite impossible to penetrate the wood in a
straight line. He offered, however, to lead me, by following
obscure cattle-tracks, tlie shortest way : the walk, nevertlieless,
took no less than three hours ! This man is employed in hunting
strayed cattle ; yet, well as he must know the woods, he was not
long since lost for two whole days, and had nothing to eat.
These facts convey a good idea of the impracticability of the
forests of these countries. A question often occurred to me—
how long does any vestige of a fallen tree remain? This man
showed me one which a party of fugitive royalists had cut down
fourteen years ago ; and taking this as a criterion, I should think
a bole a foot and a half in diameter would in thirty years be
changed into a heap of mould.
February 20th. — This day has been memorable in the annals
of Valdivia, for the most severe earthquake experienced by the
oldest inhabitant. I happened to be on shore, and was lying
down in the wood to rest myself. It came on suddenly, and
lasted two minutes, but the time appeared nmch longer. The
rocking of the ground was very sensible. The undulations ap-
peared to my companion and myself to come from due east,
whilst others thought they proceeded from soutli-west : this shows
how difficult it sometimes is to perceive the direction of the
vibrations. There was no difficulty in standing upright, but the
motion made me almost giddy ; it was something like tlie move-
ment of a vessel in a little cross-ripple, or still more like that felt
S02 CONCEPCION. [CHAP. XTY.
by a person skating over thin ice, which bends under the weight
of his body.
A bad earthquake at once destroys our oldest associations:
the earth, the very emblem of solidity, has moved beneath our
feet like a thin crust over a fluid ;— one second of time has created
in the mind a strange idea of insecurity, which hours of reflec-
tion would not have produced. In the forest, as a breeze
moved the trees, I felt only the earth tremble, but saw no other
effect. Captain Fitz Roy and some officers were at the town
during the shock, and tliere the scene was more striking ; for
although the hoiises, from being built of wood, did not fall, they
were violently sliaken, and the boards creaked and rattled toge-
ther. The people rushed out of doors in the greatest alarm. It
is these accompaniments that create that perfect horror of earth-
quakes, experienced by all who have thus seen, as well as felt,
their effects. Within the forest it was a deeply interesting, but
by no means an awe-exciting phenomenon. The tides were very
curiously affected. The great shock took place at the time of
low water ; and an old woman who was on the beach told me,
tliat the water flowed very quickly, but not in great waves, to
high-water mark, and then as quickly returned to its proper
.evel ; this was also evident by the line of wet sand. This same
kind of quick but quiet movement in the tide, happened a few
years since at Chiloe, during a slight earthquake, and created
much causeless alarm. In the course of the evening there were
many weaker shocks, which seemed to produce in the harbour
the most complicated cunents, and some of great strength.
March 4/A.— We entered the harbour of Concepcion. While
the ship was beating up to the anchorage, I landed on the island
of Quiriquina. The mayor-domo of the estate quickly rode
down to tell me the terrible news of the great earthquake of the
20th : " That not a house in Concepcion or Talcahuano (the
port) was standing ; that seventy villages were destroyed ; and
that a great wave had almost washed away the ruins of Talca-
huano " Of this latter statement I soon saw abundant proofs—
the whole coast being strewed over with timber and furniture as
if a thousand ships had been wrecked. Besides chairs, tables,
book-shelves, &c., m great numbers, there were several roofs of
1835.] EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE.
303
cottages, which had been transported almost whole. The store-
houses at Talcahuano had been burst open, and great ba^-s of
cotton, yerba, and other valuable merchandise were scattered on
the shore. Durir.g my walk round the island, I observed that
numerous fragments of rock, which, from the marine productions
adhering to them, must recently have been lying in deep water.
had been cast up high on the beach ; one of these was six feet
long, three broad, and two thick.
The island itself as plainly showed the overwhelming power of
the earthquake, as the beach did that of the consequent great
wave. The ground in many parts was fissured in north and
south lines, perhaps caused by the yielding of the parallel and
steep sides of this narrow island. Some of the fissures near the
clifl's were a yard wide. Many enormous masses had already
fallen on the beach ; and the inhabitants thought tliat when the
rains commenced far greater slips would happen. The efl^ect of
the vibration on the hard primary slate, which composes tlie
foundation of the island, was still more curious : the superficial
parts of some narrow ridges were as completely shivered as if
they had been blasted by gunpowder. This eflTect, which was
rendered conspicuous by the fresh fractures and displaced soil,
nmst be confined to near the surface, for otherwise there would
not exist a block of solid rock throughout Chile; nor is this im-
probable, as it is known that the surface of a vibrating body is
affected difl^erently from the central part. It is, perhaps, owing
to this same reason, that earthquakes do not cause quite such
terrific havoc within deep mines as would be expected. I believe
this convulsion has been more eflfectual in lessening the size of the
island of Quiriquina, than the ordinary wear-and-tear of the sea
and weather during the course of a whole century.
The next day I landed at Talcahuano, and afterwards rode to
Concepcion. Both towns presented the most awful yet interest-
ing spectacle I ever beheld. To a person who had formerly
known them, it possibly might have been still more impressive ;
for the ruins were so mingled together, and the whole scene pos-
sessed so little the air of a habitable place, that it was scarcely
possible to imagine its former condition. The earthquake com-
menced at half-past eleven o'clock in the forenoon. If it had
happened in the middlp of the night, the greater number (»f tlie
U
304
CONCEPCION. [chap. xtv.
inhabitants (which in this one province amount to many thou-
sands) must have perished, instead of less than a hundred : as it
was, the invariable practice of running out of doors at the first
trembling of the ground, alone saved them. In Concepcion
each house, or row of houses, stood by itself, a heap or line of
ruins ; but in Talcahuano, owing to the great wave, little more
than one layer of bricks, tiles, and timber, with here and there
part of a wall left standing, could be distinguished. From this . -
circumstance Concepcion, although not so completely desolated, I
was a more terrible, and, if I may so call it, picturesque sight. I
The first shock was very sudden. The mayor-domo at Quiri- 1
quina told me, that the first notice he received of it, was finding
both the horse he rode and himself, rolling together on the ground.
Risino- up, he was again thrown down. He also told me that
some cows which were standing on the steep side of the island
were rolled into the sea. The great wave caused the destruc-
tion of many cattle ; on one low island, near the head of the
bay, seventy animals were washed oflT and drowned. It is gene-
rally thought that this has been the worst earthquake ever re-
corded in Chile ; but as the very severe ones occur only after long
intervals, this cannot easily be known ; nor indeed would a much
worse shock have made any great diflference, for the ruin was
now complete. Innumerable small tremblings followed the great
earthquake, and within the first twelve days no less than three
hundred were counted.
After viewing Concepcion, I cannot understand how the greater
number of inhabitants escaped unhurt. The houses in many
parts fell outwards ; thus forming in the middle of the streets
little hillocks of brickw^ork and rubbish. Mr. Rouse, the English
consul, told us that he was at breakfast w^hen the first movement
warned him to run out. He had scarcely reached the middle of
the court-yard, when one side of his house came thundering down.
He retained presence of mind to remember, that if he once got
on the top of that part which had already fallen, he would be
safe. Kot being able from the motion of the ground to stand,
he crawled up on his hands and knees ; and no sooner had he
ascended this little eminence, than the other side of the house
fell in, the great beams sweeping close in front of his head.
With his eyes blinded, and his mouth choked with the cloud oi
I835.r GREAT WAVE. 305
dust wliich darkened the sky, at last he guined the street. As
shock succeeded sliock, at the interval of a few minutes, no one
dared approach the shattered ruins ; and no one knew whether
his dearest friends and relations were not perishing from the want
of help. Those who had saved any property were obliged to keep
a constant watch, for thieves prowled about, and at each little
trembling of the ground, with one hand they beat their breasts
and cried " misericordia !" and then with the other filched what
♦hey could from the ruins. The thatched roofs fell over the fires,
and flames burst forth in all parts. Hundreds knew themselves
ruined, and few had the means of providing food for the day.
Earthquakes alone are sufficient to destroy the prosperity of
any country. If beneath England the now inert subterranean
forces should exert those powers, which most assuredly in former
geological ages they have exerted, how completely would the
entire condition of the country be changed ! What would be-
come of the lofty houses, thickly packed cities, great manufac-
tories, the beautiful public and private edifices? If the new
period of disturbance were first to commence by some great
earthquake in the dead of the night, how terrific would be the
carnage ! England would at once be bankrupt ; all papers,
records, and accounts would from that moment be lost.
Government being unable to collect the taxes, and failing to
maintain its authority, the hand of violence and rapine would
remain uncontrolled. In every large town famine would go
forth, pestilence and death following in its train.
Shortly after the shock, a great wave was seen from the dis-
tance of three or four miles, approaching in the middle of the bay
with a smooth outline ; but along the shore it tore up cottao-es
and trees, as it swept onwards with irresistible force. At the
head of the bay it broke in a fearful line of white breakers, which
rushed up to a height of 23 vertical feet above the highest sprino-.
tides. Their force must have been prodigious ; for at the Fort a
cannon with its carriage, estimated at four tons in weight, was
moved 15 feet inwards. A schooner was left in the midst of the
ruins, 200 yards from the beach. The first wave was followed
by two others, which in their retreat carried away a vast wreck
of floating objects. In one part of the bay, a ship was pitched
l.'igh and dry on shore, was carrif'd ofl*, again driven on shore
506 CONCEPCION. • [CHAP. xiv.
and again carried off. In another part, two large vessels
anchored near together were whirled about, and their cables
\vere thrice wound round each other : though anchored at a depth
of 36 feet, they were for some minutes aground. The great wave
must have travelled slowly, for the inhabitants of Talcahuano
had time to run up the hills behind the town ; and some sailors
pulled out seaward, trusting successfully to their boat riding
securely over the swell, if they could reach it before it broke.
One old woman with a little boy, four or five years old, ran into
a boat, but there was nobody to row it out : the boat was con-
sequently dashed against an anchor and cut in twain ; the old
woman was drowned, but the child was picked up some hours
afterwards clinging to the wreck. Pools of salt-water were still
standing amidst the ruins of the houses, and children, making
boats with old tables and chairs, appeared as happy as their
parents were miserable. It was, however, exceedingly interest-
ing to observe, how much more active and cheerful all appeared
than could have been expected. It was remarked with much
truth, that from the destruction being universal, no one indi-
vidual was humbled more than another, or could suspect his
friends of coldness— that most grievous result of the loss of
wealth. Mr. Eouse, and a large party whom he kindly took
under his protection, lived for the first week in a garden beneath
some apple-trees. At first they were as merry as if it had been
a picnic ; but soon afterwards heavy rain caused much discom-
fort, for they were absolutely without shelter.
In Captain Fitz Roy's excellent account of the earthquake, it
is said that two explosions, one like a column of smoke and
another like the blowing of a great whale, were seen in the bay.
The water also appeared every where to be boiling ; and it *' be-
came black, and exhaled a most disagreeable sulphureous smell."
These latter circumstances were observed in the Bay of Val-
paraiso during the earthquake of 1822; they may, I think, be
accounted for, by the disturbance of the mud at the bottom of the
sea containing organic matter in decay. In the Bay of Callao,
during a calm day, I noticed, that as the ship dragged her cable
over the bottom, its course was marked by a line of bubbles.
The lower orders in Talcahuano thought that the earthquake was
caused by some old Indian women, who two years ago bemg
i835.] LINES OF VIBRATION. 307
offended stopped the volcano of Antuco. This silly belief is
curious, because it shows that experience has taught them to
observe, that there exists a relation between the suppressed action
of the volcanos, and the trembling of the ground. It was neces-
sary to apply the witchcraft to the point where their perception
of cause and effect failed ; and this was the closing of the volcanic
vent. This belief is the more singular in this particular instance,
because, according to Captain Fitz Roy, there is reason to believe
that Antuco was noways affected.
The town of Concepcion was built in the usual Spanish
fashion, with all the streets running at right angles to each other ;
one set ranging S.W. by W"., and the other set N.W. by N.
The walls in the former direction certainly stood better than
those in the latter : the greater number of the masses of brick-
work were thrown down towards the N.E. Both these cir-
cumstances perfectly agree with ihe general idea, of the undula-
tions having come from the S.W. ; in which quarter subterranean
noises were also heard : for it is evjdent that the walls running
S.W. and N.E. which presented their ends to the point whence
the undulations came, would be much less likely to fall than
those walls which, running N.W. and S.E., must in their whole
lengths have been at the same instant thrown out of the per-
pendicular ; for the undulations, coming from the S.AY., must
have extended in N.W. and S.E. waves, as they passed under the
foundations. This may be illustrated by placing books edgeways
on a carpet, and then, after the manner suggested by Michell,
imitating the undulations of an earthquake : it will be found that
they fall with more or less readiness, according as their direction
more or less nearly coincides with the line of the waves. The
fissures in the ground generally, though not uniformly, extended
in a S.E. and N.W. direction ; and therefore corresponded to the
lines of undulation or of principal flexure. Bearing in mind all
these circumstances, which so clearly point to the S.W. as the
chief focus of disturbance, it is a very interesting fact that the
island of S. Maria, situated in that quarter, was, during the
general uplifting of the land, raised to nearly three times the
height of any other part of the coast.
The different resistance offered by the walls, according to their
direction, was well exemplified in the case of the Cathedral.
^8 CONCEPCION. [chap. xiv.
The side which fronted the N.E. presented a grand pile of ruins,
in the midst of which door-cases and masses of timber stood up,
as if floating- in a stream. Some of the angular blocks of brick-
work were of great dimensions ; and they were rolled to a distance
on the level plaza, like fragments of rock at the base of some
hio-h mountain. The side walls (running S.W. and N.E.),
though exceedingly fractured, yet remained standing ; but the
vast buttresses (at right angles to them, and therefore parallel te
the walls that fell) were in many cases cut clean off, as if by a
chisel, and hurled to the ground. Some square ornaments on the
coping of these same walls, were moved by the earthquake into a
diagonal position. A similar circumstance was observed after
an earthquake at Valparaiso, Calabria, and other places, includ-
ing some of the ancient Greek temples.* This twisting dis-
placement, at first appears to indicate a vorticose movement
beneath each point thus aifected ; but this is highly improbable.
May it not be caused by a tendency in each stone to arrange
itself in some particular position, with respect to the lines of
vibration, — in a manner somewhat similar to pins on a sheet of
paper when shaken ? Generally speaking, arched doorways or
windows stood much better than any other part of the buildings.
Nevertheless, a poor lame old man, who had been in the habit,
during trifling shocks, of crawling to a certain doorway, was
this time crushed to pieces.
I have not attempted to give any detailed description of the
appearance of Concepcion, for I feel that it is quite impossible
to convey the mingled feelings which I experienced. Several of
the officers visited it before me, but their strongest language
failed to give a just idea of the scene of desolation. It is a
bitter and humiliating thing to see works, which have cost man
so much time and labour, overthrown in one minute ; yet com-
passion for the inhabitants was almost instantly banished, by the
surprise in seeing a state of things produced in a moment of
time, which one was accustomed to attribute to a succession of
ages. In my opinion, we have scarcely beheld, since leaving
England, any sight so deeply interesting.
In almost every severe earthquake, the neighbouring waters
* M. Arago in L'Institut, 1839, p. 337. See also Miers's Chile, vol. i
p. 392 ; also Ly ell's Principles of Geology, chap, xv., book ii.
1835.] CAUSE OF GREAT WAVE. 309
of the sea are said to have been greatly agitated. The disturb-
ance seems generally, as in the case of Concepcion, to have been
of two kinds : first, at the instant of the shock, the water swells
high up on the beach with a gentle motion, and then as quietly
retreats ; scconttly, some time afterwards, the whole body of the
sea retires from the coast, and then returns in waves of over-
whelming force. The first movement seems to be an imme-
diate consequence of the earthquake aflfecting differently a fluid
and a solid, so that their respective levels are slightly de-
ranged : but the second case is a far more important phenome-
non. During most earthquakes, and especially during those on
the west coast of America, it is certain that the first great move-
ment of the waters has been a retirement. Some authors have
attempted to explain this, by supposing that tlie water retains its.
level, whilst the land oscillates upwards ; but surely the water
close to the land, even on a rather steep coast, would partake of
the motion of the bottom : moreover, as urged by Mr. Lyell,
similar movements of the sea have occurred at islands far distant
from the chief line of disturbance, as was the case with Juan
Fernandez during this earthquake, and with Madeira during the
famous Lisbon shock. I suspect (but the subject is a very ob-
scure one) that a wave, however produced, first drawls the water
from the shore, on which it is advancing to break : I have ob-
served that this happens with the little waves from the paddles
of a steam-boat. It is remarkable that whilst Talcahuano and
Callao (near Lima), both situated at the head of large shallow
bays, have suffered during every severe earthquake from great
waves, Valparaiso, seated close to the edge of profoundly deep
water, has never been overwhelmed, though so often shaken by
the severest shocks. From the great wave not immediately fol-
lowing the earthquake, but sometimes after the interval of even
half an hour, and from distant islands being- affected similarlv
with the coasts near the focus of the disturbance, it appears that
the wave first rises in the offing ; and as this is of general occur-
rence, the cause must be general : I suspect we must look to the
line, where the less disturbed waters of the deep ocean join the
water nearer the coast, which has partaken of the movements of
the land, as the place where the great wave is first generated ; it
would also appear that the wave is larger or smaller, according
210 CONNEXION OF THE ELEVATORY [chap. xiv.
to the extent of shoal water which has been agitated together
with the bottom on which it rested.
The most remarkable effect of this earthquake was the perma-
nent elevation of the land ; it would probably be far more cor-
rect to speak of it as the cause. There can be no doubt that the
land round the Bay of Concepcion was upraised two or three feet ;
bu*, it deserves notice, that owing to the wave having oblite-
rated the old lines of tidal action on the sloping sandy shores, I
coald discover no evidence of this fact, except in the united tes-
timony of the inhabitants, that one little rocky shoal, now ex-
posed, was formerly covered witii water. At the island of S.
Maria (about thirty miles distant) the elevation was greater ; on
one part. Captain Fitz Roy found beds of putrid mussel-shells
still adhering to the rocks, ten feet above high-water mark : the
inhabitants had formerly dived at low- water spring-tides for these
shells. The elevation of this province is particularly interesting,
from its having been the theatre of several other violent earth-
quakes, and from the vast numbers of sea,-sKells scattered over
the land, up to a height of certainly 600, and I believe, of 1000
feet. At Valparaiso, as I have remarked, similar shells are
found at the height of 1300 feet : it is hardly possible to doubt
that this great elevation has been effected by successive small
uprisings, such as that which accompanied or caused the earth-
(juake of this year, and likewise by an insensibly slow rise, which
is certainly in progress on some parts of this coast.
The island of Juan Fernandez, 360 miles to the N.E., was, at
the tim.e of the great shock of the 20th, violently shaken, so that
the trees beat against each other, and a volcano burst forth under
water close to the shore : these facts are remarkable because this
island, during the earthquake of 1751, was then also affected more
violently than other places at an equal distance from Concepcion,
and this seems to show some subterranean connection between
these two points. Chiloe, about 340 miles southward of Con-
cepcion, appears to have been shaken more strongly than the inter-
mediate district of Yaldivia, w here the volcano of Villarica was
noways affected^ whilst in the Cordillera in front of Chiloe, two
of th3 volcanos burst forth at the same instant in violent action.
These two volcanos, and some neighbouring ones, continued foJ
I83r..j AND ERUPTIVE FORCES. 311
a long time in eruption, and ten months afterwards were again
influenced by an earthquake at Concepcion. Some men, cutting
wood near the base of one of these volcanos, did not perceive the
shock of the 20th, although the whole surrounding Province was
then trembling ; here we have an eruption relieving and taking
the place of an earthquake, as would have happened at Con-
cepcion, according to the belief of the lower orders, if the
volcano of Antuco had not been closed by witchcraft. Two
years and three quarters afterwards, Valdivia and Chiloe were
again shaken, more violently than on the 20th, and an island in
the Chonos Archipelago was permanently elevated more than
eight feet. It will give a better idea of the scale of these phe-
nomena, if (as in the case of the glaciers) we suppose them to
have taken place at corresponding distances in Europe: — then
would the land from the North Sea to the Mediterranean have
been violently shaken, and at the same instant of time a large
tract of the eastern coast of England would have been perma-
nently elevated, together with some outlying islands, — a train oi
volcanos on the coast of Holland would have burst forth in
action, and an eruption taken place at the bottom of the sea, near
the northern extremity of Ireland — and lastly, the ancient vents
of Auvergne, Cantal, and JMont d'Or would each have sent up
to the sky a dark column of smoke, and have long remained in
fierce action. Two years and three quarters afterwards, France,
from its centre to the English Channel, would have been again
desolated by an earthquake, and an island permanently upraiserl
in the Mediterranean.
The space, from under which volcanic matter on the 20th was
actually erupted, is 720 miles in one line, and 400 miles in another
line at right angles to the first : hence, in all probability, a sub-
terranean lake of lava is here stretched out, of nearly double the
area of the Black Sea. From the intimate and complicated man-
ner in which the elevatory and eruptive forces were shown to be
connected during this train of phenomena, we may confidently
come to the conclusion, that the forces which slowly and by little .
starts uplift continents, and those which at successive periods
pour forth volcanic matter from open orifices, are identical.
From many reasons, I believe that the frequent quakings of the
earth on this line of coast arp raused by the rending of the strata
312
CONCEPCION. [chap. xiv.
necessarily consequent on the tension of the land when upraised,
and their injection by fluidified rock. This rending and injec-
tion would, if repeated often enough (and we know that earth-
quakes repeatedly affect the same areas in the same manner), form
a chain of hills ;— and the linear island of St. Mary, which was
upraised thrice the height of the neighbouring country, seems to
be undero-oing this process. I believe that the solid axis of a
mountain, differs in its manner of formation from a volcanic hill,
only in the molten stone having been repeatedly injected, instead
of having been repeatedly ejected. Moreover, 1 believe that it
is impossible to explain the structure of great mountain-chains,
such as that of the Cordillera, where the strata, capping the in-
jected axis of plutonic rock, have been thrown on their edges
along several parallel and neighbouring lines of elevation, except
on this view of the rock of the axis having been repeatedly in-
jected, after intervals sufficiently long to allow the upper parts
or wedges to cool and become solid ; — for if the strata had been
thrown into their present highly-inclined, vertical, and even in-
verted positions, by a single blow, the very bowels of the earth
would have gushed out ; and instead of beholding abrupt
mountain-axes of rock solidified under great pressure, deluges of
lava would have flowed out at innumerable points on every line
of elevation.*
* For a full account of the volcanic phenomena which accompanied the
earthquake of the 20th, and for the conclusions deducible from them, I must
refer to Volume V. of the Geological Transactions.
i
1B35.J PASSAGE OF THE CORDILLERA. 313
CHAPTER XV.
Valparaiso — Portillo pass — Sagacity of mules — Mountain-torrents — Mines,
how discovered — Proofs of the gradual elevation of the Cordillera — Effect
of snow on rocks — Geological structure of the two main ranges, their
distinct origin and upheaval — Great subsidence — Red snow — Winds —
Pinnacles of snow — Dry and clear atmosphere — Electricity — Pampas —
Zoology of the opposite sides of the Andes — Locusts — Great Bugs —
Mendoza — Uspallata Pass — Silicified trees buried as they grew — Incas
Bridge — Badness of the passes exaggerated — Cumbre— Casuchas — Val-
paraiso.
PASSAGE OP THE CORDILLERA.
March *lth, 1835. — "We stayed three days at Coneepcion, and
then sailed for Valparaiso. The wind being northerly, we only
reached the mouth of the harbour of Coneepcion before it was
dark. Being- very near the land, and a fog coming on, the
anchor was dropped. Presently a large American whaler ap-
peared close alongside of us ; and we heard the Yankee swearing
at his men to keep quiet, whilst he listened for the breakers.
Captain Fitz Roy hailed him, in a loud clear voice, to anchor
where he then was. The poor man must have thought the voice
came from the shore : such a Babel of cries issued at once from
the ship — every one hallooing out, " Let go the anchor ! veer
cable ! shorten sail ! " It was the most laughable thing I ever
heard. If the ship's crew had been all captains, and no men,
there could not have been a greater uproar of orders. We after-
wards found that the mate stuttered : I suppose ail hands were
assisting him in giving his orders.
On the 11th we anchored at Valparaiso, and two days after-
wards I set out to cross tlie Cordillera. I proceeded to Santiago,
where Mr. Caldcleugh most kindly assisted me in every possible
way in making the little preparations which were necessary. In
this part of Chile there are two passes across the Andes to Men-
doza : the one most commonly used — namely, that of Aconcagua
or Uspallata— is situated some way to the north ; the other, called
814 PORTILLO PASS. [chap. xv.
the Portillo, is to the south, and nearer, but more lofty and
dangerous.
March ISth. — We set out for the Portillo pass. Leaving
Santiago we crossed the wide burnt-up plain on which that city
stands, and in the afternoon arrived at the Maypu, one of the
principal rivers in Chile. The valley, at the point where it
enters the first Cordillera, is bounded on each side by lofty barren
mountains ; and although not broad, it is very fertile. Numerous
cottages were surrounded by vines, and by orchards of apple,
nectarine, and peach trees — their boughs breaking with the
weight of the beautiful ripe fruit. In the evening we passed the
custom-house, wliere our lug^gage was examined. The frontier
of Chile is better guarded by the Cordillera, than by the waters
of the sea. There are very few valleys w hich lead to the central
ranges, and the mountains are quite impassable in other parts by
beasts of burden The custom-house officers were very civil,
which was perhaps partly owing to the passport which the Pre-
sident of the Republic had given me ; but I must express my
admiration at the natural politeness of almost every Chileno. In
this instance, the contrast with the same class of men in most
other countries was strongly marked. I may mention an anec-
dote with which I was at the time much pleased : we met near
Mendoza a little and very fat negress, riding astride on a n\ule.
She had a gotfre so enormous that it was scarcely possible to
avoid gazing at her for a moment ; but my two companions almost
instantly, by way of apology, made the common salute of the
country by taking off their hats. Where would one of the lower
or higher classes in Europe, have shown such feeling politeness
to a poor and miserable object of a degraded race ?
At night we slept at a cottage. Our manner of travelling vvas
delightfully independent. In the inhabited parts we bought a
little firewood, hired pasture for the animals, and bivouacked in
the corner of the same field with them. Carrying an iron pot,
we cooked and ate our supper under a cloudless sky, and knew
no trouble. My companions were Mariano Gonzales, who had
formerly accompanied me in Chile, and an " arriero," with his
ten mules and a " madrina." The madrina (or godmother) is a
most important personage : she is an old steady mare, with a
little bell round her neck ; and wherever she goes, the mules
i835.J TEKKACES OF SHINGLE. 315
like good children, follow her. The affection of these animals
for their madrinas saves infinite trouble. If several large troops
are turned into one field to graze, in the morning the muleteers
have only to lead the madrinas a little apart, and tinkle their
bells ; and although there may be two or three hundred together,
each mule immediately knows the bell of its own madrina, and
comes to her. It is nearly impossible to lose an old mule ; for if
detained for several hours by force, she will, by the power of
smell, like a dog, track out her companions, or rather the
madrina, for, according to the muleteer, she is the chief object
of affection. The feeling, however, is not of an individual
nature ; for I believe I am right in saying that any animal with
a bell will serve as a madrina. In a troop each animal carries
on a level road, a cargo weighing 416 pounds (more than 29
stone), but in a mountainous country 100 pounds less; yet with
what delicate slim limbs, without any proportional bulk of muscle,
these animals support so great a burden ! The mule alwavs
appears to me a most surprising animal. That a hybrid should
possess more reason, memory, obstinacy, social affection, powers
of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its
parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature. Of
our ten animals, six were intended for riding, and four for carry-
ing cargoes, each taking turn about. We carried a good deal of
food, in case we should be snowed up, as the season ^^ as rather
late for passing the Portillo.
March \9th. — We rode during this day to the last, and therts
fore most elevated house in the valley. The number of inha-
bitants became scanty ; but wherever water could be brought
on the land, it was very fertile. All the main valleys in the
Cordillera are characterised by having, on both sides, a fringe or
terrace of shingle and sand, rudely stratified, and generally of
considerable thickness. These fringes evidently once extended
across the valleys, and were united ; and the bottoms of the
valleys in northern Chile, where there are no streams, are thus
smoothly filled up. On these fringes the roads are generally
carried, for their surfaces are even, and they rise with a very gentfe
slope up the valleys : hence, also, they are easily cultivated by
irrigation. They may be traced up to a height of between
7000 and 9000 feet, where they become hidden by the irregular
Sie PORTILLO PASS. [chap. xv.
piles of debris. At the lower end or mouths of the valleys^
they are continuously united to those land-locked plains (also
formed of shingle) at the foot of the main Cordillera, which
I have described in a former chapter as characteristic of the
scenery of Chile, and which were undoubtedly deposited when
the sea penetrated Chile, as it now does the more southern
coasts. No one fact in the geology of South America, interested
me more than these terraces of ru,dely-stratified shingle. They
precisely resemble in composition, the matter which the torrents iu
each valley would deposit, if they were checked in their course
by any cause, such as entering a lake or arm of the sea ; but the
torrents, instead of depositing matter, are now steadily at work
wearing away both the solid rock and these alluvial deposits,
along the whole line of every main valley and side valley. It is
impossible here to give the reasons, but I am convinced that the
shingle terraces were accumulated, during the gradual elevation
of the Cordillera, by the torrents delivering, at successive levels,
their detritus on the beach-heads of long narrow arms of the
sea, first high up the valleys, then lower and lower down as the
land slowly rose. If this be so, and I cannot doubt it, the grand
and broken chain of the Cordillera, instead of having been sud-
denly thrown up, as was till lately the universal, and still is the
common opinion of geologists, has been slowly upheaved in
mass, in the same gradual manner as the coasts of the Atlantic
and Pacific have risen within the recent period. A multitude of
facts in tlie structure of the Cordillera, on this view receive a
simple explanation.
The rivers which flow in these valleys ought rather to be called
mountain-torrents. Their inclination is very great, and their
water the colour of mud. The roar which the Maypu made, as
it rushed over the great rounded fragments, was like that of the
sea. Amidst the din of rushing waters, the noise from the stones,
as they rattled one over another, was most distinctly audible even
from a distance. This rattling noise, night and day, may be
heard along the whole course of the torrent. The sound spoke
eloquently to the geologist; the thousands and thousands of
stones, which, striking against each other, made the one dull
uniform sound, were all hurrying in one direction. It w^as like
thinking on time, where the minute that now glides past is irre-
1835.] TORRENTS OF THE CORDILLERA. 317
coyerable. So was it with these stones ; the ocean is their eter-
nity, and each note of that wild music told of one more step to>
wards their destiny.
It is not possible for the mind to comprehend, except by a slow-
process, any effect which is produced by a cause repeated so often,
that the multiplier itself conveys an idea, not more definite than
tlie savage implies when he points to the hairs of his head. As
often as I have seen beds of mud, sand, and shingle, accumulateo
to the thickness of many thousand feet, I have felt inclined to
exclaim that causes, such as the present rivers and the present
beaches, could never have ground down and produced such
masses. But, on the other hand, when listenino: to the rattling
noise of these torrents, and calling to mind that whole races of
animals have passed away from the face of the earth, and that
during this whole period, night and day, these stones have gone
rattling onwards in their course, I have thought to myself, can
any mountains, any continent, withstand such waste ?
In tliis part of the valley, the mountains on each side were from
3000 to 6000 or 8000 feet high, with rounded outlines and steep
bare flanks. The general colour of the rock was dullish purple,
and the stratification very distinct. If the scenery was not beautiful^
it was remarkable and grand. We met during the day several
herds of cattle, which men were driving down from the hio-her
valleys in the Cordillera. This sign of the approaching winter
hurried our steps, more than was convenient for geologising.
The house where we slept was situated at the foot of a mountain,
on the summit of which are the mines of S. Pedro de Nolasko.
Sir F. Head marvels how mines have been discovered in such
extraordinary situations, as the bleak summit of the mountain of
S. Pedro de Nolasko. In the first place, metallic veins in this
country are generally harder than the surrounding strata : hence,
during the gradual wear of the hills, they project above the surface
of the ground. Secondly, almost every labourer, especially in the
northern parts of Chile, understands something about the appear-
ance of ores. In the great mining provinces of Coquimbo and
Copiapo, firewood is very scarce, and men search for it over every
hill and dale ; and by this means nearly all the richest mines
have there been discovered. Chanuncillo, from which silver to
the value of many hundred thousand pounds has been raised in
318 PORTILLO PASS. [chap. xv.
the course of a few years, was discovered by a man who threw a
stone at his loaded donkey, and thinking that it was very heavy,
he picked it up, and found it full of pure silver : the vein occurred
at no great distance, standing up like a wedge of metal. The
miners, also, taking a crowbar with them, often wander on Sun-
days over the mountains. In this south part of Chile, the men
who drive cattle into the Cordillera, and who frequent everj
ravine where there is a little pasture, are the usual disco-
verers.
2Qth. — As we ascended the valley, tlie vegetation, with the
exception of a few pretty alpine flowers, became exceedingly
scanty ; and of quadrupeds, birds, or insects, scarcely one could
be seen. The lofty mountains, their summits marked with a few
patches of snow, stood well separated from each other ; the val-
leys being filled up with an immense thickness of stratified allu-
vium. The features in the scenery of the Andes which struck
me most, as contrasted with the other mountain chains with which
I am acquainted, were,— the flat fringes sometimes expanding
into narrow plains on each side of the valleys,— the bright co-
lours, chiefly red and purple, of the utterly bare and precipitous
hills of porphyry, — the grand and continuous wall-like dikes, —
the plainly-divided strata which, where nearly vertical, formed
the picturesque and wild central pinnacles, but where less in-
clined, composed the great massive mountains on the outskirts
of the range, — and lastly, the smooth conical piles of fine and
brightly-coloured detritus, which sloped up at a high angle from
the base of the mountains, sometimes to a height of more than
2000 feet.
I frequently observed, both in Tierra del Fuego and within
the Andes, that where the rock was covered during the greater
part of the year with snow, it was shivered in a very extraordi-
nary manner into small angular fragments. Scoresby* has ob-
served the same fact in Spitzbergen. The case appears to me
rather obscure : for that part of the mountain which is protected
by a mantle of snow, must be less subject to repeated and great
changes o' temperature than any other part. I have sometimes
thought, that the earth and fragments of stone on the surface,
were oerhaps less effectually removed by slowly percolating snow-
* Scoresby'? Arctic Regions, vol. i. p. 122.
1835.] GE01.0GY OF THE CuEDILLEKA. 3iB
water* than by rain, and therefore that the appearance of a
quicker disintegration of the solid rock under the snow, was decep-
tive. Whatever the cause may be, the quantity of crumbling
stone on the Cordillera is very great. Occasionally in the spring,
great masses of this detritus slide down the mountains, and covei
the snow-drifts in the valleys, thus forming natural ice-houses.
We rode over one, the height of which was far below the limit
of perpetual snow.
As the evening drew to a close, we reached a singular basin-
like plain, called tlie Yalle del Yeso. It was covered by a little
diy pasture, and we had the pleasant sight of a herd of cattle
amidst the surrounding rocky deserts. The valley takes its name
of Yeso from a great bed, I should think at least 2000 feet thick,
of white, and in some parts quite pure, gypsum. We slept with
a party of men. who were employed in loading mules with this
substance, wliich is used in the manufacture of wine. We set
out early in the morning (21st), and continued to follow the course
of the river, which had become very small, till we arrived at the
foot of the ridge, that separates the waters flowing into the Pacific
and Atlantic Oceans. The road, which as yet had been good
with a steady but very gradual ascent, now changed into a steep
zigzag track up the great range, dividing the republics of Chile
and Mendoza.
I will here give a very brief sketch of the geology of the
several parallel lines forming the Cordillera. Of these lines,
there are two considerably higher than the others ; namely,
on the Chilian side, the Peuquenes ridge, which, where the road
crosses it, is 13,210 feet above the sea; and the Portillo ridge,
on the Mendoza side, Avhich is 14,305 feet. The lower beds of
the Peuquenes ridge, and of the several great lines to the west-
ward of it, are composed of a vast pile, many thousand feet in
thickness, of porphyries which have flowed as submarine lavas,
alternating with angular and rounded fragments of the same
rocks, thrown out of the submarine craters. These aUernatinsr
* I have heard it remarked in Shropshire, that the water, when the
Severn is flooded from long-continued rain, is mnch more turbid than -when
it proceeds from the snow melting on the Welsh mountains. D'Orbigny
f tom. i. p. 184), in explaining the cause of the various colours of the rivers
ia South America, remarks that those with blue or clear water have thei»
Kource in the Cordillera, where the snow melts.
320 GEOLOGY OF THE CORDILLERA. [chap, xv
' ■ ■ ■'■ ' ■- ■ - - ■ ■-— ■- ^ . ■ -—-■ — — 11 9
masses are covered in the central parts, by a great thickness
of red sandstone, conglomerate, and calcareous clay-slate, asso-
ciated with, and passing into, prodigious beds of gypsum. In
these upper beds shells are tolerably frequent ; and they belong
to about the period of the lower chalk of Europe. It is an
old story, but not the less wonderful, to hear of shells which
were once crawling on the bottom of the sea, now standing
nearly 14,000 feet above its level. The lower beds in this
great pile of strata, have been dislocated, baked, crystallized and
almost blended together, through the agency of mountain masses
of a peculiar white soda-granitic rock
The other main line, namely, that of the Portillo, is of a totally
different formation : it consists chiefly of grand bare pinnacles of
a red potash-granite, M'hich low down on the western fiank are
covered by a sandstone, converted by the former heat into a
quartz-rock. On the quartz, there rest beds of a conglomerate
several thousand feet in thickness, which have been upheaved by
the red granite, and dip at an angle of 45° towards the Peu-
quenes line. I was astonished to find that this conglomerate was
partly composed of pebbles, derived from the rocks, with their
fossil shells, of the Peuquenes range ; and partly of red potash-
granite, like that of the Portillo. Hence we must conclude, that
both the Peuquenes and Portillo ranges were partially upheaved
and exposed to wear and tear, when the conglomerate was form-
ing ; but as the beds of the conglomerate have been thrown off
at an angle of 45° by the red Portillo granite (with the under-
lying sandstone baked by it), we may feel sure, that the greater
part of the injection and upheaval of the already partially
formed Portillo line, took place after the accumulation of the
conglomerate, and long after the elevation of the Peuquenes
ridge. So that the Portillo, the loftiest line in this part of the
Cordillera, is not so old as the less lofty line of the Peuquenes.
Evidence derived from an inclined stream of lava at the eastern
base of the Portillo, might be adduced to show, that it owes part
of its great height to elevations of a still later date. Looking
to its earliest -origin, the red granite seems to have been injected
on an ancient pre-existing line of white granite and mica-slate.
lu most parts, perhaps in all parts, of the Cordillera, it may be
"ioucluded that each line has been formed by repealed upheavals
1835.] GEOLOGY OF THE CORDILLERA. 321
and injections ; and that the several parallel lines are of different
ages. Only thus can we gain time, at all sufficient to explain
the truly astonishing amount of denudation, which these great,
though comparatively with most other ranges recent, mountains
have suffered.
Finally, the shells in the Peuquenes or oldest ridge, prove, as
before remarked, that it has been upraised 14,000 feet since a
Secondary period, which in Europe we are accustomed to con-
sider as far from ancient ; but since these shells lived in a
moderately deep sea, it can be shown that the area now occupied
by the Cordillera, must have subsided several thousand feet — in
northern Chile as much as 6000 feet — so as to have allowed that
amount of submarine strata to have been heaped on the bed on
which the shells lived. The proof is the same with that by
which it was shown, that at a much later period since the tertiary
shells of Patagonian lived, there must have been there a subsi-
dence of several hundred feet, as well as an ensuing elevation.
Daily it is forced home on the mind of the geologist, that no-
thing, not even the wind that blows, is so unstable as the level of
the crust of this earth.
I will make only one other geological remark : although the
Portillo chain is here higher than the Peuquenes, the waters,
draining the intermediate valleys, have burst through it. The
same fact, on a grander scale, has been remarked in tlie eastern
and loftiest line of the Bolivian Cordillera, through which
the rivers pass : analogous facts have also been observed in
other quarters of the world. On the supposition of the sub-
sequent and gradual elevation of the Portillo line, this can be
understood ; for a chain of islets would at first appear, and, as
these were lifted up, the tides would be always wearing deeper
and broader channels between them. At the present day, even
in the most retired Sounds on the coast of Tierra del Fuego, the
currents in the transverse breaks which connect the longitudinal
channels, are very strong, so that in one transverse channel even
a small vessel under sail was whirled round and round.
About noon we began the tedious ascent of the Peuquenes
ridge, and then for the first time experienced some little difficulty
in our respiration. The mules would halt every fifty yards, and
322 POllTILLO PASS. jchap.xv.
after resting for a few seconds the poor willing- animals started ol
their own accord again. The short breathing from the rarefied
atmosphere is called by the Chilenos " puna ;" and they have
most ridiculous notions concerning its origin. Some say " all
the waters here have puna ;" others that " where there is snow
there is puna;" — and this no doubt is true. The only sensation
I experienced was a slight tightness across the head and chest,
like that felt on leaving a warm room and running quickly in
frosty w eather. There was some imagination even in this ; for
upon finding fossil shells on the highest ridge, I entirely forgot
the puna in my delight. Certainly the exertion of walking was
extremely great, and the respiration became deep and laborious :
I am told that in Potosi (about 13,000 feet above the sea)
strangers do not become thoroughly accustomed to the atmo-
sphere for an entire year. The inhabitants all recommend onions
for the puna ; as this vegetable has sometimes been given in Eu-
rope for pectoral complaints, it may possibly be of real service :
— for my part I found nothing so good as the fossil shells !
When about halfway up we met a large party with seventy
loaded mules. It was interesting to hear the wild cries of the
muleteers, and to watch the li^ng descending string of the
animals ; they appeared so diminutive, there being nothing but
the bleak mountains wdth which they could be compared. When
near the summit, the wind, as generally happens, was impetuous
and extremely cold. On each side of the ridge we had to pass
over broad bands of perpetual snow, which were now soon to
be covered by a fresh layer. When we reached the crest and
looked backwards, a glorious view was presented. The atmo-
sphere resplendently clear ; the sky an intense blue ; the profound
valleys ; the wild broken forms ; the heaps of ruins, piled up
during the lapse of ages ; the bright-coloured rocks, contrasted
with the quiet mountains of snow ; all these together produced a
scene no one could have imagined. Neither plant nor bird,
excepting a few condors wheeling around the higher pinnacles,
distracted my attention from the inanimate mass. I felt glad
that I was alone: it was like watching a thunderstorm, or hear-
ing in full orchestra a chorus of the Messiah.
On several patches of the snow I found the Protococcus nivalis,
or red snow, so well known from the accounts of Arctic navi-
1835.] RED SNOW, 323
g-ators. My attention was called to it, by observing the footsteps
of the mules stained a pale red, as if their hoofs had been slightly
bloody. I at first thought that it was owing to dust blown from the
surrounding mountains of red porphyry ; for from the magnifying
power of the crystals of snow, the groups of these microscopical
plants appeared like coarse particles. The snow was coloured
only where it had thawed very rapidly, or had been accidentally
crushed. A little rubbed on paper gave it a faint rose tinge
mingled with a little brick-red. I afterwards scraped some oif the
paper, and found that it consisted of groups of little spheres in
colourless cases, each the thousandth part of an inch in diameter.
The wind on the crest of the Peuquenes, as just remarked, is
generally impetuous and very cold : it is said* to blow steadily
from the westward or Pacific side. As the observations have
been chiefly made in summer, this wind must be an upper and
return current. The Peak of Teneriffe, with a less elevation,
and situated in lat. 28^, in like manner falls within an upper
return stream. At first it appears rather surprising, that the
trade-wind along the northern parts of Chile and on the coast of
Peru, should blow in so very southerly a direction as it does ;
but when we reflect that the Cordillera, running in a north and
south line, intercepts, like a great wall, the entire depth of the
lower atmospheric current, we can easily see that the trade- wind
must be drawn northward, following the line of mountains,
towards the equatorial regions, and thus lose part of that easterly
movement which it otherwise would have gained from the earth's
rotation. At Mendoza, on the eastern foot of the Andes, the
climate is said to be subject to long calms, and to frequent though
false appearances of gathering rain-storms : we may imagine
that the wind, which coming from the eastward is thus banked
up by the line of mountains, would become stagnant and irregu-
lar in its movements.
Having crossed the Peuquenes, we descended into a mountain-
ous country, intermediate between the two main ranges, and then
took up our quarters for the night. We were now in the re-
public of Mendoza. The elevation was probably not under
11,000 feet, and the vegetation in consequence exceedingly
* Dr. Gillies in Journ. of Nat. and Geograph. Scietce, Aug, 1830. Thia
author gives the heights of the Passes.
524 PORTILLO PASS. [chap. xt.
scanty. The root of a small scrubby plant served as fuel, but it
made a miserable fire, and the wind was piercingly cold. Being
quite tired with my day's work, I made up my bed as quickly as
I could, and went to sleep. About midnight I observed the sky
became suddenly clouded : I awakened the arriero to know if
there was any danger of bad weather ; but he said that without
thunder and lightning there was no risk of a heavy snow-storm.
The peril is imminent, and the difficulty of subsequent escape
great, to any one overtaken by bad weather between the two
ranges. A certain cave offers the only place of refuge : Mr.
Caldcleugh, who crossed on this same day of the month, was de-
tained there for some time by a heavy fall of snow. Casuchas,
or houses of refuge, have not been built in this pass as in that of
Uspallata, and therefore, during the autumn, the Portillo is little
frequented. I may here remark that within the main Cordillera
rain never falls, for during the summer the sky is cloudless, and
in winter snow-storms alone occur.
At the place where we slept water necessarily boiled, from the
diminished pressure of the atmosphere, at a lower temperature
than it does in a less lofty country ; the case being the converse
of that of a Papin's digester. Hence the potatoes, after remain-
ing for some hours in the boiling water, were nearly as hard as
ever. The pot was left on the fire all night, and next morning
it was boiled again, but yet the potatoes were not cooked. I
found out this, by overhearing my two companions discussing the
cause ; they had come to the simple conclusion, " that the cursed
pot (which was a new one) did not choose to boil potatoes."
March 22nd. — After eating our potato-less breakfast, we
travelled across the intermediate tract to the foot of the Portillo
range. In the middle of summer cattle are brought up here to
graze ; but they had now all been removed : even the greater
number of the guanacos had decamped, knowing well that if
overtaken here by a snow-storm, they would be caught in a trap.
We had a fine view of a mass of mountains called Tupungato,
tlie whole clothed with unbroken snow, in the midst of which
there was a blue patch, no doubt a glacier ; — a circumstance of
rare occurrence in these mountains. Now commenced a heavy
and long climb, similar to that up the Peuquenes. Bold conical
liiiis of red granite rose on each hand ; in the valleys there were
1835.J DRY AND CLEAR ATMOSPHERE. m?
several broad fields of perpetual snow. These frozen masses,
durin<>- the process of thawing, had in some parts been converted
into pinnacles or columns,* which, as they were high and close
together, made it difficult for the cargo mules to pass. On
one of these columns of ice, a frozen horse was sticking as on
a pedestal, but with its hind legs straight up in the air. The
animal, I suppose, must have fallen with its head downward
into a hole, when the snow was continuous, and afterwards the
surrounding parts must have been removed by the thaw.
When nearly on the crest of the Portillo, we were enveloped
in a falling cloud of minute frozen spicula. This was very un-
fortunate, as it continued the whole day, and quite intercepted
our view. The pass takes its name of Portillo, from a narrow
cleft or doorway on the highest ridge, through which the road
passes. From this point, on a clear day, those vast plains which
uninterruptedly extend to the Atlantic Ocean, can be seen. We
descended to the upper limit of vegetation, and found good
quarters for the night under the shelter of some large fragments
of rock. We met here some passengers, who made anxious in-
quiries about the state of the road. Shortly after it was dark
the clouds suddenly cleared away, and tlie eifect was quite ma-
gical. The great mountains, bright with the full moon, seemed
impending over us on all sides, as over a deep crevice: one
morning, very early, I witnessed the same striking efi'ect. As
soon as the clouds were dispersed it froze severely ; but as tliere
was no wind, we slept very comfortably.
The increased brilliancy of the rnoon and stars at this eleva-
tion, owing to the perfect transparency of the atmosphere, was
very remarkable. Travellers having observed the difficulty oi
judging heights and distances amidst lofty mountains, have gene-
rally attributed it to the absence of objects of comparison. It
appears to me, that it is fully as much owing to the transparency
of the air confounding objects at different distances, and likewise
* This structure in frozen snow was long since observed by Scoresby in
the icebergs near Spitzbergen, and lately, with more care, by Colonel
Jackson (Journ, of Geograph. Soc, vol, v. p. 12) on the Neva. Mr. Lyell
(Principles, vol. iv. p. 3(50) has compared the fissures, by which the co-
lumnar structure seems to be determined, to the joints that traverse nearly
all rocks, but which are best seen in the non-stratified masses. I may
observe, that in the case of ■'he frozen snow, the columnar structure must be
osring to a " metamorp'iic " action, and not to a process during deposition.
S20 PORTILLO PASS. [chap, xv
partly to the novelty of an unusual degree of fatigue arising from
a little exertion, — habit being thus opposed to the evidence of
the senses. I am sure that this extreme clearness of the air gives
a peculiar character to the landscape, all objects appearing to be
brought nearly into one plane, as in a drawing or panorama.
The transparency is, I presume, owing to the equable and high
state of atmospheric dryness. This dryness was shown by the
manner in which woodwork shrank (as I soon found by the
trouble my geological hammer gave me) ; by articles of food,
such as bread and sugar, becoming extremely hard ; and by the
preservation of the skin and parts of the flesh of the beasts, which
had perished on the road. To the same cause we must attribute
the singular facility with which electricity is excited. My flan-
nel-waistcoat, when rubbed in the dark, appeared as if it had been
washed with phosphorus ; — every hair on a dog's back crackled ;
— even the linen sheets, and leathern straps of the saddle, when
handled, emitted sparks.
March 2Srd. — The descent on the eastern side of the Cordil-
lera, is much shorter or steeper than on the Pacific side ; in other
words, the mountains rise more abruptly from the plains than
from the alpine country of Chile. A level and brilliantly white
sea of clouds was stretched out beneath our feet, shutting out the
view of the equally level Pampas. We soon entered the band of
clouds, and did not again emerge from it that day. About
noon, finding pasture for the animals and bushes for firewood at
Los Arenales, we stopped for the night. This was near the up-
permost limit of bushes, and the elevation, I suppose, was between
seven and eight thousand feet.
I was much struck with the marked difference between the
vegetation of these eastern valleys and those on the Chilian side:
yet the climate, as well as the kind of soil, is nearly the same,
and the difference of longitude very trifling. The same remark
holds good with the quadrupeds, and in a lesser degree with the
birds and insects. I may instance the mice, of which I obtained
thirteen species on the shores of the Atlantic, and five on the
Pacific, and not one of them is identical. We must except all
those species, which habitually or occasionally frequent elevated
mountains ; and certain birds, which range as far south as the
Strait of Magellan. This fact is in perfect accordance with the
1835.] VIEW OF THE PAMPAS. 327
geological history of the Andes ; for these mountains have ex-
isted as a great barrier, since the present races of animals have
appeared ; and tlierefore, unless we suppose the same species to
have been created in two different places, we ought not to expect
any closer similarity between the organic beings on the opposite
sides of the Andes, than on the opposite shores of the ocean. In
both cases, we must leave out of tlie question those kinds which
have been able to cross the barrier, wiiether of solid rock or salt-
water.*
A great number of the plants and animals were absolutely the
same as, or most closely allied to those of Patagonia. We here
have the agouti, bizcacha, three species of armadillo, the ostrich,
certain kinds of partridges and other birds, none of which are
ever seen in Chile, but are the characteristic animals of the
desert plains of Patagonia. We have likewise many of the
same (to the eyes of a person who is not a botanist) thorny
stunted bushes, withered grass, and dwarf plants. Even the
black slowly-crawling beetles are closely similar, and some, I
b'jlieve, on rigorous examination, absolutely identical. It had
always been to me a subject of regret, that we were unavoidably
compelled to give up the ascent of the S. Cruz river, before
reaching the mountains : I always had a latent hope of meeting
with some great change in the features of the country ; but I
now feel sure, that it would only have been following the plains
of Patagonia up a mountainous ascent.
March 2'\th. — Early in the morning I climbed up a moun-
tain on one side of the valley, and enjoyed a far extended view
over the Pampas. This was a spectacle to which I had always
looked forward with interest, but I was disappointed : at the
first glance it much resembled a distant view of the ocean, but
in the northern parts many irregularities were soon distinguisli-
able. The most striking feature consisted in the rivers, which,
facing the ri^^ing sun, glittered like silver threads, till lost in the
immensity of the distance. At midday we descended the valley,
* This is merely an ilhistration of the admirable laws, first laid down by
Mr. Lyell, on the geographical distribution of animals, as influenced by geo-
logical changes. The whole reasoning, of course, is founded on the assump-
tion of the immutability of species ; otherwise the difference in the species
in the two regions, might he considered as superinduced during a length of
time.
.15
328 POilTILLO PASS. [chap. XV
and reached a hovel, Avhere an officer and three soldiers were
posted to examine passports. One of these men was a thorough-
bred Pampas Indian : he was kept much for the same purpose
as a bloodhound, to track out any person who might pass by
secretly, either on foot or horseback. Some years ago, a pas-
senger endeavoured to escape detection, by making a long
circuit over a neighbouring mountain ; but this Indian, having
by chance crossed his track, followed it for the whole day over
dry and very stony hills, till at last he came on his prey hidden
in a gully. We here heard that the silvery clouds, which we
had admired from the bright region above, had poured down
torrents of rain. The valley from this point gradually opened,
and the hills became mere v/ater-worn hillocks compared to the
giants behind : it then expanded into a gently-sloping plain of
shingle, covered with low trees and bushes. This talus, although
appearing narrow, must be nearly ten miles wide before it blends
into the apparently dead level Pampas. We passed the only house
in this neighbourhood, the Estancia of Chaquaio ; and at sunset
we pulled up in the first snug corner, and there bivouacked.
March 25th. — I was reminded of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres,
by seeing the disk of the rising sun, intersected by an horizon,
level as that of the ocean. During the night a heavy dew fell,
a circimistance which we did not experience within the Cordil-
lera. The road proceeded for some distance due east across a
low swamp ; then meeting the dry plain, it turned to the north
towards Mendoza. The distance is two very long days' journey.
Our first day's journey was called fourteen leagues to Estacado,
and the second seventeen to Luxan, near Mendoza. The whole
distance is over a level desert plain, with not more than two or
three houses. The sun was exceedingly powerful, and the ride
devoid of all interest. There is very little water in this " tra-
versia," and in our second day's journey we found only one
little pool. Little water flows from the mountains, and it sooii
becomes absorbed by the dry and porous soil ; so that, although
we travelled at the distance of only ten or fifteen miles from the
outer range of the Cordillera, we did not cross a single stream.
In many parts the ground was incrusted with a saline eflBor-
escence ; hence we had the same salt-loving plants, which are
conmion near Bahia Blancn. The landscape has a uniform
.835. SWARM OF LOCUSTS. 329
character from the Strait of JMagellan, along the whole eastern
coast of Patagonia, to the Rio Colorado ; and it appears that tlie
same kind of country extends inland from this river, in a sweep-
ing line as far as San Luis, and perhaps even further north. To
the eastward of this curved line, lies the basin of the compara-
tively damp and green plains of Buenos ,Ayres. The sterile
plains of Mendoza and Patagonia consist of a bed of shingle,
worn smooth and accumulated by the waves of the sea ; while
the Pampas, covered by thistles, clover, and grass, have been
formed by the ancient estuary mud of the Plata.
After our two days' tedious journey, it was refreshing to see
in the distance the rows of poplars and willows growing round
the village and river of Luxan. Shortly before we arrived at
this place, we observed to the south a ragged cloud of a darii
reddish-brown colour. At first we thought tliat it was smoke
from some great fire on the plains ; but we soon found that it
was a swarm of locusts. They were flying northward ; and with
the aid of a light breeze, they overtook us at a rate of ten or
fifteen miles an hour. The main body filled the air from a
height of twenty feet, to that, as it appeared, of two or three
thousand above the ground ; " and the sound of their wings was
as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle :" or
rather, I should say, like a strong breeze passing through the
rigging of a ship. The sky, seen through the advanced guard,
appeared like a mezzotinto engraving, but the main body was
impervious to sight ; they were not, however, so thick together,
but that they could escape a stick waved backwards and for-
v/ards. When they alighted, they were more numerous than tlie
leaves in the field, and the surface became reddish instead of
being green : the swarm having once alighted, the individuals
flew from side to side in all directions. Locusts are not an un-
common pest in this country : already during this season, several
smaller swarms had come up from the south, where, as apparently
in all other parts of the world, they are bred in the deserts.
The poor cottagers in vain attempted by lighting fires, by shouts,
and by waving branches to avert the attack. This species
of locust closely resembles, and perhaps is identical with the
famous Grvllus migratorius of the East.
We crossed the Luxan, which is a river of considerable size,
530 MEXDOZA. [CHAP. x\
though its course towards the sea-coast is verj' imperfectly
known : it is even doubtful whether, in passing over the plains,
it is not evaporated and lost. We slept in the village of Luxan,
which is a small place surrounded by gardens, and forms the
most southern cultivated district in the Province of Mendoza ;
it is five leagues south of the capital. At night I experienced
an attack (for it deserves no less a name) of the JBenchuca, a
species of Reduvius, the great black bug of the Pampas. It is
most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long^
crawling over one's body. Before sucking they are quite thin,
but afterwards they become round and bloated with blood, and
in this state are easily crushed. One which I caught at Iquique,
(for they are found in Chile and Peru,) was very empty. When
placed on a table, and though surrounded by people, if a finger
was presented, the bold insect would immediately protrude its
sucker, make a charge, and if allowed, draw blood. No pain
was caused by the wound. It was curious to watch its body
during the act of sucking, as in less than ten minutes it changed
from being as flat as a wafer to a globular form. This one feast,
for which the benchuca was indebted to one of the ofl[icers, kept
it fat during four whole months ; but, after the first fortnight, it
was quite ready to have another suck.
March 27th, — We rode on to Mendoza. Tiie country was
beautifully cultivated, and resembled Chile. This neighbour-
hood is celebrated for its fruit ; and certainly nothing could
appear more flourishing than the vineyards and the orchards of
figs, peaches, and olives. We bought water-melons nearly twice
as large as a man's head, most deliciously cool and well-flavoured,
for a halfpenny apiece; and for the value of threepence, half a
wheelbarrowful of peaches. The cultivated and enclosed part
of this province is very small ; there is little more than that
which we passed through between Luxan and the Capital. Tlie
land, as in Chile, owes its fertility entirely to artificial irriga-
tion ; and it is really wonderful to observe how extraordinarily
productive a barren traversia is thus rendered.
We stayed the ensuing day in Mendoza. The prosperity of
the place has much declined of late years. The inhabitants say
" it is good to live in, but very bad to grow rich in." The
loM'er orders have the louujjino:, reckless manners o.'" the Gauchoe
1835.] MENDOZA. 331
of the Pampas ; and their dress, riding-gear, and habits of life,
are nearly the same. To my mind the town had a stupid, forlorn
aspect. Neither the boasted alameda, nor the scenery, is at
all comparable with that of Santiago ; but to those who, coming
from Buenos Ayres, have just crossed the unvaried Pampas, the
gardens and orchards must appear delightful. Sir F. Head,
speaking of the inhabitants, says, " They eat their dinners, and
it is so very hot, they go to sleep — and could they do better?"
I quite agree with Sir F. Head : the happy doom of the Men-
dozinos is to eat, sleep, and be idle.
March 29th. — We set out on our return to Chile, by the
Uspallata pass situated north of Mendoza. We had to cross a
long and most sterile traversia of fifteen leagues. The soil in
parts was absolutely bare, in others covered by numberless dwarf
cacti, armed with formidable spines, and called by the inhabi-
tants " little lions." There were, also, a few low bushes. Al-
though the plain is nearly three thousand feet above the sea, the
sun was very powerful ; and the heat, as well as the clouds of
impalpable dust, rendered the travelling extremely irksome.
Our course during the day lay nearly parallel to the Cordillera,
but gradually approaching them. Before sunset we entered one
of the wide valleys, or rather bays, which open on the plain :
tliis soon narrowed into a ravine, where a little higher up tlie
house of Villa Yicencio is situated. As we had ridden all day
without a drop of water, both our mules and selves were very
thirsty, and we looked out anxiously for the stream which flows
down this valley. It was curious to observe how gradually the
water made its appearance : on the plain the course was quite
dry ; by degrees it became a little damper ; then puddles of
water appeared ; these soon became connected ; and at Villa
Vicencio there was a nice little rivulet.
SOth. — The solitary hovel which bears the imposing name of
Villa Vicencio, has been mentioned by every traveller who has
crossed ^the Andes. I stayed here and at some neighbouring
mines during the two succeeding days. The geology of tlie
Burrounding country is very curious. The Uspallata range is
separated from the main Cordillera by a long narrow plain or
basin, like those so often mentioned in Chile, but higher, being
332 USPALLATA PASS. [chap. xv.
six thousand feet above the sea. This range has nearly the
same geographical position with respect to the Cordillera, which
the gigantic Portillo line has, but it is of a totally different
orijrin : it consists of various kinds of submarine lava, alternat-
ing with volcanic sandstones and other remarkable sedimentary
deposits ; the whole having a very close resemblance to some
of the tertiary beds on the shores of the Pacific. From this
resemblance I expected to find silicified wood, which is generally
characteristic of those formations. I was gratified in a very ex-
traordinary manner. In the central part of the range, at an
elevation of about seven thousand feet, I observed on a bare slope
some snow-white projecting columns. These were petrified
trees, eleven being silicified, and from thirty to forty converted
into coarsely-crystallized white calcareous spar. They were
abruptly broken off, the upright stumps projecting a i^w feet
above the ground. The trunks measured from three to five feet
each in circumference. They stood a little way apart from each
other, but the whole formed one group. Mr. Robert Brown has
been kind enougli to examine the wood : he says it belongs to the
fir tribe, partaking of the character of the Araucarian family,
but with some curious points of affinity with the yew. The
volcanic sandstone in which the trees were embedded, and from
the lower part of which they must have sprung, had accumulated
in successive thin layers around their trunks ; and the stone yet
retained the impression of the bark.
It required little geological practice to interpret tlie marvel-
lous story which this scene at once unfolded ; though I confess
I was at first so much astonished, that I could scarcely believe
the plainest evidence. I saw the spot where a cluster of fine
trees once waved their branches on the shores of the Atlantic,
when that ocean (now driven back 700 miles) came to the foot
of the Andes. I saw that they had sprung from a volcanic soil
which had been raised above the level of the sea, and that sub-
sequently this dry land, with its upright trees, had been let down
into the depths of the ocean. In these depths, the formerly dry
land was covered by sedimen tary beds, and these again by
enormous streams of submarine lava — one such mass attaining
the thickness of a thousand feet ; and these deluges of molten
stone and aqueous deposits five times alternately had been spread
1833.) SILICIFIED TREES. 333
out. The ocean which received such thick masses, nuist have
been profoundly deep ; but again the subterranean forces exerted
themselves, and I now beheld the bed of that ocean, forming- a
chain of mountains more than seven thousand feet in height.
Nor had those antagonist forces been dormant, which are always
at work wearmg down the surface of the land : the great piles
of strata had been intersected by many wide valleys, and the
trees, now changed into silex, were exposed projecting from the
volcanic soil, now changed into rock, whence formerly, in a
green and budding state, they had raised their lofty heads.
Now, all is utterly irreclaimable and desert ; even the lichen
cannot adhere to the stony casts of former trees. Yast, and
scarcely comprehensible as such changes must ever appear, yet
they have all occurred within a period, recent when compared
with the history of the Cordillera ; and the Cordillera itself is
absolutely modern as compared ^ith many of the fossiliferous
strata of Europe and America.
April \st. — We crossed the Uspallata range, and at night
slept at the custom-house — the only inhabited spot on the plain.
Shortly before leaving the mountains, there was a very extraordi-
nary view ; red, purple, green, and quite white sedimentary
rocks, alternating with black lavas, were broken up and thrown
into all kinds of disorder by masses of porphyry of every shade
of colour, from dark brown to the brightest lilac. It was the
first view I ever saw, which really resembled those pretty sections
which geologists make of the inside of the earth.
The next day we crossed the plain, and followed the course of
the same great mountain stream wdiich flows by Luxan. Here it
was a furious torrent, quite impassable, and appeared larger
than in the low country, as was the case with the rivulet of Villa
Vicencio. On the evening of the succeeding day, we reached
the Rio de las Vacas, which is considered the worst stream in
the Cordillera to cross. As all these rivers have a rapid and
short course, and are formed by the melting of the snow, the
hour of the day makes a considerable difference in their volume.
In the evening the stream is muddy and full, but about daybreak
it becomes clearer and much less impetuous. This we found to
be the case with the Rio Vacas, and in the morning we crossed
it with little difficulty.
334 USPALLATA PASS. [chap. xv.
The scenery thus far was very uninteresting-, compared with
that of the Portillo pass. Little can be seen beyond the bare
walls of the one grand, flat -bottomed valley, which the road fol-
lows up to the highest crest. The valley and the huge rocky
mountains are extremely barren : during the two previous nights
the poor mules had absolutely nothing to eat, for excepting a few
low resinous bushes, scarcely a plant can be seen. In the course
of this day we crossed some of the worst passes in the Cordillera,
but their danger has been much exaggerated. I was told that if
I attempted to pass on foot, my head would turn giddy, and that
there was no room to dismount ; but I did not see a place where
any one might not have walked over backwards, or got off his
mule on either side. One of the bad passes, called las Animas
(the Souls), I had crossed, and did not find out till a day after-
wards, that it was one of the awful dangers. No doubt there are
many parts in which, if the mule should stumble, the rider would
be hurled down a great precipice ; but of this there is little
chance. I dare say, in the spring, the " laderas," or roads,
which each year are formed anew across the piles of fallen
detritus, are very bad ; but from wliat I saw, I suspect the real
danger is nothing. With cargo-mules the case is rather different,
for the loads project so far, that the animals, occasionally running
against each other, or against a point of rock, lose their balance,
and are thrown down the precipices. In crossing the rivers I
can well believe that the difficulty may be very great : at this
season there was little trouble, but in the summer they must be
very hazardous. I can quite imagine, as Sir F. Head describes,
the different expressions of those who have passed the gulf, and
those who are passing. I never heard of any man being drowned,
but with loaded mules it frequently happens. The arriero tells
you to show your mule the best line, and then allow her to cross
as she likes : the cargo-mule takes a bad line, and is often lost.
April 4th. — From the Rio de las Vacas to the Puente del
Incas, half a day's journey.' As there w^as pasture for the mules,
and geology for me, we bivouacked here for the night. When
one hears of a natural Bridge, one pictures to oneself some deep
and narrow ravine, across w hich a bold mass of rock has fallen ;
or a great arch hollowed out like the vault of a cavern. Instead
of this, the Incas Bridge consists of a crust of stratified sliingle.
1835.] INCAS BKIDGE.
3Sb
cemented together by the deposits of the neighbouring hot
springs. It appears, as if the stream had scooped out a channel
on one side, leaving an overhanging ledge, which was met by
earth and stones falling down from the opposite cliff. Certainly
an oblique junction, as would happen in such a case, was very
distinct on one side. The Bridge of the Incas is by no means
worthy of the great monarchs whose name it bears.
5th. — We had a long day's ride across the central ridge, from
the Incas Bridge to the Ojos del Agua, which are situated near
the lowest casucha on the Chilian side. These casuchas are round
little towers, wiih steps outside to reach the floor, which is raised
some feet above the ground on account of the snow-drifts. Thev
are eight in number, and under the Spanish government were
kept during the winter well stored with food and charcoal, and
each courier had a master-key. Now they only answer the pur-
pose of caves, or rather dungeons. Seated on some little emi-
nence, they are not, however, ill suited to the surrounding scene
of desolation. The zigzag ascent of the Cumbre, or the partition
of the waters, was very steep and tedious ; its height, according
to Mr. Pentland, is 12,454 feet. The road did not pass over auy
perpetual snow, although there were patches of it on both hands.
The wind on the summit was exceedingly cold, but it was impos-
sible not to stop for a iew minutes to admire, again and again,
the colour of the heavens, and the brilliant transparency of the
atmosphere. The scenery was grand : to the westward there was
a fine chaos of mountains, divided by profound ravines. Some
snow generally falls before this period of the season, and it has
even happened that the Cordillera have been finally closed by this
time. But we were most fortunate. The sky, by night and by
day, was cloudless, excepting a few round little masses of vapour,
that floated over the highest pinnacles. I have oftfen seen these
islets in the sky, marking the position of the Cordillera, when
the far-distant mountains have been hidden beneath the horizon.
April 6th.~ln the morning we found some thief had stolen
one of our mules, and the bell of the madrina. We therefore
rode only two or three miles down the valley, and staid there tlie
ensuing day in hopes of recovering the mule, which the arriero
thought had been hidden in some ravine. The scenery in this
part had assumed a Chilian character: the lower sides of the
336 USPALLATA PASS. [chap. xv.
mountains, dotted over with the pale evergreen Quillay tree, and
with the great chandelier-like cactus, are certainly more to be
admired than the bare eastern valleys ; but I cannot quite agree
with the admiration expressed by some travellers. The extreme
pleasure, I suspect, is chiefly owing to the prospect of a good fire
and of a good supper, after escaping from the cold regions above :
and I am sure I most heartily participated in these feelings.
Sth. — We left the valley of the Aconcagua, by w hich w^e had
descended, and reached in the evening a cottage near the Villa
de St. Rosa. The fertility of the plain was delightful : the
autumn being advanced, the leaves of many of the fruit-trees
were falling ; and of the labourers, — some were busy in drying
figs and peaches on the roofs of their cottages, while others were
gathering the grapes from the vineyards. It was a pretty scene ;
but I missed that pensive stillness which makes the autumn in
England indeed the evening of the year. On the 10th we reached
Santiago, where I received a very kind and hospitable reception
from Mr. Caldcleugh. My excursion only cost me twenty-four
days, and never did I more deeply enjoy an equal space of time.
A few days afterwards I returned to Mr. Corfield's house at
Valparaiso.
IdSS.J COAST-KOAD TO COQUIMBO. 337
CHAPTER XVI.
Coast-road to Coquimbo — Great loads carried by the miners — Coquimbo—
Earthquake — Step-formed terraces — Absence of recent deposits — Con-
temporaneousness of the Tertiary formations — Excursion up the valley —
Road to Guasco — Deserts — Valley of Copiapd — Rain and earthquakes —
Hydrophobia — The Despoblado — Indian Ruins — Probable change of
climate— River-bed arched by an earthquake — Cold gales of wind — Noises
from a hill — Iquique — Salt alluvium — Nitrate of soda — Lima — Unhealthy
country — Ruins of Callao, overtln-own by an earthquake — Recent sub-
sidence— Elevated shells on San Lorenzo, their decomposition — Plain with
embedded shells and fragments of pottery — Antiquity of the Indian Race.
NORTHERN CHILE AND PERU.
April 'rith. — I SET out on a journey to Coquimbo, and thence
through Guasco to Copiapo, where Captain Fitz Roy kindly
offered to pick me up in the Beag-le. The distance in a straight
line along the shore northward is only 420 miles ; but my
mode of travelling made it a very long journey. I bought four
horses and two mules, the latter carrying the luggage on alter-
nate days. The six animals together only cost the value of
twenty-five pounds sterling, and at Copiapo I sold them again
for twenty-three. We travelled in the same independent manne**
AS before, cooking our own meals, and sleeping in the open air.
As we rode towards the Viiio del Mar, I took a fare\A'ell view of
Valparaiso, and admired its picturesque appearance. For geo-
logical purposes I made a detour from the high road to the foot
of the Bell of Quillota. We passed through an alluvial district
rich in gold, to the neighbourhood of Limache, where we slept.
Washing for gold supports the inhabitants of numerous hovels,
scattered along the sides of each little rivulet ; but, like all those
whose gains are uncertain, they are unthrifty in their habits, and
consequently poor.
28^/i. — In the afternoon we arrived at a cottage at the foot of
the Bell mountain. The inhabitants were freeholders, which is
not very usual in Chile. They supported themselves on the pro
338 NOPtTiiEKN CHILE. [chaf. x^t.
duce of a garden and a little field, but were very poor. Capital
is here so deficient, that the people are obliged to sell their green
corn while standing in the field, in order to buy necessaries for
the ensuing year. Wheat in consequence was dearer in the very
district of its production than at Valparaiso, where the contrac-
tors live. The next day we joined the main road to Coquimbo.
A.t night there was a very light shower of rain : this was the first
drop that had fallen since the heavy rain of September 11th and
12th, which detained me a prisoner at the Baths of Cauquenes.
The interval was seven and a half months ; but the rain this year
ill Chile was rather later than usual. The distant Andes were
«
now covered by a tliick mass of snow ; and were a glorious
sight.
3Tay 2nd. — The road continued to follow the coast, at no
great distance from the sea. The few trees and bushes which
are common in central Cliile decreased rapidly in numbers, and
were replaced by a tall plant, something like a yucca in appear-
ance. The surface of the country, on a small scale, was singu-
larly broken and irregular ; abrupt little peaks of rock rising out
of small plains or basins. The indented coast and the bottom
of the neighbouring sea, studded with breakers, would, if con-
verted into dry land, present similar forms ; and such a con-
version without doubt has taken place in the part over which we
rode.
'Srd. — Quilimari to Conchalee. The country became more
and more barren. In the valleys there was scarcely sufficient
water for any irrigation ; and the intermediate land was quite
bare, not supporting even goats. In the spring, after the winter
showers, a thin pasture rapidly springs up, and cattle are then
driven down from the Cordillera to graze for a short time. It
is curious to observe how the seeds of the grass and other plants
5eem to accommodate themselves, as if by an acquired habit, to
the quantity of rain which falls on different parts of this coast.
One shower far northward at Copiapo produces as great an effect
on the vegetation, as two at Guasco, and as three or four in this
district. At Valparaiso a winter so dry as greatly to injure the
pasture, would at Guasco produce the most unusual abundance.
Proceeding northward, the quantity of rain does not appear to
decrease in strict proportion to tiie latitude. At Conchalee,
»835.] CHILIAN MINERS. 339
which is only 67 miles north of Valparaiso, rain is not expected
till the end of May ; whereas, at Valparaiso some generally falls
early in April : the annual quantity is likewise small in pro-
portion to the lateness of the season at which it commences.
Ath. — Finding the coast-road devoid of interest of any kind, we
turned inland towards the mining district and valley of Illapel.
This valley, like every other in Chile, is level, broad, and very fer
tile : it is bordered on each side, either by cliffs of stratified shingle,
or by bare rocky mountains. Above the straight line of the
uppermost irrigating ditch, all is brown as on a high road ; while
all below is of as bright a green as verdigris, from the beds of
alfarfa, a kind of clover. We proceeded to Los Homos, another
mining district, where the principal hill was drilled with holes,
like a great ants'-nest. The Chilian miners are a peculiar race
of men in their habits. Living for weeks together in the most
desolate spots, when they descend to the villages on feast-days,
there is no excess or extravagance into which they do not run.
They sometimes gain a considerable sum, and then, like sailors
with prize-money, they try how soon they can contrive to squan-
der it. They drink excessively, buy quantities of clothes, and
in a few days return penniless to their miserable abodes, there to
work harder than beasts of burden. This thoughtlessness, as
with sailors, is evidently the result of a similar manner of life.
Their daily food is found them, and they acquire no habits of
carefulness ; moreover, temptation and the means of yielding to it
are placed in their power at the same time. On the other hand,
in Cornwall, and some other parts of England, where the system
of selling part of the vein is followed, the miners, from being
obliged to act and think for themselves, are a singularly intelli-
ofent and well-conducted set of men.
The dress of the Chilian miner is peculiar and rather pic-
turesque. He wears a very long shirt of some dark-coloured
baize, with a leathern apron ; the ^^ hole being fastened round \i\s
waist by a bright-coloured sash. His trowsers are very broad,
and his small cap of scarlet cloth is made to fit the head closely.
We met a party of these miners in full costume, carrying the
body of one of their companions to be buried. They marched
at a very quick trot, four men supporting the corpse. One sel
having run as hard as they could for about two hundred yaids.
140 NOKTHEUN CHILE. [chap. xvi.
were relieved by four others, who had previously dashed on
ahead on horseback. Thus they proceeded, encouraging each
other by wild cries : altogether the scene formed a most strange
funeral.
We continued travelling northward, in a zigzag line ; some-
times stopping a day to geologise. The country was so thinly
inhabited, and the track so obscure, that we often had difficulty
in finding our way. On the 12th I stayed at some mines. The
ore in this case was not considered particularly good, but from
being abundant it was supposed the mine would sell for about
thirty or forty thousand dollars (that is, 6000 or 8000 pounds
sterling) ; yet it had been bought by one of the English Associ-
ations for an ounce of geld (3/. 8s.). The ore is yellow pyrites,
which, as I have already remarked, before the arrival of the
English, was not supposed to contain a particle of copper. On
a scale of profits nearly as great as in the above instance, piles
of cinders, abounding with minute globules of metallic copper,
were purchased ; yet with these advantages, the mining associ-
ations, as is well known, contrived to lose immense sums of
money. The folly of the greater number of the commissioners
and shareholders amounted to infatuation ; — a thousand pounds
per annum given in some cases to entertain the Chilian authori-
ties ; libraries of w^ell-bound geological books ; miners brought
out for particular metals, as tin, which are not found in Chile ;
contracts to supply the miners with milk, in parts where there
are no cows ; machinery, where it could not possibly be used ; and
a hundred similar arrangements, bore witness to our absurdity,
and to this day afford amusement to the natives. Yet there can
be no doubt, that the same capital well employed in these mines
would have yielded an immense return : a confidential man of
business, a practical miner and assayer, would have been all that
was required.
Captain Head has described the wonderful load which the
" Apires," truly beasts of burden, carry up from the deepest
mines. I confess I thought the account exaggerated ; so that I
was glad to take an opportunity of weighing one of the loads,
which I picked out by hazard. It required considerable exertion
on my part, when standing directly over it, to lift it from the
ground. The load was considered under weight when found to
IS35.J CHILIAN MINERS. 341
be 197 pounds. The apire had carried this up eighty perpen-
dicular yards, — part of the way by a steep passage, but the
greater part up notched poles, placed in a zigzag line up the
shaft. According to the general regulation, the apire is not
allowed to halt for breath, except the mine is six hundred feet
deep. Tlie average load is considered as ratiier more than 200
pounds, and I have been assured that one of 300 pounds (twenty-
two stone and a half) by way of a trial has been brought up from
the deepest mine ! At this time the apires were bringing up the
usual load twelve times in the day ; that is, 2400 pounds from
eighty yards deep ; and they were employed in the intervals in
breaking and picking ore.
These men, excepting from accidents, are healthy, and appear
cheerful. Their bodies are not very muscular. They rarely
eat meat once a week, and never oftener, and then only the hard
dry charqui. Although with a knowledge that the labour was
voluntary, it was nevertheless quite revolting to see the state in
which they reached the mouth of the mine ; their bodies bent
forward, leaning with their arms on the steps, their legs bowed,
their muscles quivering, the perspiration streaming from their
faces over their breasts, their nostrils distended, the corners of
their mouth forcibly drawn back, and the expulsion of their
breath most laborious. Each time they draw their breath, they
utter an articulate cry of " ay-ay," which ends in a sound rising
from deep in the chest, but shrill like the note of a fife. After
staggering to the pile of ore, they emptied the *' carpacho ;" in
two or three seconds recovering their breath, they wiped the
sweat from their brows, and apparently quite fresh descended
the mine again at a quick pace. This appears to me a wonderful
instance of the amount of labour which habit, for it can be
nothing else, will enable a man to endure.
In the evening, talking with the mayor-domo of these mines,
about the number of foreigners now scattered over the whole
country, he told me that, though quite a young man, he remem-
bers when he was a boy at school at Coquimbo, a holiday being
given to see the captain of an English ship, who was brought to
the city to speak to the governor. He believes that nothing
would have induced any boy in the school, himself included, to
have gone close to the Englishman ; so deeply had they been
?42 NOirniERN CHILE. [chap. xvi.
impressed with an idea of the heresj', contamination, and evil to
be derived from contact with «Nuch a person. To this day they
relate the atrocious actions of the bucaniers ; and especially of
one man, who took away tlie figure of the Virgin Mary, and re-
turned the year after for that of St. Joseph, saying it was a pity
the lady sliould not have a husband. I heard also of an old lady
who, at a dinner in Coquimbo, remarked how wonderfully
strange it was that she should have lived to dine in the same room
with an Englishman ; for she remembered as a girl, that twice,
at the mere cry of " Los Ingleses," every soul, carrying w^hat
valuables they could, had taken to the mountains.
I4th. — We reached Coquimbo, where we stayed a few days.
The town is remarkable for nothing but its extreme quietness.
It is said to contain from 6000 to 8000 inhabitants. On the
morning of the 17th it rained lightly, the first time this year, for
about five hours. The farmers, who plant corn near the sea-
coast where the atmosphere is more humid, taking advantage of
this shower, w^ould break up the ground ; after a second they
would put tlie seed in ; and if a third shower should fall, they
would reap a good harvest in the spring. It was interesting to
watch the effect of this trifling amount of moisture. Twelve
hours afterwards the ground appeared as dry as ever ; yet after an
interval of ten days, all the hills were faintly tinged with green
patches ; the grass being sparingly scattered in hair-like fibres a
full inch in length. Before this shower every part of the surface
was bare as on a high road.
In the evening. Captain Fitz Hoy and myself were dining with
Mr. Edwards, an English resident well known for his hospitality
by all who have visited Coquimbo, when a sharp earthquake
happened. I heard the forecoming rumble, but from the screams
of the ladies, the running of the servants, and the rush of several
of the gentlemen to the doorway, I could not distinguish the
motion. Some of the women afterwards were crying w ith terror,
and one gentleman said he should not be able to sleep all night,
or if he did, it would only be to dre-am of falling houses. The
father of this person had lately lost all his property at Talca-
huano, and he himself had only just escaped a falling roof at
Valparaiso, in 1822. He mentioned a curious coincidence which
then happened : he was playing at cards, when a German, one
1835.J SHINGLE-TERRACES OF COQUlMiiO. 343
of the party, got up, and said he would never sit in a room in
these countries with the door shut, as, owing to liis having done
so, he had nearly lost his life at Copiapo. Accordingly he
opened the door ; and no sooner had he done this, than he cried
out, " Here it comes again ! " and the famous shock commenced.
The whole party escaped. The danger in an earthquake is not
from the time lost in opening a door, but from the chance of its
becoming jammed by the movement of the walls.
It is impossible to be much surprised at the fear which natives
and old residents, though some of them known to be men of great
command of mind, so generally experience during earthquakes.
I think, however, tliis excess of panic may be partly attributed
to a want of habit in governing their fear, as it is not a feeling
they are ashamed of. Indeed, the natives do not like to see a
person indifferent. I heard of two Englishmen wlio, sleeping in
the open air during a smart sliock, knowing that there was no
danger, did not rise. The natives cried out indignantly, " Look
at those heretics, they will not even get out of their beds ! '*
I spent some days in examining the step-formed terraces of
shingle, first noticed by Captain B. Hall, and believed by Mr.
Lyell to have been formed by the sea, during the gradual rising
of the land. This certainly is the true explanation, for I found
numerous shells of existing species on these terraces. Five nar-
row, gently sloping, fringe-like terraces rise one behind the other,
and where best developed are formed of shingle: they front
the bay, and sweep up both sides of the valley. At Guasco,
north of Coquimbo, the phenomenon is displayed on a much
grander scale, so as to strike with surprise even some of the in-
habitants. The terraces are there much broader, and may be
called plains ; in some parts there are six of them, but generally
only five ; they run up the valley for thirty -seven miles from
the coast. These step-formed terraces or fringes closely resemble
those in the valley of S.Cruz, and except in being on a smaller
scale, those great ones along the whole coast-line of Patagonia.
They have undoubtedly been formed by the denuding power of
the sea, during long periods of rest in the gradual elevation of the
continent.
Shells of many existing species not only lie on the surface of
M4 CONTEMPORANEOUS DEPOSITION [chae. ivi.
(he terraces at Coquimbo (to a height of 250 feet), but are em-
bedded in a friable calcareous rock, which in some places is as
much as between twenty and thirty feet in thickness, but is of
little extent. These modern beda rest on an ancient tertiary
formation containing- shells, apparently all extinct. Although I
examined so many hundred miles of coast on the Pacific, as well
as Atlantic side of the continent, I found no regular strata con-
taining sea-shells of recent species, excepting at this place, and
at a few points northward on the road to Guasco. This fact
appears to me highly remarkable ; for the explanation generally
given by geologists, of the absence in any district of stratified
fossiliferous deposits of a given period, namely, that the surface
then existed as dry land, is not here applicable ; for we know
from the shells strewed on the surface and embedded in loose
sand or mould, that the land for thousands of miles along both
coasts has lately been submerged. The explanation, no doubt,
must be sought in the fact, that the whole southern part of the
continent has been for a long time slowly rising ; and therefore
that all matter deposited along shore in shallow water, must have
been soon brouglit up and slowly exposed to the wearing action
of the sea-beach ; and it is only in comparatively shallow water
that the greater number of marine organic beings can flourish,
and in such water it is obviously impossible that strata of any
great thickness can accumulate. To show the vast power of the
wearing action of sea-beaches, we need only appeal to the great
cliffs along the present coast of Patagonia, and to the escarp-
ments or ancient sea-cliflTs at different levels, one above another,
on that same liiie of coast.
The old underlying tertiary formation at Coquimbo, appears
to be of about the same age with several deposits on the coast of
Chile (of which that of Navedad is the principal one), and with
the great formation of Patagonia. Both at Navedad and in Pa-
tagonia there is evidence, that since the shells (a list of which has
been seen by Professor E. Forbes) there intombed were living,
there has been a subsidence of several hundred feet, as well as
an ensuing elevation. It may naturally be asked, how it comes
that, although no extensive fossiliferous deposits of the recent
period, nor of any period intermediate between it and the ancient
tertiary epoch, have been preserved on either side of the cou-
183:;.] OF THE TERTIyVRY FORMATIONS. 345
tinent, yet that at this ancient tertiary epoch, sedimentaiy matter
containing fossil remains, should have been deposited and pre-
served at different points in north and south lines, over a space
of 1100 miles on the shores of the Pacific, and of at least 1350
miles on the shores of the Atlantic, and in an east and west line
of 700 miles across the widest part of the continent ? I believe
the explanation is not difficult, and that it is perhaps applicable
to nearly analogous facts observed in other quarters of the world.
Considering the enormous power of denudation which the sea
possesses, as shown by numberless facts, it is not probable that a
sedimentary deposit, when being upraised, could pass through the
ordeal of the beach, so as to be preserved in sufficient masses to
last to a distant period, without it were originally of wide extent
and of considerable thickness : now it is impossible on a mode-
rately shallow bottom, which alone is favourable to most living
creatures, that a thick and widely extended covering of sediment
( ould be spread out, without the bottom sank down to receive
tlie successive layers. This seems to have actually taken place
at about the same period in soutliern Patagonia and Chile, though
these places are a thousand miles apart. Hence, if prolonged
movements of approximately contemporaneous subsidence are
generally widely extensive, as I am strongly inclined to believe
from my examination of the Coral Reefs of the great oceans — or
if, confining our view to South America, the subsiding move-
ments have been coextensive with those of elevation, by which,
wiihin the same period of existing shells, the shores of Peru,
Chile, Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, and La Plata have been
upraised — then we can see that at the same time, at far distant
points, circumstances would have been favourablato the formation
of fossiliferous deposits, of wide extent and of considerable thick-
ness ; and such deposits, consequently, would have a good chance
of resisting the wear and tear of successive beach-lines, and of
lasting to a future epoch.
May 2\st, — I set out in company with Don Jose Edwards to
the silver-mine of Arqueros, and thence up the valley of Co-
quimbo. Passing through a mountainous country, we reached
by nightfall the mines belonging to Mr. Edwards. I enjoyed
my night's rest here from a reason wliich will not be fully
i46 NORTHERN CHILE. [chap. xtt.
appreciated in England, namely, the absence of fleas ! The rooms
in Coquimbo swarm with them ; but they will not live here at the
height of only three or four thousand feet : it can scarcely be the
trifling diminution of temperature, but some other cause which
destroys these troublesome insects at this place. The mines are
now in a bad state, though they formerly yielded about 2000
pounds in weight of silver a year. It has been said that " a per-
son with a copper-mine will gain ; with silver, he may gain ; but
with gold, he is sure to lose." This is not true : all the large
Chilian fortunes have been made by mines of the more precious
metals. A short time since an English physician returned to
England from Copiapo, taking with him the profits of one share
in a silver-mine, which amounted to about 24,000 pounds ster-
ling. No doubt a copper-mine with care is a sure game, whereas
the other is gambling, or rather taking a ticket in a lottery. The
owners lose great quantities of rich ores ; for no precautions can
prevent robberies. I heard of a gentleman laying a bet with
another, that one of his men should rob him before his face.
The ore when brought out of the mine is broken into pieces, and
the useless stone thrown on one side. A couple of the miners
who were thus employed, pitched, as if by accident, two frag-
ments away at the same moment, and then cried out for a joke,
" Let us see which rolls furthest." The owner, who was stand-
ing by, bet a cigar with his friend on the race. The miner by
this means watched the very point amongst the rubbish where
the stone lay. In the. evening he picked it up and carried it to
his master, showing him a rich mass of silver-ore, and saying,
" This was the stone on which you won a cigar by its rolling so
far." •
May 2Srd. — We descended into the fertile valley of Coquimbo,
md followed it till we reached an Hacienda belonging to a rela-
tion of Don Jose, where we stayed the next day. I then rode
one day's journey further, to see w hat were declared to be some
petrified shells and beans, which latter turned out to be small
quartz pebbles. We passed through several small villager ; and
the valley was beautifully cultivated, and the whole scenery very
o-rand. We were here near the main Cordillera, and the sur-
rounding hills were lofty. In all parts of northern Chile, Iruit-
trees produce much more abundantly at a considerable height
ife35.] DESERT COUNTKY. 347
near the Andes than in the lower country. The figs and grapes
of this district are famous for their excellence, and are cultivated
to a great extent. This valley is, perhaps, the most productive
one north of Quillota : I believe it contains, including Co-
quimbo, 25,000 inhabitants. The next day I returned to the
Hacienda, and thence, together with Don Jose, to Coquimbo.
June 2nd, — We set out for the valley of Gua^co, following the
coast-road, which was considered rather less desert than the other.
Our first day's ride was to a solitary house, called Yerba Buena,
where there was pasture for our horses. The sliower mentioned
as having fallen a fortnight ago, only reached about halfway to
Guasco ; we had, therefore, in the first part of our journey a
most faint tinge of green, which soon faded quite away. Even
where brightest, it was scarcely sufficient to remind one of the
fresh turf and budding flowers of the spring of other countries.
While travelling through these deserts one feels like a prisoner
shut up in a gloomy court, who longs to see something green
and to smell a moist atmosphere.
June 3rd. — Yerba Buena to Carizal. During the first part of
tlie day we crossed a mountainous rocky desert, and afterwards
a long deep sandy plain, strewed with broken sea-shells. There
was very little water, and that little saline : the whole country,
from the coast to the Cordillera, is an uninhabited desert. I
saw traces only of one living animal in abundance, namely, the
shells of a Bulimus, which were collected together in extraordi-
nary numbers on the driest spots. In the spring one humble little
plant sends out a few leaves, and on these the snails feed. As
they are seen only very early in the morning, when the ground is
slightly damp with dew, the Guasos believe that they are bred
from it. I have observed in other places that extremely dry and
sterile districts, where the soil is calcareous, are extraordinarily
favourable to land-shells. At Carizal there were a few cottages,
some brackish water, and a trace of cultivation : but it was with
difficulty that we purchased a little corn and straw for our
horses.
4th. — Carizal to Sauce. We continued to ride over desert
plains, tenanted by large herds of guanaco. We crossed also
the valley of Chaneral ; which, although the most fertile one
between Guasco and Coquimbo, is very narrow, and produces so
348 NORTHERN CHILE. [chap. xvr.
little pasture, that we could not purchase any for our horses.
At Sauce we found a very civil old gentleman, superintending a
copper-smelting furnace. As an especial favour, he allowed me
to purchase at a high price an armful of dirty straw, which was
all the poor horses had for supper after their long day's journey.
Few smelting-furnaces are now at work in any part of Chile ; it
is found more profitable, on account of the extreme scarcity of
firewood, and from the Chilian method of reduction being so
unskilful, to ship the ore for Swansea. The next day we crossed
some mountains to Freyrina, in the valley of Guasco. During
each day's ride further northward, the vegetation became more
and more scanty ; even the great chandelier-like cactus was here
replaced by a different and much smaller species. During the
winter months, both in northern Chile and in Peru, a uniform
bank of clouds hangs, at no great height, over the Pacific.
From the mountains we had a very striking view of this white
and brilliant aerial-field, which sent arms up the valleys, leaving
islands and promontories in the same manner, as the sea does in
the Chonos archipelago and in Tierra del Fuego.
We stayed two days at Freyrina. In the valley of Guasco
there are four small towns. At the mouth there is the port, a
spot entirely desert, and without any water in the immediate
neighbourhood. Five leagues higher up stands Freyrina, a long
straggling village, with decent whitewashed houses. Again, ten
leagues further up Ballenar is situated ; and above this Guasco
Alto, a horticultural village, famous for its dried fruit. On a
clear day the view up the valley is very fine ; the straight open-
ing terminates in the far-distant snowy Cordillera; on each side
an infinity of crossing lines are blended together in a beautiful
haze. The foreground is singular from the number of parallel
and step-formed terraces ; and the included strip of green valley,
with its willow-bushes, is contrasted on both hands with the naked
hills. That the surrounding country was most barren will be
readily believed, when it is known that a shower of rain had not
fallen during the last thirteen months. The inhabitants heard
with the greatest envy of the rain at Coquimbo ; from the ap-
pearance of the sky they had hopes of equally good fortune,
which, a fortnight afterwards, were realized. I was at Copiapo
iit the time ; and there the people, with equal envy, talked of
1835.] VALLEY OF GUASCO. 6-49
the abundant rain at Guasco. After two or three very dry years,
perhaps with not more than one shower during- the whole time,
a rainy year generally follows ; and this does more harm than
even the drought. The rivers swell, and cover with gravel and
sand the narrow strips of ground, which alone are fit for culti-
vation. The floods also injure the irrigating ditches. Great
devastation had thus been caused three years ago.
June Sth. — We rode on to Ballenar, which takes its name
from Ballenagh in Ireland, the birthplace of the family of
O'Higgins, who, under the Spanish government, were presidents
and generals in Chile. As the rocky mountains on each hand
were concealed by clouds, the terrace-like plains gave to the
valley an appearance like that of Santa Cruz in Patagonia. After
spending one day at Ballenar I set out, on the 10th, for the
upper part of the valley of Copiapo. We rode all day over an
uninteresting country. I am tired of repeating the epithets
barren and sterile. These words, however, as commonly used,
are comparative ; I have always applied them to the plains of
Patagonia, which can boast of spiny bushes and som.e tufts of
grass ; and this is absolute fertility, as compared with nortliern
Chile. Here again, there are not many spaces of two hundred
yards square, where some little bush, cactus or lichen, may not
be discovered by careful examination ; and in the soil seeds lie
dormant ready to spring up during the first rainy winter. In
Peru real deserts occur over wide tracts of country. In the
evening we arrived at a valley, in which the bed of the streamlet
was damp : following it uji, we came to tolerably good water.
During the night, the stream, from not being evaporated and
absorbed so quickly, flows a league lower down than during the
day. Sticks were plentiful for firewood, so that it was a good
place of bivouac for us; but for the poor animals there was not
a mouthful to eat.
Ju7ie llth. — 'We rode without stopping for twelve hours, till
we readied an old smelting-furnace, where there was water and
firewood ; but our horses again had nothing to eat, being shut up
in an old courtyard. The line of road was hilly, and the dis-
tant views interesting from the varied colours of tlie bare moun-
tains. It was almost a pity to see the sun shining constantly
f>ver so useless a country; such splendid weather ought to
350 NORTHERN CHILE. [chap. xvi.
have brightenc^d fields and pretty gardens. The next day we
reached the valley of Copiapo. I was heartily glad of it ; for
the whole journey was a continued source of anxiety ; it was
most disagreeable to hear, whilst eating our own suppers, oui
horses gnawing the posts to which they were tied, and to have no
means of relieving their hunger. To all appearance, however,
the animals were quite fresh ; and no one could have told that
they had eaten nothing for the last fifty-five hours.
I liad a letter of introduction to Mr. Bingley, who received
me very kindly at the Hacienda of Potrero Seco. This estate is
between twenty and thirty miles long, but very narrow, being
generally only two fields wide, one on each side the river. In
some parts the estate is of no width, that is to say, the land can-
not be irrigated, and therefore is valueless, like the surrounding
rocky desert. The small quantity of cultivated land in the whole
line of valley, does not so much depend on inequalities of level,
and consequent unfitness for irrigation, as on the small supply of
water. The river this year was remarkably full : here, high up
the valley, it reached to the horse's belly, and was about fifteen
yards wdde, and rapid ; lower down it becomes smaller and
smaller, and is generally quite lost, as happened during one
period of thirty years, so that not a drop entered the sea. The
inhabitants watch a storm over the Cordillera with great interest ;
as one good fall of snow provides them w ith water for the ensu-
ing year. This is of infinitely more consequence than rain in
the lower country. Rain, as often as it falls, which is about
once in every two or three years, is a great advantage, because
the cattle and mules can for some time afterwards find a little
pasture on the mountains. But without snow on the Andes,
desolation extends throughout the valley. It is on record that
three times nearly all the inhabitants have been obliged to
emigrate to the south. This year there was plenty of water, and
every man irrigated his ground as much as he chose ; but it has
frequently been necessary to post soldiers at the sluices, to see
that each estate took only its proper allowance during so many
liours in the week. The valley is said to contain 12,000 souls,
but its produce is sufficient only for three months in the year ;
the rest of the supply being drawn from Valparaiso and the south.
Before the discovery of the famous silver-mines of Chanuncillo,
1835.] KAIN AND EARTHQUAKES. 351
Copiapo was in a rapid state of decay; but now it is in a very
thriving condition ; and the town, which was completely over-
thrown by an earthquake, has been rebuilt.
The valley of Copiapo, forming a mere ribbon of green in a
desert, runs in a very southerly direction ; so that it is of consi-
derable length to its source in the Cordillera. The valleys of Guas-
CO and Copiapo may both be considered as long narrow islands
separated from the rest of Chile by deserts of rock instead of by
salt water. Northward of these, there is one other very miserable
valley, called Paposo, wiiich contains about two hundred souls ;
and then there extends the real desert of Atacama — a barrier
far worse tlian the most turbulent ocean. After staying a few
days at Potrero Seco, I proceeded up the valley to the house of
Don Benito Cruz, to whom I had a letter of introduction. I
found him most hospitable ; indeed it is impossible to bear too
strong testimony to the kindness, with which travellers are re-
ceived in almost every part of South America. The next day 1
hired some mules to take me by the ravine of Jolquera into the
central Cordillera. On tlie second night the weather seemed to
foretel a storm of snow or rain, and whilst lying in our beds we
felt a trifling shock of an earthquake.
The connexion between earthquakes and the weather has been
often disputed : it appears to me to be a point of great interest,
which is little understood. Humboldt has remarked in one part
of the Personal Narrative,* that it would be difficult for any
person who had long resided in New Andalusia, or in Lower
Peru, to deny that there exists some connexion between these
phenomena ; in another part, however, he seems to think the
connexion fanciful. At Guayaquil, it is said that a heavy shower
in the dry season is invariably followed by an earthquake. In
Northern Chile, from the extreme infrequency of rain, or even
of weather foreboding rain, the probability of accidental coin-
cidences becomes very small ; yet the inhabitants are here most
firmly convinced of some connexion between the state of flie
* Vol. iv. p. 1], and vol. ii. p. 217. For the remarks on Guayaquil see
Sillimau's Journ. vol. xxiv. p. 384. For those on Tacna by Mr. HamiUon,
eee I'rans. of British Association, 1840. For those on Coseguina see Mr.
Caldeleugh in Piiil. Trans., 1835. In the former edition, I collected several
references on the coincidences between sudden falls in the barometer and
earthquakes ; and between eaithquakes and meteors.
16
S52 NORTHERN CHILE. [chap. xvi.
atmosphere and of the trembling- of the ground : I was much
struck by this, when mentioning to some peojDJe at Copiapo that
there had been a sharp shock at Coquimbo ; they immediate! v
cried out, " How fortunate ! there will be plenty of pasture
there this year." To their minds an earthquake foretold rain,
as surely as rain foretold abundant pasture. Certainly it did so
happen that on the very day of the earthquake, that shower of rain
fell, which I have described as in ten days' time producing a thin
sprinkling of grass. At other times, rain has followed earth-
quakes, at a period of the year when it is a far greater prodiirv
than the earthquake itself; this happened after the shock of
i^ovember, 1822, and again in 1829, at Valparaiso; also after
that of September, 1833, at Tacna. A person must be some-
what habituated to the climate of these countries, to perceive
the extreme improbability of rain falling at such seasons, except
as a consequence of some law quite unconnected with the ordi-
nary course of the weather. In the cases of great volcanic
eruptions, as that of Coseguina, where torrents of rain fell at a
time of the year most unusual foi it, and "almost unprecedented
in Central America," it is not difficult to understand that the
voliunes of vapour and clouds of aslies might have disturbed the
atmospheric equilibrium. Humboldt extends this view to the
case of earthquakes unaccompanied by eruptions ; but I can
hardly conceive it possible, that the small quantity of aeriform
fluids which then escape from the fissured ground, can produce
such remarkable effects. There appears much probability in
the view first proposed by Mr. P. Scrope, that when the baro-
meter is low, and when ram might naturally be expected to fall,
the diminished pressure of the atmosphere over a wide extent of
country, might well determine the precise day on which the
earth, already stretched to the utmost by the subterranean forces,
should yield, crack, and consequently tremble. It is, however,
doubtful how far this idea will explain the circunr.stance of
torrents of rain falling in the dry season during several days,
after an earthquake unaccompanied by an eruption ; such cases
seem to bespeak some more intimate connexion between the
atmospheric and subterranean regions.
Finding little of interest in this part of the ravine, we retraced
our steps to tlie house of Don Benito, where I stayed two days
18»-V HYDROPHOBIA.
353
collecting fossil shells and wood. Great prostrate silieified
trunks of trees, embedded in a conglomerate, were extraordi-
narily numerous. I measured one, which was fifteen feet in
circumference : how surprising it is that every atom of the woody
matter in this great cylinder should have been removed and re-
placed by silex so perfectly, that each vessel and pore is pre-
served ! These trees flourished at about the period of our lower
chalk ; they all belonged to the fir-tribe. It was amusing to
hear tlie inhabitants discussing the nature of the fossil shells
which I collected, almost in the same terms as were used a cen-
tury ago in Europe,— namely, whether or not they had been thus
" born by nature." My geological examination of the country
generally created a good deal of surprise amongst the Chilenos :
it was long before they could be Oii/ivinced that I was not hunt-
ing for mines. This was sometimes troublesome : I found the
most ready way of explaining my employment, was to ask them
how it was that they themselves were not curious concerning
earthquakes and volcanos? — why some springs were hot and
others cold? — why there were mountains in. Chile, and not a hill
in La Plata ? These bare questions at once satisfied and silenced
the greater number ; some, however (like a few in England who
are a century behindhand), thought that all such inquiries were
useless and impious ; and that it was quite sufl[icient that God
had thus made the mountains.
An order had recently been issued that all stray dogs should
be killed, and we saw many lying dead on the road. A great
number had lately gone mad, and several men had been bitten
and had died in consequence. On several occasions hydrophobia
has prevailed in this valley. It is remarkable thus to find so
strange and dreadful a disease, appearing time after time in the
same isolated spot. It has been remarked that certain villages
in England are in like manner much more subject to this visita-
tion than others. Dr. Unanue states that hydrophobia was first
known in South America in 1803 : this statement is corro-
borated by Azara and Ulloa having never heard of it in iheh
time. Dr. Unanue says that it broke out in Central America,
and slowly travelled soutliward. It reached Arequipa in 1807 ;
and it is said that some men there, who had not been bitten, were
affected, as were some negroes, who had eaten a bullock which
35-1- NORTHERN CHILE. Fchap. xvi.
had died of hydrophobia. At lea forty-two people thus mi-
serably perished. The disease came on between twelve and ninety
days after the bite ; and in those cases where it did come on,
death ensued invariably within five days. After 1808, a long-
interval ensued without any cases. On inquiry, I did not hear
of hydrophobia in Van Diemen's Land, or in Australia ; and Bur-
chell says, that during the five years he was at the Cape ol
Good Hope, he never heard of an instance of it. Webster
asserts that at the Azores hydrophobia has never occurred ; and
the 3arae assertion has been made with respect to Mauritius and
St. Helena.* In so strange a disease, some information miglit
possibly be gained by considering the circumstances under which
it originates in distant climates ; for it is improbable that a
dog already bitten, should have been brought to these distant
countries.
At night, a stranger arrived at the house of Don Benito, and
asked permission to sleep there. He said he had been wander-
ing about the mountains for seventeen days, having lost his way.
He started from Guasco, and being accustomed to travelling in
the Cordillera, did not expect any difficulty in following the
track to Copiapo ; but he soon became involved in a labyrinth
of mountains, whence he could not escape. Some of his mules
had fallen over precipices, and he had been in great distress.
His chief difficulty arose from not knowing where to find water
in the lower country, so that he was obliged to keep bordering
the central ranges.
We returned down the valley, and on the 22nd reached the
town of Copiapo. The lower part of the valley is broad, form-
ing a fine plain like that of Quillota. The town covers a consi-
derable space of ground, each house possessing a garden : but it
is an uncomfortable place, and the dwellings are poorly fur-
nished. Every one seems bent on the one object of making mo-
ney, and then migrating as quickly as possible. All the inhabit-
ants are more or less directly concerned with mines ; and mines
and ores are the sole subjects of conversation. Necessaries of
* Observa. sobre el climade Lima, p. G7. — Azara's Travels, vol. i. p. 381
— Ulloa's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 28. — Burchcll's Travels, vol. ii. p. 524. — Web-
ster's Description of the Azores, p. 124. — Voyage a I'lsle de France par ut
Officer du Roi, tome i. p. 248.— Description of St. Helena.^ p. 123.
1835.] SEA-WORN VALLEYS. 355
all sorts are extremely dear ; as the distance from tlie town to
the -port is eighteen leagues, and the land carriage very expen-
sive. A fowl costs five or six shillings ; meat is nearly as dear
as in England ; firewood, or rather sticks, are brought on don-
keys from a distance of two and three days' journey within the
Cordillera ; and pasturage for animals is a shilling a day : all
this for South America is wonderfully exorbitant.
June 26th. — I hired a guide and eight mules to take me into
the Cordillera by a different line from my last excursion. As the
country was utterly desert, we took a cargo and a half of barley
mixed with chopped straw. About two leagues above the town,
a broad valley called the " Despoblado," or uninhabited, branches
off from that one by which we had arrived. Although a valley
of the grandest dimensions, and leading to a pass across the Cor-
dillera, yet it is completely dry, excepting perhaps for a few
days during some very rainy winter. The sides of the crumbling
mountains were furrowed by scarcely any ravines ; and the bot-
tom of the main valley, filled with sliingle, was smooth and
nearly level. No considerable torrent could ever have flowed
down this bed of shingle ; for if it had, a great cliff-bounded
channel, as in all the southern valleys, would assuredly have been
formed. I feel little doubt that this valley, as well as those
mentioned by travellers in Peru, were left in the state we now
see them by the w aves of the sea, as the land slowly rose. I ob-
served in one place, where the Despoblado was joined by a ravine
(which in almost any other chain would have been called a grand
valley), that its bed, though composed merely of sand and gravel,
was higher than that of its tributary. A mere rivulet of water
in the course of an hour, would have cut a channel for itself;
but it was evident that ages had passed away, and no such rivulet
had drained this great tributary. It was curious to behold the
machinery, if such a term may be used, for the drainage, all, with
the last trifling exception, perfect, yet without any signs of
action. Every one must have remarked how mud-banks, left by
the retiring tide, imitate in miniature a country wdth hill ana
dale ; and here we have the original model in rock, formed as the
continent rose during the secular retirement of the ocean, instead
of during the ebbing and flowing of the tides. If a shower of
356 NORTHERN CHILE. [chap. xvi.
rain falls on the mud-bank, when left dry, it deepens the already-
formed shallow lines of excavation ; and so is it with the rain
of successive centuries on the bank of rock and soil, which we
call a continent.
We rode on after it was dark, till we reached a side ravine
with a small well, called " Agua amarga." The water deserved
its name, for besides being saline it was most offensively putrid
and bitter ; so that we could not force ourselves to drink either
tea or mate. I suppose the distance from the river of Copiapo
to this spot was at least twenty- five or thirty English miles ; in the
whole space there was not a single drop of \vater, the country de-
serving the name of desert in the strictest sense. Yet about
halfway we passed some old Indian ruins near Punta Gorda: I
noticed also in front of some of the valleys, which branch off
from the Despoblado, two piles of stones placed a little way
-apart, and directed so as to point up the mouths of these small
valleys. My companions knew nothing about them, and only
answered my queries by their imperturbable " quien sabe?"
I observed Indian ruins in several parts of the Cordillera :
the most perfect, which I saw, were the Ruinas de Tambillos,
in the Uspallata Pass. Small square rooms were there huddled
together in separate groups : some of the doorways were yet
standing ; they were formed by a cross slab of stone only about
three feet hio^h. Ulloa has remarked on the lowness of the doors
in the ancient Peruvian dwellings. These houses, when per-
fect, must have been capable of containing a considerable num-
ber of persons. Tradition says, that they were used as halt-
ing places for the Incas, when they crossed the mountains.
Traces of Indian habitations have been discovered in many other
parts, where it does not appear probable that they were used as
mere resting-places, but yet where the land is as utterly unfit for
any kind of cultivation as it is near the Tambillos or at the Incas
Bridge, or in the Portillo Pass, at all which places I saw ruins.
In the ravine of Jajuel, near Aconcagua, where there is no pass,
I heard of remains of houses situated at a great height, where
it is extremely cold and sterile. At first I imagined that these
buildings had been places of refuge, built by the Indians on the
first arrival of the Spaniards ; but I have since been inclined
to speculate on the probability of a small change of climate,
1835.] ANCIENT INDIAN HOUSES. S57
111 this northern part of Chile, within the Cordillera, old
Indian houses are said to be especially numerous : by digging
amongst the ruins, bits of woollen articles, instruments of pre-
cious metals, and heads of Indian corn, are not unfrequently
discovered : an arrow-head made of agate, and of precisely the
8ame form with those now used in Tierra del Fuego, was given
me. I am aware that the Peruvian Indians now frequently
inhabit most lofty and bleak situations ; but at Copiapo I was
assured by men who had spent their lives in travelling through the
Andes, that there were very many {jnuehisimas) buildings at
heights so great as almost to border on the perpetual snow, and
in parts where there exist no passes, and where the land pro-
duces absolutely nothing, and what is still more extraordinary,
where there is no water. Nevertheless it is the opinion of the
people of the country (although they are much puzzled by the
circumstance), that, from the appearance of the houses, the In-
dians must have used them as places of residence. In this
valley, at Punta Gorda, the remains consisted of seven or eight
square little rooms, which were of a similar form with those at
Tambillos, but built chiefly of mud, which the present iuhabit-
ants cannot, either here or, according to Ulloa, in Peru, imitate
in durability. They were situated in the most conspicuous and
defenceless position, at the bottom of the flat broad valley. There
was no water nearer than three or four leagues, and that only in
very small quantity, and bad : the soil was absolutely sterile ; I
looked in vain even for a lichen adhering to the rocks. At the
present day, with the advantage of beasts of burden, a mine,
unless it were very rich, could scarcely be worked here with
profit. Yet the Indians formerly chose it as a place of resi-
dence ! If at the present time two or three showers of rain
were to fall annually, instead of one, as now is the case, during
ojs many years, a small rill of water would probably be formed
in this great valley ; and then, by irrigation (which was formerly
so well understood by the Indians), the soil would easily be ren-
dered sufficiently productive to support a few families.
I have convincing proofs that this part of the continent of South
America has been elevated near the coast at least from 400 to
500, and in some parts from 1000 to 1300 ^Qiit, since the epoch
of existing shells ; and further inland the rise possibly may have
358 NORTHERN CHILE. [chap, xvi
been greater. As the peculiarly arid character of the climate is
evidently a consequence of the height of the Cordillera, we may
feel almost sure that before the later elevations, the atmosphere
could not have been so completely drained of its moisture as it
now is ; and as the rise has been gradual, so would have been
the change in climate. On this notion of a change of climate
since the buildings were inhabited, the ruins must be of extreme
antiquity, but I do not think their preservation under the Chilian
climate any great difficulty. We must also admit on this notion,
(and this perhaps is a greater difficulty) that man has inhabited
South America for an immensely long period, inasmuch as any
change of climate effected by the elevation of the land must
have been extremely gradual. At Valparaiso, within the last
220 years, the rise has been somewhat le^s than 19 feet: at
Lima a sea-beach h^s certainly been upheaved from 80 to 90 feet,
within the Indio-human period : but such small elevations could
have had little power in deflecting the moisture-bringing atmos-
pheric currents. Dr. Lund, however, found human skeletons
in the caves of Brazil, the appearance of which induced him to
believe that the Indian race has existed during a vast lapse of
time in South America.
When at Lima, I conversed on these subjects* with Mr. Gill,
a civil engineer, who had seen much of the interior country. lie
told me that a conjecture of a change of climate had some-
times crossed his mind ; but that he thought that the greater
portion of land, now incapable of cultivation, but covered with
Indian ruins, had been reduced to this state by the water-con-
duits, which the Indians formerly constructed on so wonderful
a scale, having been injured by neglect and by subterranean
movements. I may here mention, that the Peruvians actually
carried tlieir irrigating streams in tunnels through hills of solid
rock. Mr. Gill told me, he had been employed professionally to
examine one ; he found the passage low, narrow, crooked, and
not of uniform breadth, but of very considerable length. Is it
* Temple, in his travels through Upper Peru, or Bolivia, in going froiu
Potosi to Oruro, says, " I saw many Indian villages or dwellings in ruins,
up even to the very tops of the mountains, attesting a former population
where now all is desolate." He makes similar remarks in another place ;
but I cannot tell whether this desolation has been caused by a want of popu-
lation, or by an altered condition of the land.
1835.] ELEVATION OF A KIVER-COURSE. 359
not most wonderful that men should have attempted such opera-
tions, without the use of iron or gunpowder? Mr. Gill also
mentioned to me a most interesting, and, as far as I am aware,
quite unparalleled case, of a subterranean disturbance having
changed the drainage of a country. Travelling from Casnia to
Huaraz (not very far distant from Lima), he found a plain
covered with ruins and marks of ancient cultivation, but now
quite barren. Near it was the dry course of a considerable
river, whence the water for irrigation had formerly been con-
ducted. There was nothing in the appearance of the water-
course, to indicate that the river had not flowed there a few
years previously ; in some parts, beds of sand and gravel were
spread out ; in others, the solid rock had been worn into a broad
channel, which in one spot was about 40 yards in breadth and
8 feet deep. It is self-evident that a person following up the
course of a stream, wull always ascend at a greater or less incli-
nation : Mr. Gill, therefore, was much astonished, when walk-
ing up tiie bed of this ancient river, to find himself suddenly
going down hill. He imagined that the downward slope had a
fall of about 40 or 50 feet perpendicular. We here have un-
equivocal evidence that a ridge had been uplifted right across
the old bed of a stream. From the moment the river-course
was thus arched, the water must necessarily have been thrown
back, and a new channel formed. From that moment, also, the
neighbouring plain must have lost its fertilizing stream, and
become a desert.
June 21 th. — We set out early in the morning, and by mid -day
reached the ravine of Paypote, where there is a tiny rill of water,
with a little vegetation, and even a few algarroba trees, a kind of
mimosa. From having fire-w^ood, a smelting-furnace had for-
merly been built here : we found a solitary man in charge of it,
whose sole employment was hunting guanacos. At night it froze
sharply ; but having plenty of wood for our fire, we kept ourselves
warm.
2Sth. — We continued gradually ascending, and the valley now
changed into a ravine. During the day we saw several guanacos,
and the track of the closely-allied species, the Vicuna : this latter
animal is pre-eminently alpine in its habits; it seldom descends
aco NORTHERN CHILE. [chap.xvi.
much below the limit of perpetual snow, and therefore haunts
even a more lofty and sterile situation than the guanaco. The
only other animal which we saw in any number was a small fox :
I suppose this animal preys on the mice and other small rodents,
which, as long as there is the least vegetation, subsist in consi-
derable numbers in very desert places. In Patagonia, even on
the borders of the salinas, where a drop of fresh water can never
be found, excepting dew, these little animals swarm. Next to
lizards, m-ice appear to be able to support existence on the
smallest and driest portions of the earth, — even on islets in
tJie midst of great oceans.
The scene on all sides showed desolation, brightened and made
palpable by a clear, unclouded sky. For a time such scenery
is sublime, but this feeling cannot last, and then it becomes un-
interesting. We bivouacked at the foot of the " primera linea,'*
or the first line of the partition of the waters. The streams,
however, on the east side do not flow to the Atlantic, but into an
elevated district, in the middle of whicli there is a large salina,
or salt lake ; — thus forming a little Caspian Sea at the height,
perhaps, of ten thousand feet. Where we slept, there were some
considerable patches of snow, but they do not remain throughout
the year. The winds in these lofty regions obey very regular
laws : every day a fresh breeze blows up the valley, and at night,
an hour or two after sunset, the air from tlie cold regions above
descends as through a funnel. This night it blew a gale of wind,
and tlie temperature must have been considerably below the
freezing-point, for water in a vessel soon became a block of ice.
No clothes seemed to oppose any obstacle to the air ; I suffered
very much from the cold, so that I could not sleep, and in the
morning rose with my body quite dull and benumbed.
In the Cordillera further southward, people lose their lives
from snow-storms ; here, it sometimes happens from another
cause. My guide, when a boy of fourteen years old, was passing
the Cordillera with a party in the month of May ; and while in
the central parts, a furious gale of wind arose, so that the men
could hardly cling on their mules, and stones were flying along
the ground. The day was cloudless, and not a speck of snow fell,
but the temperature was low. It is probable that the thermo-
meter would not have stood very many degrees below the freez-
J835.J EL 13RAMAD0K. 361
ing-point, but the effect on their bodies, ill protected by clothing-,
must iiave been in proportion to the rapidity of the current of cold
air. The gale lasted for more than a day ; the men began to lose
their strength, and the mules would not move onwards. My
guide's brother tried to return, but he perished, and his body was
found two years afterwards, lying by the side of his mule near
the road, with the bridle still in his hand. Two other men in
the party lost their fingers and toes ; and out of two hundred
mules and thirty cows, only fourteen mules escaped alive. Many
years ago the whole of a large party are supposed to have perished
from a similar cause, but their bodies to this day have never been
discovered. The union of a cloudless sky, low temperature, and
a furious gale of wind, must be, I should think, in all parts of
the world, an unusual occurrence.
June 29th. — We gladly travelled down the valley to our for-
mer night's lodging, and thence to near the Agua amarga. On
July 1st we reached the valley of Copiapo. The smell of the
fresh clover was quite delightful, after the scentless air of the
dry sterile Despoblado. Whilst staying in the town I heard an
account from several of the inhabitants, of a hill in the neigh-
bourhood which they called " El Bramador," — the roarer or
bellower. I did not at the time pay sufficient attention to the
account ; but, as far as I understood, the hill was covered by
sand, and the noise was produced only when people, by ascending
it, put the sand in motion. The same circumstances are described
in detail on the authority of Seetzen and Ehrenberg,*' as the
cause of the sounds which have been heard by many travellers on
Mount Sinai near the Red Sea. One person with whom I con-
versed, had himself heard the noise ; he described it as very sur-
prising; and he distinctly stated that, although he could not
understand how it was caused, yet it was necessary to set the sand
rolling down the acclivity. A horse walking over dry and coarse
8and, causes a peculiar chirping noise from the friction of the
particles ; a circumstance which I several times noticed on the
coast of Brazil.
Three days afterwards I heard of the Beagle's arrival at the
* Edinburgh Phil. Journ., Jan. 1830, p. 74; and April, 1830, p. 258.—
A-lso Daubeuy on Volcanoes, p. 4*58 ; and Bengal Journ., vol. vii. p. 324.
362 PERU. [CHAP. XVI.
Port, distant eighteen leagues from the town. There is very
little land cultivated down the valley ; its wide expanse supports
a wretched wiry grass, which even the donkeys can hardly eat.
This poorness of the vegetation is owing to the quantity of saline
matter with which the soil is impregnated. The Port consists of
an assemblage of miserable little hovels, situated at the foot of a
sterile plain. At present, as the river contains water enough to
reach the sea, the inhabitants enjoy the advantage of having fresh
water within a mile and a half. On the beach there were lar^e
piles of merchandise, and the little place had an air of activity.
In the evening I gave my adios, with a hearty good-will, to my
companion Mariano Gonzales, with whom I had ridden so many
leagues in Cliile. The next morning the Beagle sailed for
Iquique.
July \2th. — "We anchored in the port of Iquique, in lat.
20° 12', on the coast of Peru. The town contains about a thou-
sand inliabitants, and stands on a little plain of sand at the foot
of a great wall of rocic, 2000 feet in height, here forming the
coast. The whole is utterly desert. A light shower of rain falls
only once in very many years ; and the ravines consequently are
filled with detritus, and the mountain-sides covered by piles of
fine white sand, even to a height of a thousand feet. During this
season of the year a heavy bank of clouds, stretched over the
ocean, seldom rises above the wall of rocks on the coast. The
aspect of the place was most gloomy ; the little port, with its few
vessels, and small group of wretched houses, seemed overwhelmed
and out of all proportion with the rest of the scene.
The inhabitants live like persons on board a ship : every ne-
cessary comes from a distance : water is brought in boats from
Pisagua, about forty miles northward, and is sold at the rate of
nine reals (4.9. Gf/.) an eighteen -gallon cask : I bought a wine-
bottle full for threepence. In like manner firewood, and of course
every article of food, is imported. Very few animals can be
maintained in such a place : on the ensuing morning I hired with
difficulty, at the price of four pounds sterling, two mules and a
guide to take me to the nitrate of soda works. These are at
present the support of Iquique. This salt was first exported in
1830: in one year an amount in value of one hundred thousand
1835.] IQUIQUE.-SALTPE1'RE-W0RKS. 36S
pounds sterling, was sent to France and England. It is princi-
pally used as a manure and in the manufacture of nitric acid : owing
to its deliquescent property it will not serve for gunpowder. For-
merly there were two exceedingly rich silver-mines in this neigh-
bourhood, but their produce is now very small.
Our arrival in the ofRng caused some little apprehension. Peru
was in a state of anarchy ; and each party having demanded a
contribution, the poor town of Iquique was in tribulation, think-
ing the evil hour was come. The people had also their domestic
troubles ; a short time before, three French carpenters had broken
open, during the same night, the two churches, and stolen all the
plate : one of the robbers, however, subsequently confessed, and
the plate was recovered. The convicts were sent to Arequipa,
Avhich, though the capital of this province, is two hundred leagues
distant ; the government there thought it a pity to punish such
useful workmen, who could make all sorts of furniture ; and
accordingly liberated them. Things being in this state, the
churches were again broken open, but this time the plate was not
recovered. The inhabitants became dreadfully enraged, and de-
claring that none but heretics would thus " eat God Almighty,"
proceeded to torture some Englishmen, with the intention of
afterwards shooting them. At last the authorities interfered,
and peace was established.
ISth. — In the morning I started for the saltpetre-works, a dis-
tance of fourteen leagues. Having ascended the steep coast-
mountains by a zigzag sandy track, we soon came in view of the
mines of Guantajaya and St. Eosa. These two small villages are
placed at the very mouths of the mines ; and being perched up on
hills, they had a still more unnatural and desolate appearance
than the town of Iquique. We did not reach the saltpetre-works
till after sunset, having ridden all day across an undulating coun-
try, a complete and utter desert. Tiie road was strewed with the
bones and dried skins of the many beasts of burden which had
perished on it from fatigue. Excepting the Yultur aura, which
preys on the carcasses, I saw neither bird, quadruped, reptile, nor
insect. On the coast-mountains, at the height of about 2000
feet, where during this season the clouds generally hang, a very
few cacti were growing in the clefts of rock ; and the loose sand
was strewed over with a lichen, which lies on the surface quite
361 PERU. [chap. XVI.
unattached. This plant belongs to the genus Cladonia, and some-
what resembles the reindeer lichen. In some parts it was in suf-
ficient quantity to tinge the sand, as seen from a distance, of a
pale yellowish colour. Further inland, during the whole ride cl
fourteen leagues, I saw only one other vegetable production, and
that was a most minute yellow lichen, growing on the bones of
the dead mules. This was the first true desert w hich I had seen :
the effect on me was not impressive ; but I believe this was owing
to my having become gradually accustomed to such scenes, as I
rode northward from Valparaiso, through Coquimbo, to Copiapd.
The appearance of the country was remarkable, from being co-
vered by a thick crust of common salt, and of a stratified salife-
rous alluvium, which seems to have been deposited as the land
slowly rose above the level of the sea. The salt is white, very
hard, and compact : it occurs in water-worn nodules projecting
from the agglutinated sand, and is associated with much gj^psum.
The appearance of this superficial mass very closely resembled
that of a country after snow, before the last dirty patches are
thawed. The existence of this crust of a soluble substance over
the whole face of the country, shows how extraordinarily dry the
climate must have been for a long period.
At night I slept at the house of the owner of one of the salt-
petre mines. The countiy is here as unproductive as near the
coast ; but water, having rather a bitter and brackish taste, can
be procured by digging wells. The well at this house was thirty-
six yards deep : as scarcely any rain falls, it is evident the water
is not thus derived ; indeed if it were, it could not fail to be as
salt as brine, for the whole surrounding country is incrusted with
various saline substances. We must therefore conclude that it
percolates under ground from tlie Cordillera, though distant
many leagues. In that direction there are a few small villages,
where the inhabitants, having more water, are enabled to irrigate
a little land, and raise hay, on which the mules and asses, em-
ployed in carrying the saltpetre, are fed. The nitrate of soda
was now selling at the ship's side at fourteen shillings per hundred
pounds : the chief expense is its transport to the sea-coast. The
mine consists of a hard stratum, between two and three feet thick,
of the nitrate mingled with a little of the sulphate of soda and a good
deal of common salt. It lies close beneath the surface, and fol-
1835.J BAY OF CALLAO.
lows for a leiigtli of one hundred and fifty miles the margin of a
grand basin or plain ; this, from its outline, manifestly must once
have been a lake, or more probably an inland arm of the sea, as
may be inferred from the presence of iodic salts in the saline stra-
tum. The surface of the plain is 3300 feet above the Pacific.
\9th. — AYe anchored in the Bay of Callao, the seaport of
Lima, the capital of Peru. We stayed here six weeks, but from
the troubled state of public affairs, I saw very little of the coun-
try. During our whole visit the climate was far from being so
delightful, as it is generally represented. A dull heavy bank of
clouds constantly hung over the land, so that during the first six-
teen days I had only one view of the Cordillera behind Lima.
These mountains, seen in stages, one above the otiier, through
openings in the clouds, had a very grand appearance. It is almost
become a proverb, that rain never falls in the lower part of Peru.
Yet this can hardly be considered correct ; for during almost
every day of our visit there was a thick drizzling mist, which was
sufficient to make the streets muddy and one's clothes damp : this
the people are pleased to call Peruvian dew. That much rain
does not fall is very certain, for the houses are covered only with
flat roofs made of hardened mud ; and on the mole ship-loads of
wheat were piled up, being thus left for weeks together without
any shelter.
I cannot say I liked the veiy little I saw of Peru : in summer,
however, it is said that the climate is much pleasanter. In all
seasons, both inhabitants and foreigners suffer from severe attacks
of ague. This di:<ease is common on the whole coast of Peru,
but is unknown in the interior. The attacks of illness whicli
arise from miasma never fail to appear most mysterious. So dif-
ficult is it to judge from the aspect of a country, whether or not
it is healthy, that if a person had been told to choose within the
tropics a situation appearing favourable for health, very probably
he would have named this coast. The plain round the outskirts
of Callao is sparingly covered with a coarse grass, and in some
parts there are a few stagnant, though very small, pools of water.
The miasma, in all probability, arises from these : for the town
of Arica was similarly circumstanced, and its healthiness was
much improved by the drainage of some little pools. Miasma
366 PERU. [chap. xvi.
.s not always produced by a luxuriant vegetation with an ar-
dent climate : for many parts of Brazil, even where there are
marshes and a rank vegetation, are much more healthy than this
sterile coast of Peru. The densest forests in a temperate cli-
mate, as in Chiloe, do not seem in the slightest degree to affect
the healthy condition of the atmosphere.
The island of St. Jago, at the Cape de Verds, offers another
strongly-marked instance of a country, which any one would have
expected to find most healthy, being very much the contrary.
I have described the bare and open plains as supporting, during a
few weeks after the rainy season, a thin vegetation, which directly
withers away and dries up : at this period the air appears to be-
come quite poisonous ; both natives and foreigners often being
affected with violent fevers. On the other hand, the Galapagos
Archipelago, in the Pacific, with a similar soil, and periodically
subject to the same process of vegetation, is perfectly healthy.
Humboldt has observed, that, " under the torrid zone, the
'smallest marshes are the most dangerous, being surrounded, as at
Yera Cruz and Carthagena, with an arid and sandy soil, which
raises the temperature of the ambient air."* On the coast of
Pern, however, the temperature is not hot to any excessive de-
gree ; and perhaps in consequence, the intermittent fevers are not
of the most malignant order. In all unhealthy countries the
greatest risk is run by sleeping on shore. Is this owing to the
state of the body during sleep, or to a greater abundance of
miasma at such times ? It appears certain that those who stay
on board a vessel, though anchored at only a short distance from
the coast, generally sufier less than those actually on shore. On
the other hand, I have heard of one remarkable case where a
fever broke out among- the crew of a man-of-war some hundred
miles off the coast of Africa, and at the very same time that one
of those fearful periods f of death commenced at Sierra Leone.
No State in South America, since the declaration of indepen-
dence, has suffered more from anarchy than Peru. At the time
* Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, vol. iv. p. 199.
t A similar interesting case is recorded in the INxidras Medical Quart.
Joux-n., 1839, p. 340. Dr. Ferguson, in his admirable Paper (see 9th vol. of
Edinburgh Royal Trans.), shows clearly that the poison is generated in the
drying process ; and hence that dry hot countries are often the most un-
healtliy.
1835.] CALLAO.— LIMA. 3G7
of our visit, there were four chiefs in arms contending for supre-
macy in the government : if one succeeded in becoming for a time
very powerful, the others coalesced against him ; but no sooner
were they victorious, than they were again hostile to each other.
The other day, at the Anniversary of the Independence, high
mass was performed, tlie President partaking of the sacrament :
during the Te Deum laicdamus, instead of each regiment display-
ing the Peruvian flag, a black one with death's head was unfurled.
Imagine a government under which such a scene could be or-
dered, on such an occasion, to be typical of their determination
of fighting to death ! This state of affairs happened at a time
very unfortunately for me, as I was precluded from taking any
excursions much beyond the limits of the town. The barren
island of S. Lorenzo, which forms the harbour, was nearly the
only place where one could walk securely. The upper part,
which is upwards of 1000 feet in height, during this season of
the year (winter), comes within the lower limit of the clouds ;
and in consequence, an abundant cryptogamic vegetation, and a
few flowers, cover the summit. On the hills near Lima, at a
height but little greater, the ground is carpeted with moss, and
beds of beautiful yellow lilies, called Amancaes. This indicates
a very much greater degree of humidity, than at a corresponding
height at Iquique. Proceeding northward of Lima, the climate
becomes damper, till on the banks of the Guyaquil, nearly under
the equator, we find the most luxuriant forests. The change,
however, from the sterile coast of Peru to that fertile land is
described as taking place rather abruptly in the latitude of Cape
Blanco, two degrees south of Guyaquil.
Callao is a filthy, ill-built, small seaport. The inhabitants,
both here and at Lima, present every imaginable shade of mix-
ture, between European, Negro, and Indian blood. They appear
a depraved, drunken set of people. The atmosphere is loaded
with foul smells, and that peculiar one, which may be perceived
in almost every town within the tropics, was here very strong.
The fortress, which withstood Lord Cochrane's long siege, has
an imposing appearance. But the President, during our stay,
sold the brass guns, and proceeded to dismantle parts of it. The
reason assigned was, that he had not an ofllicer to whom he could
trust so important a charge. He himself had good reasons for
5C8 PERU. [chap. XVI
thinking so, as he had obtained the presidentship by rebelling
wliile in charge of this same fortress. After we left South
America, he paid the penalty in the usual manner, by being con-
quered, taken prisoner, and shot,
Lima stands on a plain in a valley, formed during the gradual
retreat of the sea. It is seven miles from Callao, and is elevated
500 feet above it ; but from the slope being very gradual, the
road appears absolutely level ; so that when at Lima it is diffi-
cult to believe one has ascended even one hundred feet : Hum-
boldt has remarked on this singularly deceptive case. Steep,
barren hills rise like islands from the plain, which is divided, by
straight mud -walls, into large green fields. In these scarcely a
tree grows excepting a few willows, and an occasional clump
of bananas and of oranges. The city of Lima is now in a
wretched state of decay : the streets are nearly unpaved ; and
heaps of filth are piled up in all directions, where the black
galiinazos, tame as poultry, pick up bits of carrion. The houses
have generally an upper story, built, on account of the earth-
quakes, of plastered woodwork ; but some of the old ones, which
are now used by several families, are immensely large, and would
rival in suites of apartments the most magnificent in any place.
Lima, the City of the Kings, must formerly have been a splendid
town. The extraordinary number of churches gives it, even at
the present day, a peculiar and striking character, especially
vvhen viewed from a short distance.
One day I went out with some mercliants to hunt in the imme-
diate vicinity of the city. Our sport was very poor ; but I had
an opportunity of seeing the ruins of one of the ancient Indian
villages, with its mound like a natural hill in the centre. The
remains of houses, enclosures, irrigating streams, and burial
mounds, scattered over this plain, cannot fail to give one a high
idea of the condition and number of the ancient population.
When their earthenware, woollen clothes, utensils of elegant
forms cut out of the hardest rocks, tools of copper, ornaments of
precious stones, palaces, and hydraulic works, are considered, it
is impossible not to respect the considerable advance made by
them in the arts of civilization. The burial mounds, called
Huacas, are really stupendous ; although in some places they
appear to be natural hills incased and modelled.
1835.] DECOMPOSING SHELLS. 3rf
There is also another and very different class of ruins, which
possesses some interest, namely, those of old Callao, overwhelmed
by the great earthquake of 1746, and its accompanying wave.
The destruction must have been more complete even than at
Talcahuano. Quantities of shingle almost conceal the founda-
tions of the w^alls, and vast masses of brickwork appear to have
been whirled about like pebbles by the retiring waves. It has
been stated that the land subsided during this memorable shock :
I could not discover any proof of this ; yet it seems far from
improbable, for the form of the coast must certainly have under-
gone some change since the foundation of the old town ; as no
people in their senses would willingly have chosen for their
building place, the narrow spit of shingle on which the ruins now
stand. Since our voyage, M. Tschudi has come to the con-
clusion, by the comparison of old and modern maps, that the
coast both north and south of Lima has certainly subsided.
On the island of San Lorenzo, there are very satisfactory
proofs of elevation wdthin the recent period; this of course is
not opposed to the belief, of a small sinking of the ground
having subsequently taken place. The side of this island front-
ing the Bay of Callao, is worn into three obscure terraces, the
lower one of which is covered by a bed a mile in length, almost
wholly composed of shells of eighteen species, now living in the
adjoining sea. The height of this bed is eighty-five feet. Many
of the shells are deeply corroded, and have a much older and
more decayed appearance than those at the height of oOO or 600
feet on the coast of Chile. These shells are associated with
much common salt, a little sulphate of lime (both probably left
by the evaporation of the spray, as the land slowly rose), to-
gether with sulphate of soda and muriate of lime. They rest
on fragments of the underlying sandstone, and are covered by a
fpw inches thick of detritus. The shells, higher up on this ter-
race, could be traced scaling off in flakes, and falling into an
impalpable powder ; and on an upper terrace, at the height of
170 feet, and likewise at some considerably higher points, I
found a layer of saline powder of exactly similar appearance,
and lying in the same relative position. I have no doubt that
this upper layer originally existed as a bed of shells, like that on
the eighty-five-feet ledge ; but it does not now contain even a
3V0 PERU. [chap. XVI.
trace of organic structure. The powder has been analysed for
me by Mr. T. Reeks ; it consists of sulphates and muriates both
of lime and soda, with very little carbonate of lime. It is known
that common salt and carbonate of lime left in a mass for some
time together, partly decompose each other ; though this does
not happen with small quantities in solution. As the half-de-
composed shells in the lower parts are associated with much
common salt, together w ith some of the saline substances com-
posing the upper saline layer, and as these shells are corroded
and decayed in a remarkable manner, I strongly suspect that
this double decomposition has here taken place. The resultant
salts, however, ought to be carbonate of soda and muriate of
lime ; the latter is present, but not the carbonate of soda. Hence
I am led to imagine that by some unexplained means, the car-
bonate of soda becomes changed into the sulphate. It is obvious
that the saline layer could not have been preserved in any
country in which abundant rain occasionally fell : on the other
hand, this very circumstance, which at first sight appears so
highly favourable to the long preservation of exposed shells, has
probably been the indirect means, through the common salt not
having been washed away, of their d. composition and early decay.
I was much interested by finding on the terrace, at the height
of eighty-five feet, embedded amidst the shells and much sea-
drifted rubbish, some bits of cotton thread, plaited rush, and the
head of a stalk of Indian corn : I compared these relics with
similar ones taken out of the Huacas, or old Peruvian tombs,
and found them identical in appearance. On the mainland in
front of San Lorenzo, near Bellavista, there is an extensive and
level plain about a hundred feet high, of which the lower part is
formed of alternating layers of sand and impure clay, together
with some gravel, and the surface, to the depth of from three to
six feet, of a reddish loam, containing a few scattered sea-shells
and numerous small fragments of coarse red earthenware, more
abundant at certain spots than at others. At first I was inclined
to believe that this superficial bed, from its wide extent and
smoothness, must have been deposited beneath the sea ; but I
afterwards found in one spot, that it lay on an artificial floor of
round stones. It seems, therefore, most probable that at a pe-
riod when the land stood at a lower level, there was a plain very
1835.1 FOSSIL HUMAN RELICS. 371
similar to that now surrounding Callao, which being protected
by a shingle beach, is raised but very little above the level of the
sea. On this plain, with its underlying red-clay beds, I imagine
that the Indians manufactured their earthen vessels ; and that,
during some violent earthquake, the sea broke over the beach,
and converted the plain into a temporary lake, as happened round
Callao in 1713 and 1746. The water would then have deposited
mud, containing fragments of pottery from the kilns, more abun-
dant at some spots than at others, and shells from the sea. This
bed with fossil earthenware, stands at about the same height with
the shells on the lower terrace of San Lorenzo, in which the
cotton-thread and other relics were embedded. Hence we may
safely conclude, that within the Indo-human period there has
been an elevation, as before alluded to, of more than eighty-five
feet ; for some little elevation must have been lost by the coast
having subsided since the old maps were engraved. At Val-
paraiso, although in the 220 years before our visit, the elevation
cannot have exceeded nineteen feet, yet subsequently to 1817
there has been a rise, partly insensible and partly by a start
during the shock of 1822, of ten or eleven feet. The antiquity
of the Indo-human race here, judging by the eighty-five feet
rise of the land since the relics were embedded, is the more re-
markable, as on the coast of Patagonia, when the land stood
about the same number of feet lower, the Macrauchenia was a
living beast ; but as the Patagonian coast is some way distant
from the Cordillera, the rising there may have been slower than
here. At Bahia Blanca, the elevation has been only a few feet
since the numerous gigantic quadrupeds were there entombed ;
and," according to the generally received opinion, when these ex-
tinct animals were living, man did not exist. But the rising of
that part of the coast of Patagonia, is perhaps noways connected
with the Cordillera, but rather with a line of old volcanic rocks
in Banda Oriental, so that it may have been infinitely slower than
on the shores of Peru. All these speculations, however, must
be vague ; for who will pretend to say, that there may not have
been several periods of subsidence, intercalated between the
movements of elevation ; for we know that along the whole coast
of Patagonia, there have certainly been many and long pause?
ill the upward action of the elevatory forces.
3?2
GALAPAGOS AKCHIPELAGO,
[chap. XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO.
The whole group volcanic — Number of craters — Leafless bushes — Colony at
Charles Island— James Island — Salt-lake in crater — Natural History of
the group— Ornithology, curious finches — Reptiles — Great tortoises, habits
of— Marine lizard, feeds on sea-weed — Terrestrial lizard, burrowing habits,
herbivorous — Importance of reptiles in the Archipelago — Fish, shells,
insects — Botany — American type of organization — Differences in the
species or races on different islands — Tameness of the birds — Fear of man,
an acquired instinct.
September I5th. — This archipelago consists of ten principal
islands, of which five exceed the others in size. They are
situated under the Equator, and between five and six hundred
miles westward of the coast of America. They are all forme<l
Culfiepper I.
TVennum I,
60 Miles
_i 1 I I
I Abingdon I.
^^ ^ Tower I.
Hindhesl.
^ V/ Tndefatigable I.
Barring ton I.
Cfu.0iam
Charles I.
Hood'g /.
1835.J NUMBER OF CRATEKS. S73
of volcanic rocks ; a few fragments of granite curiously glazed
and altered by the heat, can hardly be considered as an excep-
tion. Some of the craters, surmounting the larger islands, are of
immense size, and they rise to a height of between three and four
thousand feet. Their flanks are studded by innumerable smaller
orifices. I scarcely hesitate to affirm, that there must be in the
whole archipelago at least two thousand craters. These consist
either of lava and scoriae, or of finely-stratified, gandstone-like
tuff". Most of the latter are beautifully symmetrical ; they owe
their origin to eruptions of volcanic mud without any lava :
it is a remarkable circumstance that every one of the twenty-
eight tuff-craters which were examined, had their southern sides
either much lower than the other sides, or quite broken down
and removed. As all these craters apparently have been formed
when standing in the sea, and as the waves from the trade wind
and the swell from the open Pacific here unite their forces on the
southern coasts of all the islands, this singular uniformity in
the broken state of the craters, composed of the soft and yielding
tuff, is easily explained.
Considering that these islands are placed directly under the
equator, the climate is far from being excessively hot ; this seems
chiefly caused by the singularly low temperature of the surround-
ing water, brought here by the great southern Polar current.
Excepting during one short season, very little rain falls, and
even then it is irregular ; but the clouds generally hang low.
Hence, whilst the lower parts of the islands are very sterile, the
upper parts, at a height of a thousand feet and upwards, possess a
damp climate and a tolerably luxuriant vegetation. This is
especially the case on the windward sides of the islands, whicii
first receive and condense the moisture from the atmosphere.
In the morning (17th) Ave landed on Chatham Island, which,
like the others, rises with a tame and rounded outline, broken
here and there by scattered hillocks, the remains of former
craters. Nothing could be less inviting than the first appear-
ance. A broken field of black basaltic lava, thrown into the
most rugged waves, and crossed by great fissures, is every where
covered by stunted, sun-burnt brushwood, which shows little signs
of life. The dry and parched surface, being heated by the noon-
day sun, gave to the air a close and sultry feeling, like that frun
374 GALAPAGOS AKCHIPELAGO. [chap. xvii.
a stove : we fancied even that the bushes smelt unpleasantly.
Although I diligently tried to collect as many plants as possible,
I succeeded in getting very few ; and such wretched-looking little
weeds would have better become an arctic than an equatorial
Flora. The brushwood appears, from a short distance, as leaf-
less as our trees during winter; and it was some time before I
discovered that not only almost every plant was now in full leaf
but that the greater number were in flower. The commonest
bush is one of the Euphorbiacese : an acacia and a great odd-
looking cactus are the only trees which afford any shade. After
the sea°on of heavy rains, the islands are said to appear for a
short time partially green. The volcanic island of Fernando
Noronha, placed in many respects under nearly similar conditions,
is the only other country where I have seen a vegetation at al'
like this of the Galapagos islands.
The Beagle sailed round Chatham Island, and anchored in
several bays. One night I slept on shore on a part of the
island, where black truncated cones were extraordinarily nume-
rous : from one small eminence I counted sixty of them, all sur-
mounted by craters more or less perfect. The greater number con-
sisted merely of a ring of red scoriae or slags, cemented together :
and their height above the plain of lava was not more than from
fifty to a hundred feet : none had been very lately active. The
entire surface of this part of the island seems to have been per-
meated, like a sieve, by the subterranean vapours : here and there
the lava, Avhilst soft, has been blown into great bubbles; and in
other parts, the tops of caverns similarly formed have fallen in,
leaving circular pits with steep sides. From the regular foriu
of the many craters, they gave to the country an artificial appear-
ance, which vividly reminded me of those parts of Staffordshire,
where the great iron-foundries are most numerous. The day
was glowing hot, and the scrambling over the rough surface and
through the intricate thickets, was very fatiguing ; but I was
well repaid by the strange Cyclopean scene. As I was walking
along I met two large tortoises, each of which must have weighed
at least two hundred pounds : one was eating a piece of cactus,
and as I approached, it stared at me and slowly stalked away ;
the other gave a deep hiss, and drew^ in its head. These huge
reptiles, surrounded by the black lava, the leafless shrubs, and
^835., THE SETTLEMENT.
large cacti, seemed to my fancy like some antediluvian animals.
The few dull-colonred birds cared no more for me, than they did
for the great tortoises.
2Srd. — The Beagle proceeded to Charles Island. This archi-
pelago has long been frequented, first by the Bucaniers, and
htterly by whalers, but it is only within the last sixyears, that
a small colony has been established here. The inhabitants are
between two and three hundred in number : they are nearly all
people of colour, who have been banished for political crimes
from the Republic of the Equator, of which Quito is the capital.
The settlement is placed about four and a half miles inland, and
at a height probably of a thousand feet. In the first part of the
road we passed through leafless thickets, as in Chatham Island.
Higher up, the woods gradually became greener ; and as soon as
we crossed the ridge of the island, we were cooled by a fine
southerly breeze, and our sigiit refreshed by a green and thriving
vegetation. In this upper region coarse grasses and ferns
abound ; but there are no tree-ferns: I saw nowhere any member
of the Palm family, which is the more singular, as 360 miles
northward, Cocos Island takes its name from the number of
cocoa-nuts. The houses are irregularly scattered over a flat
space of ground, which is cultivated with sweet potatoes and
bananas. It will not easily be imagined how pleasant the sight
of black mud was to us, after having been so long accustomed to
the parched soil of Peru and northern Chile. The inhabitants,
although complaining of poverty, obtain, without much trouble,
the means of subsistence. In the woods there are many wild
pigs and goats ; but the staple article of animal food is supplied
by the tortoises. Their numbers have of course been greatly re-
duced in this island, but the people yet count on two davs' hunt-
ing giving them food for the rest of the week. It is said that
formerly single vessels have taken away as many as seven hun-
dred, and that the ship's company of a frigate some years since
brought down in one day two hundred tortoises to the beach.
September 29fh.—We doubled the south-west extremity of
Albemarle Island, and the next day were nearly becalmed be-
tween it and Karborough Island. Both are covered with im-
mense deluges of black naked lava, which have flowed either
over the rims of the great caldrons, like pitch over the rim of a
IT
37f, TxALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. !ch.vp. xvit
pot in which it has been boiled, or have burst forth from smaller
orifices on the flanks ; in their descent they have spread over
miles of the sea-coast. On both of these islands, eruptions are
known to have taken place ; and in Albemarle, we saw a small
jet of smoke curling from the summit of one of the great craters.
In the evening we anchored in Bank's Cove, in Albemarle
Island. The next morning I went out walking. To the south
of the broken tuff- crater, in which the Beagle was anchored,
there was another beautifully symmetrical one of an elliptic form ;
its longer axis was a little less than a mile, and its depth about
500 feet. At its bottom there was a shallow lake, in the middle
of which a tiny crater formed an islet. The day was overpower-
ingly hot, and the lake looked clear and blue : I hurried down
the cindery slope, and choked with dust eagerly tasted the water
— but, to my sorrow, I found it salt as brine.
The rocks on the coast abounded with great black lizards, be-
tween three and four feet long ; and on the hills, an ugly
yellowish-brown species was equally common. We saw many of
this latter kind, some clumsily running out of our way, and
others shuffling into their burrows. I shall presently describe in
more detail the habits of both these reptiles. The whole of this
nortliern pari of Albemarle Island is miserably sterile.
October Sth. — We arrived at James Island: this island, as
well as Charles Island, were long since thus named after our
kings of the Stuart line. Mr. Bynoe, myself, and our servants
were left here for a week, wdth provisions and a tent, whilst the
Beagle went for water. We found here a party of Spaniards, who
had been sent from Charles Island to dry fish, and to salt tortoise-
meat. About six miles inland, and at the height of nearly 2000
feet, a hovel had been built in which two men lived, who were
employed in catching tortoises, whilst the others were fishing
on the coast. I paid this party two visits, and slept there one
night. As in the other islands, the lower region was covered by
nearly leafless bushes, but the trees were here of a larger growth
than elsewhere, several being two feet and some even two feet
nine inches in diameter. The upper region being kept damp by
the clouds, supports a green ana flourishing vegetation. So damp
was the ground, that there were large beds of a coarse cyperus,
m which great numbers of a very small water-rail lived and bred
1835.) SALT-LAKE. 377
While staying in this upper region, we lived entirely upon tortoise-
meat : the breast-plate roasted (as the Gauchos do came con cuero),
with the flesh on it, is very good ; and the young tortoises maive
excellent soup ; but otherwise the meat to my taste is indifferent.
One day we accompanied a party of the Spaniards in their
whale-boat to a salina, or lake from which salt is procured.
After landing, we had a very rough walk over a rugged field of
recent lava, which has almost surrounded a tuff-crater, at the
bottom of which the salt-lake lies. The water is only three or
four inches deep, and rests on a layer of beautifully crystallized,
white salt. The lake is quite circular, and is fringed with a border
of bright green succulent plants ; the almost precipitous walls of
the crater are clothed with wood, so that the scene was altogether
both picturesque and curious. A few years since, the sailors
belonging to a sealing-vessel murdered their captain in this quiet
spot ; and we saw his skull lying among the bushes.
During the greater part of our stay of a week, the sky was
cloudless, and if the trade-wind failed for an hour, the heat be-
came very oppressive. On two days, the thermometer within
the tent stood for some hours at 93° ; but in the open air, in the
wind and sun, at only 85°. The sand was extremely hot ; the
thermometer placed in some of a brown colour immediately rose
to 137°, and how much above that it would have risen, I do not
know, for it was not graduated any higher. The black sand felt
much hotter, so that even in thick boots it was quite disagreeable
to walk over it.
The natural history of these islands is eminently curious, and
well deserves attention. Most of the organic productions are
aboriginal creations, found nowhere else ; there is even a differ-
ence between the inhabitants of the different islands ; yet all
show a marked relationship with those of America, tliough sepa-
rated from that continent by an open space of ocean, between
500 and 600 miles in width. The archipelago is a little world
within itself, or rather a satellite attached to America, whence
it has derived a few stray colonists, and lifas received the general
character of its indigenous productions. Considering the small
size of these islands, we feel the more astonished at the number of
their aboiiginal beings, and at their confined range. Seeing every
378 GALAPAGOS AilClliPELAGO. chap. xvii.
height crowned with its crater, and the boundaries of most of
the'^lava-streams still distinct, we are led to believe that within a
period, geologically recent, the unbroken ocean was here spread
out. Hence,°both in space and time, we seem to be brought
somewhat near to that great fact— that mystery of mysteries—
the first appearance of new beings on this earth.
Of terrestrial mammals, there is only one which must be con-
sidered as indigenous, namely, a mouse (Mus Galapagoensis), and
this is confined, as far as I could ascertain, to-Chatham island, the
most easterly island of the group. It belongs, as I am informed
by Mr. Waterhouse, to a division of the family of mice charac-
teristic of America. At James island, there is a rat suflficiently
distinct from the common kind to have been named and described
by Mr. Waterhouse; but as it belongs to the old-world division
of the family, and as this island has been frequented by ships for
the last hundred and fifty years, I can hardly doubt tliat this rat
is merely a variety, produced by the new and peculiar climate,
food, and soil, to which it has been subjected. Although no one
has a right to speculate without distinct facts, yet even with
respect to the Chatham island mouse, it should be borne in mind,
that it may possibly be an American species imported here ; for
I have seen, in a most unfrequented part of the Pampas, a native
mouse living in the roof of a newly-built hovel, and therefore its
transportation in a vessel is not improbable: analogous facts
have been observed by Dr. Richardson in North America.
Of land-birds I obtained twenty-six kinds, all peculiar to the
group and found nowhere else, with the exception of one lark-
like finch from North America (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), which
ranges on that continent as flir north as 54°, and generally fre-
quents marshes. The other twenty-five birds consist, firstly,
of a hawk, curiously intermediate in structure between a Buzzard
and the American group of carrion-feeding Polybori ; and with
these latter birds it agrees most closely in every habit and even
tone of voice. Secondly, there are two owls, representing the
short-eared and white barn-owls of Europe. Thirdly, a wren,
three tyrant fly-catchers (two of them species of Pyrocephalus,
one or both of which would be ranked by some ornithologists
as only varieties), and a dove— all analogous to, but distinct
from, American species. Fourtldy, a swallow, which though
835.J
BIRDS.
379
differing from the Progne purpurea of both Americas, only in
being rather duller coloured, smaller, and slenderer, is consi-
dered by Mr. Gould as specifically distinct. Fifthly, there are
three species of mocking-thrush — a form highly characteristic
of America. The remaining land-birds form a most singular
group of finches, related to each other in the structure of their
beaks, short tails, form of body, and plumage : there are thirteen
species, which Mr. Gould has divided into four sub-groups.
All these species are peculiar to this archipelago ; and so is
the whole group, with the exception of one species of the sub-
group Cactornis, lately brought from Bow island, in the Low
Archipelago. Of Cactornis, the two species may be often seen
climbing about the flowers of the great cactus-trees ; but all
the other species of this group of finches, mingled together in
flocks, feed on the dry and sterile ground of the lower districts.
The males of all, or certainly of the greater number, are jet
black ; and the females (with perhaps one or two exceptions) are
brown. The most curious fact is the perfect gradation in the
size of the beaks in the different species of Geospiza, from one as
1. Geospiza raagnirostris.
3. Geuspiza parvula.
8. Geospiia fortis.
4. Certhidea oliva^ea.
targe as that of a hawfinch to tliat of a chaffinch, agd (if Mr.
Gould is right in including his sub-group, Certhide'a, ir the mam
380 GALAPAGOS AECHIPELAGO. [chap. xvn.
group), even to that of a warbler. The largest beak in the genua
Geospiza is shown in Fig. 1, and the smallest in Fig. 3 ; but
instead of there being only one intermediate species, with a beak
of the size shown in Fig:. 2, there are no less than six species
M'ith insensibly graduated beaks. The beak of the sub-group
Certhidea, is shown in Fig. 4. The beak of Cactornis is some-
what like that of a starling ; and that of the fourth sub-group,
Camarhynchus, is slightly parrot-shaped. Seeing this gradation
and diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group
of birds, one might really fancy that from an original paucity of
birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modi-
fied for different ends. In a like manner it might be fancied that a
bird originally a buzzard, had been induced here to undertake the
office of the carrion-feeding Polybori of the American continent.
Of waders and water-birds I was able to get only eleven kinds,
and of these only three (including a rail confined to the damp sum-
mits of the islands) are new species. Considering the wandering
habits of the gulls, I was surprised to find that the species in-
habiting these islands is peculiar, but allied to one from the
southern parts of South America. The far greater peculiarity of
the land-birds, namely, twenty-five out of twenty-six being new
species or at least new races, compared with the waders and
web-footed birds, is in accordance with the greater range which
these latter orders have in all parts of the world. We shall
hereafter see this law of aquatic forms, whether marine or
fresh-water, being less peculiar at any given point of the earth's
surface than the terrestrial forms of the same classes, strikingly
illustrated in the shells, and in a lesser degree in the insects of
this archipelago.
Two of the waders are rather smaller than the same species
brought from other places : the swallow is also smaller, though
it is doubtful whether or not it is distinct from its analogue.
The two owls, the two tyrant fly-catchers (Pyrocephalus) and the
dove, are also smaller than the analogous but distinct species, to
which they are most nearly related ; on the other hand, the gull
is rather larger. The two owls, the swallow, all three species of
mocking-thrush, the dove in its separate colours though not in its
whole plumage, the Totanus, and the gull, are likewise duskier co-
loured than their analogous species ; and in the case of the mock
1835.] EEPTILES. 381
ing-tlirush and Totanus, than any other species of the two genera.
With the exception of a wren with a fine yellow breast, and of a
tyrant fly-catcher with a scarlet tuft and breast, none of the birds
are brilliantly coloured, as might have been expected in an equa-
torial district. Hence it would appear probable, that the same
causes which here make the immigrants of some species smaller,
make most of the peculiar Galapageian species also smaller, as
well as very generally more dusky coloured. All the plants have a
Mretched, weedy appearance, and I did not see one beautiful flower.
The insects, again, are small sized and dull coloured, and, as
Mr. "VYaterhouse informs me, there is nothing in their general
appearance which would have led him to imagine that they had
come from under the equator. The birds, plants, and insects
have a desert character, and are not more brilliantly coloured
than those from southern Patagonia ; we may, therefore, con-
clude that the usual gaudy colouring of the intertropical pro-
ductions, is not related either to the heat or light of those zones,
but to some other cause, perhaps to the conditions of existence
being generally favourable to life.
We will now turn to the order of reptiles, which gives the
most striking character to the zoology of these islands. The
species are not numerous, but the numbers of individuals of each
species are extraordinarily great. There is one small lizard
belonging to a South American genus, and two species (and
probably more) of the Amblyrhynchus — a genus confined to
the Galapagos islands. There is one snake which is numerous ;
it is identical, as I am informed by M. Bibron, with the Psam-
mophis Temminckii from Chile. Of sea-turtle I believe there
is more than one species ; and of tortoises there are, as we
shall presently show, two or three species or races. Of toads
and frogs there are none : I was surprised at this, considering
how well suited for them the temperate and damp upper woods
appeared to be. It recalled to my mind the remark made by
Bory St. Vincent,* namely, that none of this family are found on
* Voyage aux Quatre lies d'Afrique. With respect to the Sandwich
Islands, see Tyerman and Bennett's Journal, vol. i., p. 434. For Mauritius
see Voyage par ua Officier, &c.. Part i,, p. 170. There are no frogs in the
Canary Islands (Webb et i3erthelot. Hist. Nat. des lies Canaries). I saw
none at St. Jago in the Cape de Verds, There are none at St. Helena.
382 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. .wji.
any of the volcanic islands in the great oceans. As far as I can as-
certain from various works, this seems to liold good throughout the
Pacific, and even in the large islands of the Sandwicli archipelago.
Mauritius offers an apparent exception, where I saw the Rana
Mascariensis in abundance : this frog is said now to inhabit the
Seychelles, Madagascar, and Bourbon ; but on the otlier hand^
Du Bois, in his voyage in 1669, states that there were no reptiles
in Bourbon except tortoises ; and the Officier du Roi asserts that
before 1768 it had been attempted, without success, to introduce
frogs into JNIauritius — I presume, for the purpose of eating:
hence it may be well doubted whether this frog is an aboriginal
of these islands. The absence of the frog family in the oceanic
islands is the more remarkable, when contrasted with the case of
lizards, which swarm on most of the smallest islands. May this
difference not be caused, by the greater facility with which the
eggs of lizards, protected by calcareous shells, might be trans-
ported through salt-water, than could the slimy spawn of frogs ?
I will first describe the habits of the tortoise (Testudo nigra,
formerly called Indica), wiiich has been so frequently alluded
to. These animals are found, I believe, on all the islands of the
Archipelago ; certainly on the greater number. They frequent
in preference the high damp parts, but they likewise live in the
lower and arid districts. I have already shown, from the num-
bers which have been caught in a single day, how very numerous
they must be. Some grow to an immense size : Mr. Lawson, an
Englishman, and vice-governor of the colony, told us that he
had seen several so large, that it required six or eight men to lift
them from the ground ; and that some had afforded as much as
two hundred pounds of meat. The old males are the largest,
the females rarely growing to so great a size : the male can
readily be distinguished from the female by the greater length
of its tail. The tortoises which live on those islands where
there is no water, or in the lower and arid parts of the others,
feed chiefly on the succulent cactus. Those which frequent the
higher and damp regions, eat the leaves of various trees, a kind
of berry (called guayavita) which is acid and austere, and like-
wise a pale green filamentous lichen (Usnera plicata), that hangs
in tresses from the boughs of the trees.
The tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quantities*
1835.J GREAT TORTOISE. 383
and wallowing in the mud. The larger islands alone possess
springs, and these are always situated towards the central parts,
and at a considerable height. The tortoises, tlierefore, which
frequent the lower districts, when tliirsty, are obliged to travel
from a long distance. Hence broad and well-beaten paths
branch off" in every direction from the wells down to the sea-
coast ; and the Spaniards by following them up, first discovered
the watering-places. VYhen I landed at Chatham Island, I could
not imagine what animal travelled so methodically along well-
chosen tracks. Near the springs it was a curious spectacle to
behold many of these huge creatures, one set eagerly travelling
onwards with outstretched necks, and another set returning, after
having drunk their fill. When the tortoise arrives at the
spring, quite regardless of any spectator, he buries his head in
the water above his eyes, and greedily swallows great mouthfulls,
at the rate of about ten in a minute. The inhabitants say each
animal stays three or four days in the neighbourhood of the
water, and then returns to the lower country ; but they differed
respecting the frequency of these visits. The animal probably
regulates them according to the nature of the food on which it
has lived. It is, however, certain, that tortoises can subsist
even on those islands, where there is no other water than what
falls during a few rainy days in the year.
I believe it is well ascertained, that the bladder of the frog
acts as a reservoir for the moisture necessary to its existence :
such seems to be the case with the tortoise. For some time
after a visit to the springs, their urinary bladders are distended
with fluid, which is said gradually to decrease in volume, and to
become less pure. The inhabitants, when walking in the lower
district, and overcome with thirst, often take advantage of this
circumstance, and drink the contents of the bladder if full : in
one I saw killed, the fluid was quite limpid, and had only a very
slightly bitter taste. The inhabitants, however, always first
drink the water in the pericardium, which is described as being
best.
The tortoises, when purposely moving towards any point
travel by night and day, and arrive at their journey's end mucli
sooner than would be expected. The inhabitants, from ob-
vservii g nu rked individuals, consider that they travel a dis
384 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [cuap. xvii.
tance of about eight miles in two or three days. One large
tortoise, which I watched, waJked at the rate of sixty yards in
ten minutes, that is 360 yards in the hour, or four miles a day, —
allowing- a little time for it to eat on the road. During- the
breeding season, when the male and female are together, the
male utters a hoarse roar or bellowing, which, it is said, can be
heard at the distance of more than a hundred yards. The female
never uses her voice, and the male only at these times ; so that
when the people hear this noise, they know that the two are
together. They were at this time (October) laying their eggs.
The female, wliere the soil is sandy, deposits them together, and
covers them up with sand ; but where the ground is rocky she
drops them indiscriminately in any hole : Mr. Bynoe found seven
placed in a fissure. The egg is white and spherical ; one which
I measured was seven inches and three-eighths in circumference,
and therefore larger than a hen's egg. The young tortoises, as soon
as they are hatched, fall a prey in great numbers to the carrion -
feeding buzzard. The old ones seem generally to die from acci-
dents, as from falling down precipices ; at least, several of the
inhabitants told me, that they had never found one dead without
some evident cause.
The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf;
certainly they do not overhear a person walking close behind
them. I was always amused when overtaking one of these great
monsters, as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenlj^,
the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and
uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if
struck dead. I frequently got on their backs, and then giving
a few raps on the hinder part of their shells, they would rise up
and walk away ; — but I found it very difficult to keep my ba-
lance. The flesh of this animal is largely employed, both fresh
and salted ; and a beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat.
When a tortoise is caught, the man makes a slit in tlie skin near
its tail, so as to see inside its body, whether the fat under the
dorsal plate is thick. If it is not, the animal is liberated ; and
it is said to recover soon from this strange operation. In order
to secure the tortoises, it is not sufficient to turn them like
turtle, for they are often able to get on their legs again.
There can be little doubt that this tortoise is an aboriginal
i
5tt35.I MARINE AMBLYRHYNCHUS. 385
inhabitant of the Galapagos ; for it is found on all, or nearly
ail, the islands, even on some of the smaller ones where there
is no water ; had it been an imported species, this would hardly
have been the case in a group which has been so little fre-
quented. Moreover, the old Bucaniers found this tortoise in
greater numbers even than at present : Wood and Rogers also,
in 1708, say that it is the opinion of the Spaniards, that it is
found nowhere else in this quarter of the world. It is now
widely distributed ; but it may be questioned whether it is in
any other place an aboriginal. The bones of a tortoise at Mau-
ritius, associated with those of the extinct Dodo, have gene-
rally been considered as belonging to this tortoise : if this had
been so, undoubtedly it must have .been there indigenous ; but
M. Bibron informs me that he believes that it was distinct, £is
the species now living there certainly is.
The Amblyrhynchus, a remarkable genus of lizards, is confined
to this archipelago : there are two species, resembling each
other in general form, one being terrestrial and the other aquatic.
This latter species (A. cristatus) was first characterised by Mr.
Bell, who well foresaw, from its short, brood head, and strong
claws of equal length, that its habits cf life would turn out very
peculiar, and different from those of its nearest ally, the Iguana.
It is extremely common on all the islands throughout the group,
and lives exclusively on the rocky sea-beaches, being never
found, at least I never saw one, even ten yards in-shore. It is a
hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black colour, stupid, anJ
Amblvrhynchus cristatus. a, Tooth of natural size, and likewise magnified.
sluggish in its movements. The usual length of a full-grown
oue is about a yard, but there are some even four feet long; a
386 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xvn.
large one weighed twenty pounds : on tlie island of Albemarle
they seem to grow to a greater size than elsewhere. Their tails
are flattened sideways, and all four feet partially webbed. They
are occasionally seen some hundred yards from the shore, swim-
ming about ; and Captain Collnett, in his Voyage, says, " They
go to sea in herds a-fishing, and sun themselves on the rocks ; and
may be called alligators in miniature." It must not, however,
be supposed that they live on fish. When in the water this
lizard swims with perfect ease and quickness, by a serpentine
movement of its body and flattened tail — the legs being motion-
less and closely collapsed on its sides. A seaman on board sank
one, with a heavy weight attached to it, thinking thus to kill it
directly ; but when, an hour afterwards, he drew up the line, it
was quite active. Their limbs and strong claws are admirably
adapted for crawling over the rugged and fissured masses of
lava, which everywhere form the coast. In such situations, a
group of six or seven of these hideous reptiles may oftentimes
be seen on the black rocks, a few feet above the surf, basking
in the sun with outstretched legs.
I opened the stomachs of several, and found them largely dis-
tended with minced sea -weed (Ulvse), which grows in thin
foliaceous expansions of a bright green or a dull red colour. 1
do not recollect having observed this sea-weed in any quantity
on the tidal rocks ; and I have reason to believe it grows at
the bottom of the sea, at some little distance from the coast. If
such be the case, the object of these animals occasionally going
out to sea is explained. The stomach contained nothing but the
sea-weed. Mr. Bynoe, however, found a piece of a crab in one ;
but this miofht have grot in accidentallv, in the same manner as
I have seen a caterpillar, in the midst of some lichen, in the
paunch of a tortoise. The intestines were large, as in other
herbivorous animals. The nature of this lizard's food, as well
as the structure of its tail and feet, and the fact of its having
been seen voluntarily swimming out at sea, absolutely prove its
aquatic habits ; yet there is in this respect one strange anomaly,
namely, tliat when frightened it will not enter the water. Hence
it is easy to drive these lizards down to any little point over-
hanging the sea, where they will sooner allow a person to catch
hold of their tails than jump into the Avater. They do not seem
1835.J TERRESTRIAL AMBLYRHYNCHUS. 387
to have any notion of biting ; but when much frightened they
squirt a drop of fluid fsom each nostril. I threw one several
times as far as I could, into a deep pool left by the retiring tide ;
but it invariably returned in a direct line to the spot where I
stood. It swam near the bottom, with a very graceful and
rapid movement, and occasionally aided itself over the uneven
ground with its feet. As soon as it arrived near the edge, but
still being under water, it tried to conceal itself in the tufts
of sea-weed, or it entered some crevice. As soon as it thought
the danger was past, it crawled out on the dry rocks, and
shuffled away as quickly as it could. I several times caught
this same lizard, by driving it down to a point, and though pos-
sessed of such perfect powers of diving and swimming, nothing
would induce it to enter the water ; and as often as I threw it
in, it returned in the manner above described. Perhaps this
singular piece of apparent stupidity may be accounted for by
the circumstance, that this reptile has no enemy whatever on
shore, whereas at sea it must often fall a prey to the numerous
sharks. Hence, probably, urged by a fixed and hereditary in-
stinct that the shore is its place of safety, whatever the emer-
gency may be, it there takes refuge.
During our visit (in October), I saw extremely few small
individuals of this species, and none I should think under a year
old. From this circumstance it seems probable that the breeding
season had not then commenced. I asked several of the inha-
bitants if they knew where it laid its eggs : they said that
they knew nothing of its propagation, although well acquainted
with the eggs of the land kind — a fact, considering how very
common this lizard is, not a little extraordinary.
We will now turn to the terrestrial species (A. Demarlii),
with a round tail, and toes without webs. This lizard, instead of
being found like the other on all the islands, is confined to the cen-
tral part of the archipelago, namely to Albemarle, James, Bar-
rington, and Indefatigable islands. To the southward, in Charles,
Hood, and Chatham islands, and to the northward, in Towers,
Bindloes, and Abingdon, I neither saw nor heard of any. It
would appear as if it had been created in the centre of the archi-
pelago, and thence had been dispersed only to a certain distance.
Some of these lizards inhabit the high and damp parts of the
$88 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xvii.
islands, but they are much more numerous in the lower and ste-
rile districts near the coast. I cannot give a more forcible proof
of their numbers, than by stating that when we were left at James
Island, we could not for some time find a spot free from their
burrows on which to pitch our single tent. Like their brothers
the sea-kind, they are ugly animals, of a yellowish orange beneath,
and of a brownish red colour above : from their low facial ansfle
they have a singularly stupid appearance. They are, perhaps,
of a rather less size than the marine species ; but several of
them weighed between ten and fifteen pounds. In their move-
ments they are lazy and half torpid. "When not frightened, they
slowly crawl along with their tails and bellies dragging on the
ground. They often stop, and doze for a minute or two, with
closed eyes and hind legs spread out on the parched soil.
1'hej' inhabit burrows, which they sometimes make between
fragments of lava, but more generally on level patches of the
soft sandstone-like tuff. I'he holes do not appear to be very
deep, and they enter the ground at a small angle ; so that when
walking over these lizard-warrens, the soil is constantly giving
way, much to the annoyance of the tired walker. This aniinal,
when making its burrow, works alternately the opposite sides of
its body. One front leg for a short time scratches up the soil,
and throws it towards the hind foot, which is well placed so as
to lieave it beyond the mouth of the hole. That side of the
body being tired, the other takes up the task, and so on alter-
nately. I watched one for a long time, till half its body was
buried ; I then walked up and pulled it by the tail ; at this it
was greatly astonislied, and soon shuffled up to see what was the
matter ; and then stared me in the face, as much as to say,
" What made you pull my tail ? "
They feed by day, and do not wander far from tlieir burrows ;
if frightened, they rush to them with a most awkward gait.
Except when running down hill, they cannot move very fast,
apparently from the lateral position of their legs. They are not
at all timorous ; when attentively watching any one, they curl
their tails, and, raising themselves on their front legs, nod their
heads vertically, with a quick movement, and try to look very
fierce : but in reality they are not at all so ; if one just stamps
on the ground, down go their tails, and ofi'they shuffle as quicklj
1835.J TERRESTRIAL AMBLYRHYNCHUS. 389
as they can. I have frequently observed small fly-eating lizards,
when watching anything, nod their heads in precisely the same
manner ; but I do not at all know for what purpose. If this
Amblyrhynchus is held and plagued with a stick, it will bite
it very severely ; but I caught many by the tail, and tliey
never tried to bite me. If two are placed on the ground and
held together, they will fight, and bite each otlier till blood is
drawn.
The individuals, and they are the greater number, which in-
habit the lower country, can scarcely taste a drop of water
throughout the year ; but they consume much of the succulent
cactus, the branch^s of which are occasionally broken off by the
wind. I several times threw a piece to two or three of them
when together ; and it was amusing enough to see them trying to
seize and carry it away in their mouths, like so many Imngry dogs
with a bone. They eat very deliberately, but do not chew their
food. The little birds are aware how harmless these creatures
are: I have seen one of the thick-billed fiuches picking at one
end of a piece of cactus (which is much relished by all the ani-
mals of the lower region), whilst a lizard was eating at the other
end ; and afterwards the little bird with the utmost indifference
Iiopped on the back of the reptile.
I opened the stomachs of several, and found them full of ve-
getable fibres and leaves of different trees, especially of an acacia.
In the upper region they live chiefly on the acid and astringent
berries of the guayavita, under which trees I have seen these
lizards and the huge tortoises feeding together. To obtain the
acacia-leaves they crawl up the low stunted trees ; and it is not
uncommon to see a pair quietly browsing, whilst seated on a
branch several feet above the ground. These lizards, when
cooked, yield a white meat, which is liked by those whose sto-
machs soar above all prejudices. Humboldt has remarked that
in intertropical South America, all lizards which inhabit dry
regions are esteemed delicacies for the table. The inhabitants
state that those which inhabit the upper damp parts drink water,
but that the others do not, like the tortoises, travel up for it from
the lower sterile country. At the time of our visit, the females
had within their bodies numerous, large, elongated eggs, which
they lay in their burrows : the inhabitants seek them for food.
390 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xvii.
These two species of Amblyrhynclms agree, as I have already
stated, in their general structure, and in many of their habits.
Neither have that rapid movement, so characteristic of the genera
Lacerta and Iguana. They are both herbivorous, although the
kind of vegetation on which they feed is so very different. Mr.
Bell has given the name to the genus from the shortness of the
snout; indeed, the form of the mouth may almost be compared
to that of the tortoise : one is led to suppose that this is an
adaptation to their herbivorous appetites. It is very interesting
thus to find a well-characterized genus, having its marine and
terrestrial species, belonging to so confined a portion of the
world. The aquatic species is by far the most remarkable, be-
cause it is the only existing lizard which lives on marine vege-
table productions. As I at first observed, these islands are not
so remarkable for the number of the species of reptiles, as for
that of the individuals ; when we remember the well-beaten paths
made by the tliousands of huge tortoises — the many turtles — the
great warrens of the terrestrial Amblyrhynchus — and the groups
of the marine species basking on the coast-rocks of every island
— we must admit that there is no other quarter of the world
where this Order replaces the herbivorous mammalia in so extra-
ordinary a manner. The geologist on hearing this will probably
refer back in his mind to the Secondary epochs, when lizards, some
herbivorous, some carnivorous, and of dimensions comparable only
with our existing whales, swarmed on the land and in the sea. It
is, therefore, worthy of his observation, that this archipelago, in-
stead of possessing a humid climate and rank vegetation, cannot
be considered otherwise than extremely arid, and, for an equa-
torial region, remarkably temperate.
To finish with the zoology : the fifteen kinds of sea -fish which
I procured here are all new species ; they belong to twelve ge-
nera, all widely distributed, with the exception of Prionotus, of
which, the four previously known species live on the eastern si(le
of America. Of land-shells I collected sixteen kinds (and two
marked varieties), of which, with the exception of one Helix
found at Tahiti, all are peculiar to this archipelago : a single
fresh-water shell (Paludina) is common to Tahiti and Van Die-
men's Land. Mr. Cuming, before our voyage, procured here
ninety species of sea-shells, and this does not include several
1835.] DISTiaiiUTlOIN OF THE SHELLS. 3'Jl
species not yet specifically examined, of Trochus, Turbo, Mono-
donta, and Nassa. He has been kind enough to give me the
following interesting results : of the ninety shells, no less than
forty-seven are unknown elsewhere — a wonderful fact, consider-
ing how widely distributed sea-shells generally are. Of the
forty-three shells found in other parts of the world, twenty -five
inhabit the western coast of America, and of these eight are dis-
tinguishable as varieties ; the remaining eighteen (including one
variety) were found by Mr. Cuming in the Low archipelago, and
some of them also at the Philippines. This fact of shells from
islands in the central parts of the Pacific occurring here, deserves
notice, for not one single sea-shell is known to be common to
the islands of that ocean and to the west coast of America. The
space of open sea running north and south oflf the west coast,
separates two quite distinct conchological provinces ; but at the
Galapagos Archipelago we have a halting-place, where many
new forms have been created, and whither these two great concho-
logical provinces have each sent several colonists. The Ame-
rican province has also sent here representative species ; for
there is a Galapageian species of Monoceros, a genus only found
on the west coast of America ; and there are Galapageian species
of Fissurella and Cancellaria, genera common on the west coast,
but not found (as I am informed by Mr. Cuming) in the central
islands of the Pacific. On the other hand, there are Galapa-
geian species of Oniscia and Stylifer, genera common to the West
Indies and to the Chinese and Indian seas, but not found either
on the west coast of America or in the central Pacific. I may
here add, that after the comparison by Messrs. Cuming and Hinds
of about 2000 shells from the eastern and western coasts of Ame-
rica, only one single shell was found in common, namely, the
Purpura patula, which inhabits the West Indies, the coast of
Panama, and the Galapagos. We have, therefore, in this quarter
of the world, three great conchological sea-provinces, quite dis-
tinct, though surprisingly near each other, being separated by
long north and south spaces either of land or of open sea.
I took great pains in collecting the insects, but, excepting
Tierra del Fuego, I never saw in this respect so poor a country.
Even in the upper and damp region I procured very few, except-
ing some minute Diptera and Hymenoptera, mostly of common
S92 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap, xvil
mundane forms. As before remarked, the insects, for a tropical
region, are of very small size and dull colours. Of beetles I col-
lected twenty-five species (excluding a Dermestes and Corynetea
imported, wherever a ship touches) ; of these, two belong to the
Harpalidae, two to the Hydrophilidee, nine to three families of the
Heteromera, and the remaining twelve to as many different fami-
lies. This circumstance of insects (and I may add plants), where
few in number, belonging to many different families, is, I believe,
very general. Mr. Waterhouse, who has published * an account
of the insects of this archipelago, and to whom I am indebted
for the above details, informs me that there are several new
genera ; and that of the genera not new, one or two are
American, and the rest of mundane distribution. With the
exception of a wood-feeding Apate, and of one or probably two
water-beetles from the American continent, all the species appear
to be new.
The botany of this group is fully as interesting as the zoology.
Dr. J. Hooker will soon publish in the ' Linnean Transactions '
a full account of the Flora, and I am much indebted to him for
the following details. Of flowering plants there are, as far as at
present is known, 185 species, and 40 cryptogamic species, mak-
ing togetlier 225 ; of this number I was fortunate enough to bring
home 193. Of the flowering plants, 100 are new species, and
are probably confined to this archipelago. Dr. Hooker conceives
that, of the plants not so confined, at least 10 species found near
the cultivated ground at Charles Island, have been imported.
It is, I think, surprising that more American species have
not been introduced naturally, considering that the distance is
only between 500 and 600 miles from the continent ; and that
(according to Collnett, p. 58) drift-wood, bamboos, canes, and the
nuts of a palm, are often washed on the south-eastern shores.
The proportion of 100 flowering plants out of 185 (or 175 ex-
cluding the imported weeds) being new, is sufficient, I conceive,
to make the Galapagos Archipelago a distinct botanical province ;
but this Flora is not nearly so peculiar as that of St. Helena, nor,
as I am informed by Dr. Hooker, of Juan Fernandez. The pe-
culiarity of the Galapageian Flora is best shown in certain fami
* Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist,, vcl. xvi. p. 19.
1835.] DISTRIBUTION OF THE ORGANIC BEINGS. 393
lies; — thus there are 21 species of Compositae, of which 20 are
peculiar to this archipelago ; these belong to twelve genera, and
of these genera no less than ten are confined to the archi-
pelago ! Dr. Hooker informs me that the Flora has an undoubted
Western American character ; nor can he detect in it any affinity
with that of the Pacific. If, therefore, we except tlie eighteen
marine, the one fresh-water, and one land-shell, which have
apparently come here as colonists from the central islands of
the Pacific, and likewise the one distinct Pacific species of
the Galapageian group of finches, we see that this archipelago,
though standing in the Pacific Ocean, is zoologically part of
America.
If this character were owing merely to immigrants from Ame-
rica, there w^ould be little remarkable in it ; but we see that a
vast majority of all the land animals, and that more than half of
the flowering plants, are aboriginal productions. It was most
striking to be surrounded by new birds, new reptiles, new shells,
new insects, new plants, and yet by innumerable trifling details
of structure, and even by the tones of voice and plumage of the
birds, to have the temperate plains of Patagonia, or the hot dry
deserts of Northern Chile, vividly brought before my eyes.
Why, on these small points of land, which within a late geolo-
gical period must have been covered by the ocean, which are formed
of basaltic lava, and therefore differ in geological character
from the American continent, and which are placed under a pe-
culiar climate, — why were their aboriginal inhabitants, associated,
I may add, in diflferent proportions both in kind and number
from those on the continent, and therefore acting on each other
in a different manner — why were they created on American
types of organization ? It is probable that the islands of the
Cape de Verd group resemble, in all their physical conditions,
far more closely the Galapagos Islands than these latter phy-
sically resemble the coast of America ; yet the aboriginal inha-
bitants of the two groups are totally unlike ; those of the Cape de
Verd Islands bearing the impress of Africa, as the inhabitants of
the Galapagos Archipelago are stamped with that of America.
I have not as yet noticed by far the most remarkable feature
in the natural history of this archipelago ; it is, that the different
394 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap, xvii
islands to a considerable extent are inhabited by a different set
of beings. My attention was first called to this fact by the Vice-
Governor, Mr. Lawson, declaring that the tortoises differed from
the different islands, and that he could with certainty tell from
which island any one was brought I did not for some time
pay sufficient attention to this statement, and I had already par-
tially mingled together the collections from two of the islands.
I never di^amed that islands, about fifty or sixty miles apart, and
most of them in sight of each other, formed of precisely the same
rocks, placed under a quite similar climate, rising to a nearly
equal height, would have been differently tenanted ; but we shall
soon see that this is the case. It is the fate of most voyagers, no
sooner to discover what is most interesting in any locality, than
they are hurried from it ; but I ought, perhaps, to be thankful
that I obtained sufficient materials to establish this most remark-
able fact in the distribution of organic beings.
The inhabitants, as I have said, state that they can distinguish
the tortoises from the different islands ; and that they differ not
only in size, but in other characters. Captain Porter has de-
scribed * those from Charles and from the nearest island to it,
namely, Hood Island, as having their shells in front thick and
turned up like a Spanish saddle, whilst the tortoises from James
Island are rounder, blacker, and have a better taste when cooked.
M. Bibron, moreover, informs me that he has seen what he con-
siders two distinct species of tortoise from the Galapagos, but he
does not know from which islands. The specimens that I brought
from three islands were young ones ; and probably owing to this
cause, neither Mr. Gray nor myself could find in them any specific
differences. I have remarked that the marine Amblyrhynchus
was larger at Albemarle Island than elsewhere ; and M. Bibron
informs me that he has seen two distinct aquatic species of this
genus ; so that the different islands probably have their repre-
sentative species or races of the Amblyrhynchus, as well as of the
tortoise. My attention was first thoroughly aroused, by compar-
ing together the numerous specimens, shot by myself and several
other parties on board, of the mocking-thrushes, when, to my
astonishment, I discovered that all those from Charles Island
* Voyage ia the U. S ship Essex, vol. i. p. 21.5.
1835.J DISTFtlBUTION OF THE OKGANIC BEINGS. 395
belonged to one species (Miinus tiifasciatus) ; all from Albemarle
Island to M. parvulus ; and all from James and Chatham Islands
(between which two other islands are situated, as connecting
links) belonged to M. melanotis. These two latter species are
closely allied, and would by some ornithologists be considered as
only well-marlied races or varieties ; but the Mimus trifasciatus
is very distinct. Unfortunately most of the specimens of the
finch tribe were mingled together ; but I have strong reasons to
suspect that some of the species of the sub-group Geospiza are
confined to separate islands. If the different islands have their
representatives of Geospiza, it may help to explain the singularly
large number of the species of this sub-group in tliis one small
archipelago, and as a probable consequence of their numbers,
the perfectly graduated series in the size of their beaks. Two
species of the sub-group Cactornis, and two of Camarhynchus,
were procured in the archipelago ; and of the numerous speci-
mens of these two sub-groups shot by four collectors at James
Island, all were found to belong to one species of each ; whereas
the numerous specimens shot either on Chatham or Charles
Island (for the two sets were mingled together) all belonged to
the two other species : hence we may feel almost sure that these
islands possess their representative species of these two sub-groups.
In land-shells this law of distribution does not appear to hold
good. In my very small collection of insects, Mr. Waterhouse
remarks, that of those which were ticketed with their locality,
not one was common to any two of the islands.
If we now turn to the Flora, we shall find the aboriginal
plants of the different islands wonderfully different. I give all
the following results on the high authority of my friend Dr.
J. Hooker. I may premise that I indiscriminately collected
everything in flower on the diflferent islands, and fortunatelv
kept my collections separate. Too much confidence, however,
must not be placed in the proportional results, as the small col-
lections brought home by some other naturalists, though in some
respects confirming the results, plainly show that much remains
to be done in the botany of this group : the Leguminos^e, more-
over, have as yet been only approximately worked out :—
395
GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO.
CHAP. XVII
Name
of
Island.
Total
No. of
Species.
No. of
Species
found in
other parts
of the
world.
No. of
Species
confined
to the
Galapagos
Archipelago
No.
confined
to the
one
Island.
No. of Species
confined to the
Galapagos
Archipelago,
but found on
more than the
one Island.
James Island
Albemarle Island
Chatham Island.
Charles Island .
71
46
32
68
33
18
16
39
(or 29, if the
probably im-
ported plants
be subtracted)
38
26
16
29
30
22
12
21
8
4
4
8
Hence we have the truly wonderful fact, that in James Island,
of the thirty-eight Galapageian plants, or those found in no
other part of the world, thirty are exclusively confined to this
one island ; and in Albemarle Island, of the twenty-six abori-
ginal Galapageian plants, twenty-two are confined to this one
island, that is, only four are at present known to grow in the
other islands of the archipelago ; and so on, as shown in the
above table, with the plants from Chatham and Charles Islands.
This fact will, perhaps, be rendered even more striking, by
giving a few illustrations :— thus, Scalesia, a remarkable arbo-
rescent genus of the Compositae, is confined to the archipe-
lago : it has six species ; one from Chatham, one from Albe-
marle, one from Charles Island, two from James Island, and the
sixth from one of the three latter islands, but it is not known
from which : not one of these six species grows on any two
islands. Again, Euphorbia, a mundane or widely distributed
genus, has here eight species, of which seven are confined to the
archipelago, and not one found on any two islands : Acalypha
and Borreria, both mundane genera, have respectively six and
seven species, none of which have the same species on two islands,
with the exception of one Borreria, which does occur on two
islands. The species of the Compositae are particularly local ;
and Dr. Hooker }ias furnished me with several other most strik-
ing illustrations of the difference of the species on the diiferenf
I830.J DISTRIBUTION OF THE OUU AMC BEINGS. 3S7
islands. He remarks that this law of distribution holds good
both with those genera confined to the archipelago, and tliose dis-
tributed in other quarters of the world : in like manner we have
seen that the different islands have their proper species of the
mundane genus of tortoise, and of the widely distributed Ame-
rican genus of the mocking-tlirush, as well as of two of the Ga-
lapageian sub-groups of finches, and almost certainly of tlic
Galapageian genus Amblyrhynclms.
The distribution of the tenants of this archipelago would not
be nearly so wonderful, if, for instance, one island had a mock-
ing-thrush, and a second island some other quite distinct genus ;
— if one island had its genus of lizard, and a second island
another distinct genus, or none whatever ; — or if the different
islands were inhabited, not by representative species of the same
genera of plants, but by totally different genera, as does to a cer-
tain extent hold good ; for, to give one instance, a large berry-
bearing tree at James Island has no representative species in
Charles Island. But it is the circumstance, that several of the
islands possess their own species of the tortoise, mocking-thrush,
finches, and numerous plants, these species having the same
general habits, occupying analogous situations, and obviously
filling the same place in the natural economy of this archipelago,
that strikes me with wonder. It may be suspected that some of
these representative species, at least in the case of the tor-
toise and of some of the birds, may hereafter prove to be only
well-marked races; but this would be of equally great intere.'-t
to tho philosophical naturalist. I have said that most of tlie
islands are in sight of each other : I may specify that Charles
Island is fifty miles from the nearest part of Chatham Island, and
thirty-three miles from the nearest part of Albemarle Island.
Chatham Island is sixty miles from the nearest part of James
Island, but there are two intermediate islands between them
which were not visited by me. James Island is only ten miles
from the nearest part of Albemarle Island, but the two points
where the collections were made are thirty-two miles apart. I
must repeat, that neither the nature of the soil, nor height of the
land, nor the climate, nor the general character of the associated
beings, and therefore their action one on another, can differ much
in the difierent islands. If there be any sensible difference in
398 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap, xvil
their climates, it must be between the windward group (namely
Charles and Chatham Islands), and that to leeward ; but there
seems to be no corresponding difference in the productions of
these two halves of the archipelago.
The onlv ligrht which I can throw on this remarkable differ-
ence in tlie inhabitants of the different islands, is, that very strong
currents of the sea running in a westerly and W.N.W. direction
must separate, as far as transportal by the sea is concerned, the
southern islands from the northern ones ; and between these
northern islands a strong N.W. current was observed, whicli
must effectually separate James and Albemarle Islands. As the
archipelago is free to a most remarkable degree from gales of wind,
neither the birds, insects, nor lighter seeds, would be blown from
island to island. And lastly, the profound depth of the ocean
between the islands, and their apparently recent (in a geological
sense) volcanic origin, render it highly unlikely that they were
ever united ; and this, probably, is a far more important consi-
deration than any other, with respect to the geographical distri-
bution of their inhabitants. Reviewing the facts here given, one
is astonished at the amount of creative force, if such an expres-
sion may be used, displayed on these small, barren, and rocky
islands ; and still more so, at its diverse yet analogous action on
points so near each other. I have said that the Galapagos Archi-
pelago might be called a satellite attached to America, but it
should rather be called a group of satellites, physically similar,
organically distinct, yet intimately related to each other, and all
related in a marked, though much lesser degree, to the great
American continent.
I will conclude my description of the natural history of these
islands, by giving an account of the extreme tameness of the
birds.
This disposition is common to. all the terrestrial species ;
namely, to the mocking-thrushes, the finches, wrens, tyrant-fly-
catchers, the dove, and carrion-buzzard. All of them often
approached sufficiently near to be killed with a switch, and
sometimes, as I myself tried, with a cap or hat. A gun is here
almost superfluous ; for with the muzzle I pushed a hawk off the
branch of a tree. One day, whilst lying down, a mocking-
1S35.] TAMENESS OF THE BIRDS.
399
thrush alighted on the edge of a pitcher, made of the shell of
a tortoise, which I held in my hand, and began very quietly to
sip the water ; it allowed me to lift it from the ground whilst
seated on the vessel : I often tried, and very nearly succeeded, in
catching these birds by their legs. Formerly the birds appeal to
have been even tamer than at present. Cowley (in the year 1684^
says that the " Turtle-doves were so tame, that they would often
a ight upon our hats and arms, so as that we could take them
ahve : they not fearing man, until such time as some of our com-
pany did fire at them, whereby they were rendered more shy "
Dampier also, in the same year, says that a man in a morning's
walk might kill SIX or seven dozen of these doves. At present,
although certainly very tame, tJiey do not alight on people's
arms nor do they sufl^er themselves to be killed in such lar-e
numbers. It is surprising that they have not become wilder;
for these islands during the last hundred and fifty years have
been frequently visited by bucaniers and whalers ; and the sailors,
wandering through the woods in search of tortoises, always take
cruel delight in knocking down the little birds
These birds, although now still more persecuted, do not readily
become wild: in Charles Island, which had then been colonized
about SIX years, I saw a boy sitting by a well with a switch in his
hand wi h which he killed the doves and finches as they came to
drink. He had already procured a little heap of them for his
dinner; and he said that he had constantly been in the habit of
waiting by this well for the same purpose. It would appear that
the birds of tins archipelago, not having as yet learnt that man is
a more dangerous animal than the tortoise or the Amblyrhynchus
disregard him, in tiie same manner as in England shy birds, such
as magpies disregard the cows and horses grazing in our fields.
^ Ihe Falkland Islands ofl^er a second instance of birds with a
similar disposition. The extraordinary tameness of the little
Opetiorhynchus has been remarked by Pernety, Lesson, and other
voyagers. It is not, however, peculiar to that bird ; the Poly-
borus, snipe, upland and lowland goose, thrush, bunting, and
even some true hawks, are all more or less tame. As the birds
are so tame there, where foxes, hawks, and owls occur, we may
infer that the absence ot all rapacious animals at the Galapa-os
ts not the cause of their tameness here. The upland gee^ at
18
400 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [cuap. xvii.
the Falklands show, by the precaution they take in building on
the islets, that they are aware of their danger from the foxes ;
but they are not by this rendered wild towards man. This tame-
ness of the birds, especially of the waterfowl, is strongly con-
trasted with the habits of the same species in Tierra del Fuego,
where for ages past they have been persecuted by the wild inha-
bitants. In the Falklands, the sportsman may sometimes kill
more of the upland geese in one day than he can carry home ;
whereas in Tierra del Fuego, it is nearly as difficult to kill one,
as it is in England to shoot the common wild goose.
In the time of Pernety (1763), all the birds there appear to
have been much tamer than at present ; he states that the Ope-
tiorhynchus would almost perch on his finger ; and that with a
wand he killed ten in half an hour. At that period the birds
must have been about as tame, as they now are at the Galapagos.
They appear to have learnt caution more slowly at these latter
islands than at the Falklands, where they have had proportionate
means of experience ; for besides frequent visits from vessels,
those islands have been at intervals colonized during the entire
period. Even formerly, when all the birds were so tame, it was
impossible by Pernety's account to kill the black-necked swan
— a bird of passage, which probably brought with it the wisdom
learnt in foreign countries.
I may add that, according to Du Bois, all the birds at Bour-
bon in 1571-72, with the exception of the flamingoes and geese,
were so extremely tame, that they could be caught by the hand,
or killed in any number with a stick. Again, at Tristan d'A-
cunha in the Atlantic, Carmichael* states that the only two
land-birds, a thrush and a bunting, were " so tame as to suffer
themselves to be caught with a hand-net." From these several
facts we may, I think, conclude, first, that the wildness of birds
* Linn. Trans., vol. xii. p. 496. The most anomalous fact on this sub-
ject which I have met with, is the wildness of the small birds in the Arctic
parts of North America (as described by Richardson, Fauna Bor., vol. ii.
p. 332), -where they are said never to be persecuted. This case is the more
strange, because it is asserted that some of the same species in their winter-
quarters in the United States are tame. There is much, as Dr. Richardson
well remarks, utterly inexplicable connected with the different degrees of
shyness and care with which birds conceal their nests. How strange it is
that the English wood-pigeon, generally so wild a bird, should very fre-
quently rear its young in shrubberies close to houses !
1835.1 FEAR, AN ACQUIRED INSTINCT. 401
with regard to man, is a particular instinct directed against him^
and not dependent on any general degree of caution arising from
other sources of danger ; secondly, that it is not acquired by in-
dividual birds in a short time, even when much persecuted ; but
that in the course of successive generations it becomes hereditary.
"With domesticated animals we are accustomed to see new mental
habits or instincts acquired and rendered hereditary ; but with
animals in a state of nature, it must always be most difficult to
discover instances of acquired hereditary knowledge. In regard
to the wildness of birds towards man, there is no way of account-
ing for it, except as an inherited habit : comparatively few young
birds, in any one year, have been injured by man in England,
yet almost all, even nestlings, are afraid of him ; many indivi-
duals, on the other hand, both at the Galapagos and at the Falk-
lands, have been pursued and injured by man, but yet have not
learned a salutary dread of him. We may infer from these facts,
what havoc the introduction of any new beast of prey must cause
in a country, before the instincts of the indigenous inhabitants
have become adapted to the stranger's craft or power.
<02 TAHITI. [chap, xviil
CHAPTER XVIIL
TAHITI AND NEW ZEALAND.
Pass through the Low Archipelago — Tahiti — Aspect — Vegetation on the
Mountains — View of Eimeo — Excursion into the Interior — Profound
Ravines — Succession of Waterfalls — Number of wild useful Plants —
Temperance of the Inhabitants — Their moral state — Parliament convened
— New Zealand — Bay of Islands — Hippahs — Excursion to Waimate —
Missionary Establishment — English Weeds now run wild — Waiomio —
Funeral of a New Zealand Woman — Sail for Australia.
October 20th. — The survey of the Galapagos Archipelago being
concluded, we steered towards Tahiti and commenced our long
passage of 3200 miles. In the course of a few days we sailed out
of the gloomy and clouded ocean-district which extends during
the winter far from the coast of South America. We then en-
joyed bright and clear weather, while running pleasantly along
at the rate of 150 or 160 miles a day before the steady trade-
wind. The temperature in this more central part of the Pacific
is higher than near the American shore. The thermometer in
the poop cabin, by night and day, ranged between 80^ and 83°,
which feels very pleasant ; but with one degree or two higher,
the heat becomes ODoressive. "We passed through the Low or
Dangerous Archipelago, aud jsaw several of those most curious
rings of coral land, just rising above the water's edge, which have
been called Lagoon Islands. A long and brilliantly-white beach
is capped by a margin of green vegetation ; and the strip, look-
ing either way, rapidly narrows away in the distance, and sinks
beneath the horizon. From the mast-head a wide expanse of
smooth water can be seen within the ring. These low hollow
coral islands bear no proportion to the vast ocean out of which
they abruptly rise ; and it seems wonderful, that such weak in-
vaders are not overwhelmed, by the all-powerful and never-tiring
waves of that great sea, miscalled the Pacific.
November I6th. — At daylight, Tahiti, an island which must
1835.J PRODUCTIONS OF THE SOIL. 403
for ever remain classical to the voyager in the South Sea, was
in view. At a distance the appearance was not attractive. The
luxuriant vegetation of the lower part could not yet be seen, and
as the clouds rolled past, the wildest and most precipitous peaks
showed themselves towards the centre of the island. As soon as
we anchored in Matavai Bay, we were surrounded by canoes.
This was our Sunday, but the Monday of Tahiti : if the case had
been reversed, we should not have received a single visit ; for
the injunction not to launch a canoe on the sabbath is rigidly
obeyed. After dinner we landed to enjoy all the delights pro-
duced by the first impressions of a new country, and that country
the charming Tahiti. A crowd of men, women, and children,
was collected on the memorable Point Venus, ready to receive
us with laughing, merry faces. They marshalled us towards the
house of Mr. Wilson, the missionary of the district, who met us
on the road, and gave us a very friendly reception. After sitting
a short time in his house, we separated to walk about, but re-
turned there in the evening.
The land capable of cultivation, is scarcely in any part more
than a fringe of low alluvial soil, accumulated round the base of the
mountains, and protected from the waves of the sea by a coral reef,
which encircles the entire line of coast. Within the reef there is an
expanse of smooth water, like that of a lake, where the canoes of
the natives can ply with safety and where ships anchor. The low
land which comes down to the beach of coral-sand, is covered by
the most beautiful productions of the intertropical regions. In the
midst of bananas, orange, cocoa-nut, and bread-fruit trees, spots
are cleared where yams, sweet potatoes, the sugar-cane, and pine-
apples, are cultivated. Even the brushwood is an imported fruit-
tree, namely, the guava, which from its abundance has become
as noxious as a weed. In Brazil I have often admired the varied
beauty of the bananas, palms, and orange-trees contrasted toge-
ther ; and here we also have the bread-fruit, conspicuous from
its large, glossy, and deeply digitated leaf. It is admirable to
behold groves of a tree, sending forth its branches with the vigour
of an English oak, loaded with large and most nutritious fruit.
However seldom the usefulness of an object can account for the
pleasure of beholding it, in the case of these beautiful woods, the
knowledge of their high productiveness no doubt entertj largely
404 TAHITI. [cuAP. XVIII.
into the feeling of admiration. The little winding paths, cool
from the surrounding shade, led to the scattered houses ; the
owners of which every where gave us a cheerful and most hos-
pitable reception.
I was pleased with nothing so much as with the inhabitants.
There is a mildness in the expression of their countenances
which at once banishes the idea of a savage ; and an intelligence
which shows tliat they are advancing in civilization. The com-
mon people, when working, keep the upper part of their bodies
quite naked ; and it is then that the Tahitians are seen to advan-
tage. They are very tall, broad-shouldered, athletic, and well-
proportioned. It has been remarked, that it requires little habit
to make a dark skin more pleasing and natural to the eye of an
European than his own colour. A white man bathing by the
side of aTahitian, was like a plant bleached by the gardener's art
compared with a fine dark green one growing vigorously in the
open fields. Most of the men are tattooed, and the ornaments
follow the curvature of the body so gracefully, that they have a
very elegant eflfect. One common pattern, varying in its details,
is somewhat like the crown of a palm-tree. It springs from the
central line of the back, and gracefully curls round both sides.
The simile may be a fanciful one, but I thought the body of a
man thus ornamented was like the trunk of a ooble tree embraced
by a delicate creeper.
Many of the elder people had their feet covered with small
figures, so placed as to resemble a sock. This fashion, however,
is partly gone by, and has been succeeded by others. Here, al-
though fashion is far from immutable, every one must abide by
that prevailing in his youth. An old man has thus his age for
ever stamped on his body, and he cannot assume the airs of a
young dandy. The women are tattooed in the same manner as
the men, and very commonly on their fingers. One unbecoming
fashion is now almost universal : namely, shaving the hair from
the upper part of the head, in a circular form, so as to leave
only an outer ring. The missionaries have tried to persuade the
people to change this habit ; but it is the fashion, and that is a
sufiicient answer at Tahiti, as well as at Paris. I was much dis-
appointed in the personal appearance of the women : they are far
inferior in every respect to the men. The custom of wearing a
1835.] WEALTH OF THE CHIEFS. 405
white or scarlet flower in the back of the head, or through a
small hole in each ear, is pretty. A crown of woven cocoa-nut
leaves is also worn as a shade for the eyes. The women appear
to be in greater want of some becoming costume even than the
men.
Nearly all the natives understand a little English — that is,
they know the names of common things ; and by the aid of this,
together with signs, a lame sort of conversation could be carried
on. In returning in the evening to the boat, we stopped to wit-
ness a very pretty scene. Numbers of children were playing on
the beach, and had lighted bonfires which illumined the placid
sea and surrounding trees ; others, in circles, were singing
Tahitian verses. We seated ourselves on the sand, and joined
their party. The songs were impromptu, and I believe relatefl
to our arrival : one little girl sang a line, which the rest took up
in parts, forming a very pretty chorus. The whole scene made
us unequivocally aware that we were seated on the shores of an
island in the far-famed South Sea.
Vith. — This day is reckoned in the log-book as Tuesday the
17th, instead of Monday the 16th, owing to our, so far, success-
ful chase of the sun. Before breakfast the ship was hemmed in
by a flotilla of canoes ; and \vhen the natives were allowed to
come on board, I suppose there could not have been less than two
hundred. It was the opinion of every one that it would have
been difficult to have picked out an equal number from any other
nation, who would have given so little trouble. Everybody
brougcht something- for sale : shells were the main article of
trade. The Tahitians now fully understand the value of money,
and prefer it to old clothes or other articles. The various coins,
however, of English and Spanish denomination puzzle them, and
they never seemed to think the small silver quite secure until
chansred into dollars. Some of the chiefs have accumulated
considerable sums of money. One chief, not long since, offered
800 dollars (about 160/. sterling) for a small vessel ; and fre-
quently they purchase whale-boats and horses at the rate of from
oO to 100 dollars.
After breakfast I went on shore, and ascended the nearest
slope to a height of between two and three thousand feet. The
outer mountams are smooth and conical, but steep ; and the old
106 TAHITI. , [chap. xvm.
volcanic rocks, of which they are formed, have been cut through
by many profound ravines, diverging from the central broken
parts of the island to the coast. Having crossed the narrow low
girt of inhabited and fertile land, I followed a smooth steep ridge
between two of the deep ravines. The vegetation was singular,
consisting almost exclusively of small dwarf ferns, mingled,
higher up, with coarse grass ; it was not very dissimilar from
that on some of the Welsh hills, and this so close above the
orchard of tropical plants on the coast was very surprising. At
the highest point, which I reached, trees again appeared. Of
the three zones of comparative luxuriance, the lower one owes
its moisture, and therefore fertility, to its flatness ; for, being
scarcely raised above the level of the sea, the water from the
higher land drains away slowly. The intermediate zone does
not, like the upper one, reach into a damp and cloudy atmos-
phere, and therefore remains sterile. The woods in the upper
zone are very pretty, tree-ferns replacing the cocoa-nuts on the
coast. It must not, however, be supposed that these woods at
all equal in splendour the forests of Brazil. The vast number ot
productions, which characterize a continent, cannot be expected
to occur in an island.
From the highest point which I attained, tliere was a good
view of the distant island of Eimeo, dependent on the same sove-
reign with Tahiti. On the lofty and broken pinnacles, white
massive cloads were piled up, which formed an island in the
blue sky, as Eimeo itself did in the blue ocean. The island,
with the exception of one small gateway, is completely encircled
by a reef. At this distance, a narrow but well-defined brilliantly
white line was alone visible, where the waves first encountered
the wall of coral. The mountains rose abruptly out of the glassy
expanse of the lagoon, included within this narrow white line,
outside which the heaving waters of the ocean were dark-
coloured. The view was striking : it may aptly be compared to
a framed engraving, where the frame represents the breakers,
the marginal paper the smooth lagoon, and the drawing the
island itself. When in the evening I descended from the moun-
tain, a man, whom I had pleased with a trifling gift, met me,
bringing with him hot roasted bananas, a pine-apple, and cocoa-
nuts. After walking under a burning sun, I do not know any-
1835.] EXCURSION IN THE MOUNTAINS. 407
thing more delicious than the milk of a young cocoa-nut. Pine-
apples are here so abundant that the people eat them in the same
wasteful manner as we might turnips. They are of an excellent
flavour— perhaps even better than those cultivated in England ;
and this I believe is the highest compliment which can be paid
to any fruit. Before going on board, Mr. Wilson interpreted
for me to the Tahitian who had paid me so adroit an attention,
that I wanted him and another man to accompany me on a short
excursion into the mountains.
I8th.~ln the morning I came on shore early, bringino- with
me some provisions in a bag, and two blankets for myself and
servant. These were lashed to each end of a long pole, which
was alternately carried by my Tahitian companions on their
shoulders. These men are accustomed thus to carry, for a whole
day, as much as fifty pounds at each end of their poles. I told
my guides to provide themselves with food and clothing ; but
they said that there was plenty of food in the mountains,
and for clothing, that their skins were sufficient. Our lir.e
of march was the valley of Tia-auru, down which a river flows
into the sea by Point Yenus. This is one of the principal
streams in the island, and its source lies at the base of the loftiest
central pinnacles, which rise to a height of about 7000 feet. The
whole island is so mountainous that the only way to penetrate
into the interior is to follow up the valleys. Our road, at first,
lay through woods which bordered each side of the river ; and
the glimpses of the lofty central peaks, seen as through an avenue,
with here and there a waving cocoa-nut tree on one side, were
extremely picturesque. The valley soon began to narrow, and
the sides to grow lofty and more precipitous. After having
walked between three and four hours, we found the width of the
ravine scarcely exceeded that of the bed of the stream. On each
hand the walls were nearly vertical ; yet from the soft nature of
the volcanic strata, trees and a rank vegetation sprung from
every projecting ledge. These precipices must have been some
thousand feet high ; and the whole formed a mountain gorge far
more magnificent than anything which I had ever before beheld.
Until the mid-day sun stood vertically over the ravine, the air
felt cool and damp, but now it became very sultry. Shaded by
a ledge of rock, beneath a fli^ade of columnar lava, we ate our
408 TAHITI. [CHAP, xviii
dinner. My guides had already procured a dish of small fish
and fresh-water prawns. They carried with them a small net
stretched on a hoop ; and where the water was deep and in eddies,
they dived, and like otters, with their eyes open followed the fish
into holes and corners, and thus caught them.
The Tahitians have the dexterity of amphibious animals in the
water. An anecdote mentioned by Ellis shows how much they
feel at home in this element. When a horse was landing for
Pomarre in 1817, the slings broke, and it fell into the water;
immediately the natives jumped overboard, and by their cries
and vain efiforts at assistance almost drowned it. As soon, how-
ever, as it reached the shore, the whole population took to flight,
and tried to hide themselves from the man-carr}dng pig, as they
christened the horse.
A little higher up, the river divided itself into three little
streams. The two northern ones were impracticable, owing to a
succession of waterfalls which descended from the jagged summit
of the highest mountain ; the other to all appearance was equally
inaccessible, but we managed to ascend it by a most extraordinary
road. The sides of the valley were here nearly precipitous ; but,
as frequently happens with stratified rocks, small ledges pro-
jected, which were thickly covered by wild bananas, liliaceous
plants, and other luxuriant productions of the tropics. The
Tahitians, by climbing amongst these ledges, searching for fruit,
had discovered a track by which the whole precipice could be
scaled. Tlie first ascent from the valley was very dangerous ;
for it was necessary to pass a steeply-inclined face of naked rock,
by the aid of ropes which we brought with us. How any person
discovered that this formidable spot was the only point where
the side of the mountain was practicable, I cannot imagine.
We then cautiously walked along one of the ledges till we came
to one of the three streams. This ledge formed a flat spot,
above which a beautiful cascade, some hundred feet in height,
poured down its waters, and beneath, another high cascade fell
into the main stream in the valley below. P>om this cool and
shady recess we made a circuit to avoid the overhanging waterfall.
As before, we followed little projecting ledges, the danger being
partly concealed by the thickness of the vegetation. In passing
from one of the ledges to another, there was a vertical wall o<
1835.] MODE OF PK^DUCING FIRE. 409
rock. One of the Tahitians, a fine active man, placed the trunk
of a tree against this, climbed up it, and then by the aid of
crevices reached the summit. He fixed the ropes to a projecting-
point, and lowered them for our dog and luggage, and then
we clambered up ourselves. Beneath the ledge on which
the dead tree was placed, the precipice must have been five
or six hundred feet deep ; and if the abyss had not been partly
concealed by the overhanging ferns and lilies, my head would
have turned giddy, and nothing should have induced me to have
attempted it. We continued to ascend, sometimes along ledges,
and sometimes along knife-edged ridges, having on each hand
profound ravines. Li the Cordillera I have seen mountains on
a far grander scale, but for abruptness, nothing at all comparable
with this. In the evening we reached a flat little spot on the
banks of the same stream, which we had continued to follow,
and which descends in a chain of waterfalls : here we bivouacked
for the night. On each side of the ravine there were great beds
of the mountain-banana, covered with ripe fruit. Many of these
plants were from twenty to twenty-five feet high, and from three
to four in circumference. By the aid of strips of bark for rope,
the stems of bamboos for rafters, and the large leaf of the banana
for a thatch, the Tahitians in a few minutes built us an excellent
house ; and with withered leaves made a soft bed.
They then proceeded to make a fire, and cook our evening
meal. A light was procured, by rubbing a blunt-pointed stick
in a groove made in another, as if with intention of deepening
it, until by the friction the dust became ignited. A peculiarly
white and very light wood (the Hibiscus tiliacetis) is alone used
for this purpose : it is the same which serves for poles to carry
any burden, and for the floating outriggers to their canoes. The
fire was produced in a few seconds : but to a person who does
not understand the art, it requires, as I found, the greatest exer-
tion ; but at last, to my great pride, I succeeded in igniting the
dust. The Gaucho in the Pampas uses a different method :
taking an elastic stick about eighteen inches long, he presses one
end on his breast, and the other pointed end into a hole in a piece
of wood, and then rapidly turns the curved part, like a car-
penter's centre-bit. The Tahitians having made a small fire of
sticks, placed a score of stones, of about the size of cricket-balls,
HU TAHITI. ' [chap, xviir.
on the burning wood. In about ten minutes the sticks were
consumed, and tlie stones hot. They had previously folded up
in small parcels of leaves, pieces of beef, fish, ripe and unripe
bananas, and the tops of the wild arum. These green parcels
were laid in a layer between two layers of the hot stones, and
the whole then covered up with earth, so that no smoke or steam
could escape. In about a quarter of an hour, the whole was
most deliciously cooked. The choice green parcels were now
laid on a cloth of banana leaves, and with a cocoa-nut shell we
drank the cool water of the running stream ; and thus we enjoyed
our rustic meal.
I could not look on the surrounding plants without admira-
tion. On every side were forests of banana; the fruit of which,
though serving for food in various ways, lay in heaps decaying
on the ground. In front of us there was an extensive brake of
wild sugar-cane ; and the stream was shaded by the dark green
knotted stem of the Ava,— so famous in former days for its
powerful intoxicating effects. I chewed a piece, and found that
it had an acrid and unpleasant taste, which would have induced
any one at once to have pronounced it poisonous. Thanks to
the missionaries, this plant now thrives only in these deep ra-
vines, innocuous to every one. Close by I saw the wild arum,
the roots of which, when well baked, are good to eat, and the
young leaves better than spinach. There was the wild yam, and
a liliaceous plant called Ti, which grows in abundance, and has a
soft brown root, in shape and size like a huge log of wood : this
served us for dessert, for it is as sweet as treacle, and with a
pleasant taste. There were, moreover, several other wild fruits,
and useful vegetables. The little stream, besides its cool water,
produced eels and cray-fish. I did indeed admire this scene,
when I compared it with an uncultivated one in the temperate
zones. I felt the force of the remark, that man, at least savage
man, with his reasoning powers only partly developed, is tJie
child of the tropics.
As the evening drew to a close, I strolled beneath the gloomy
shade of the bananas up the course of the stream. My walk w as
soon brought to a close, by coming to a waterfall between two
and three hundred feet high; and again above this there was
another. I mention all these waterfalls in this one brook, to
1835.] TEMl'EKANCE OF THE NvXTIVES. 411
give a general idea of the inclination of the land. In the little
recess w here the water fell, it did not appear that a breath of
wind had ever blown. The thin edges of the great leaves of the
banana, damp with spray, were unbroken, instead of being, as is
so generally the case, split into a thousand shreds. From our
position, almost suspended on the mountain-side, there were
glimpses into the depths of the neighbouring valleys ; and the
lofty points of the central mountains, towering up within sixty
degrees of the zenith, hid half the evening sky. Thus seated,
it was a sublime spectacle to watch the shades of night gradually
obscuring the last and highest pinnacles.
Before we laid ourselves down to sleep, the elder Tahitian
fell on his knees, and with closed eyes repeated a long prayer in
his native tongue. He prayed as a Christian should do, with
fitting reverence, and without the fear of ridicule or any osten-
tation of piety. At our meals neither of the men would taste
food, without saying beforehand a short grace. Those travellers
who think that a Tahitian prays only when the eyes of the mis-
sionary are fixed on him, should have slept with us that night on
tlie mountain-side. Before morning it rained very heavily ; but
the good thatch of banana- leaves kept us dry.
November \9th.—At daylight my friends, after their morning
prayer, prepared an excellent breakfast in the same manner
as in the evening. They themselves certainly partook of it
largely ; indeed I never saw any men eat near so much. I sup-
pose such enormously capacious stomachs must be the effect of a
large part of their diet consisting of fruit and vegetables, which
contain, in a given bulk, a comparatively small portion of nutri-
ment. Unwittingly, I was the means of my companions break-
ino-, as I afterwards learned, one of their own laws and resolu-
tions : I took with me a flask of spirits, which they could not
refuse to partake of; but as often as they drank a little, they put
their fingers before their mouths, and uttered the word " Mis-
sionary." About two years ago, although the use of the ava
was prevented, drunkenness from the introduction of spirits be-
came very prevalent. The missionaries prevailed on a few good
men, who saw that their country was rapidly going to ruin, to
,oin with them in a Temperance Society. From good sense or
shame, all the chiefs and the queen were at last persuaded to
412 TAHITI, [chap, xviii.
join. Immediately a law was passed, that no spirits should be
allowed to be introduced into the island, and that he who sold
and he who bought the forbidden article should be punished by
a fine. With remarkable justice, a certain period was allowed
for stock in hand to be sold, before the law came into effect.
But when it did, a general search was made, in which even the
houses of the missionaries were not exempted, and all the ava
(as the natives call all ardent spirits) was poured on the ground.
When one reflects on the effect of intemperance on the aborigines
of the two Americas, I think it will be acknowledged that every
well-wisher of Tahiti owes no common debt of gratitude to the
missionaries. As long as the little island of St. Helena remained
under the government of the East India Company, spirits, owing
to the great injury they had produced, were not allowed to be
imported ; but wine was supplied from the Cape of Good Hope.
It is rather a striking, and not very gratifying fact, that in the
same year that spirits were allowed to be sold in St. Helena,
their use was banished fioni Tahiti by the free will of the
people.
After breakfast we proceeded on our journey. As my object
was merely to see a little of the interior scenery, we returned
by another track, which descended into the main valley lower
down. For some distance we wound, by a most intricate path,
along the side of the mountain which formed the valley. In the
less precipitous parts we passed through extensive groves of the
wild banana. The Tahitians, with their naked, tattooed bodies,
their heads ornamented with flowers, and seen in the dark shade
of these groves, would have formed a fine picture of man inhabit-
ing some primeval land. In our descent we followed the lin^
of ridges ; these were exceedingly narrow, and for considerable
lengths steep as a ladder ; but all clothed with vegetation. The
extreme care necessary in poising each step rendered the walk
fatiguing. I did not cease to wonder at these ravines and pre-
cipices : when viewing the country from one of the knife-edged
ridges, the point of support was so small, that the effect was
nearly the same as it must be from a balloon. In this descent
we had occasion to use the ropes only once, at the point where
we entered the main valley. We slept under the same ledge of
rock where we had dined the day before : the night was fine,
1835.] CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 413
but from the depth and narrowness of the gorge, profoundly
dark.
Before actually seeing this country, I found it difficult to un-
derstand two facts mentioned by Ellis ; namely, tliat after the
murderous battles of former times, the survivors on the con^
quered side retired into the mountains, where a handful of men
could resist a multitude. Certainly half-a-dozen men, at the
spot where the Tahitian reared the old tree, could easily have
repulsed thousands. Secondly, that after the introduction of
Christianity, there were wild men who lived in the mountains,
and whose retreats were unknown to the more civilized inha-
bitants.
November 20th. — In the morning we started early, and
reached Matavai at noon. On the road we met a large party of
noble athletic men, going for wild bananas. I found that the
ship, on account of the difficulty in watering, had moved to the
harbour of Papawa, to which place I immediately walked. This
is a very pretty spot. The cove is surrounded by reefs, and the
water as smooth as in a lake. The cultivated ground, with its
beautiful productions, interspersed with cottages, comes close
down to the water's edge.
From the varying accounts which I had read before reaching
these islands, I was very anxious to form, from my own observa-
tion, a judgment of their moral state, — although such judgment
would necessarily be very imperfect. First impressions at all
times very much depend on one's previously-acquired ideas. My
notions were drawn from Ellis's ' Polynesian Kesearches' — an
admirable and most interesting work, but naturally looking at
every thing under a favourable point of view ; from Beechey's
Voyage ; and from that of Kotzebue, which is strongly adverse
to the whole missionary system. He who compares these three
accounts will, I think, form a tolerably accurate conception of
the present state of Tahiti. One of my impressions, which I
took from the two last authorities, was decidedly incorrect ; viz.,
that the Tahitians had become a gloomy race, and lived in fear
of the missionaries. Of the latter feeling I saw no trace, unless,
indeed, fear and respect be confounded under one name. Instead
of discontent being a common feeling, it would be difficult in
Europe to pick out of a crowd half so many merry and happy
414 TAHITI. [chap, xviil
faces. The prohibition of the flute and dancing is inveighed
against as wrong and foolish ; — the more than presbyterian man-
ner of keeping the sabbath is looked at in a similar light. On
these points I will not pretend to offer any opinion, in opposition
to men who have resided as many years as I was days on tlie
island.
On the whole, it appears to me that the morality and religion
of the inhabitants are highly creditable. There are many who
attack, even more acrimoniously than Kotzebue, both the mis-
sionaries, their system, and the effects produced by it. Such
reasoners never compare the present state with that of the island
only twenty years ago ; nor even with that of Europe at this
day ; but they compare it with the high standard of Gospel per-
fection. They expect the missionaries to effect that which the
Apostles themselves failed to do. In as much as the condition
of the people falls short of this high standard, blame is attached
to the missionary, instead of credit for that which he has effected.
They forget, or will not remember, that human sacrifices, and
the power of an idolatrous priesthood — a system of profligacy
unparalleled in any other part of the world — infanticide a conse-
quence of that system — bloody wars, v/here the conquerors
spared neither women nor children — that all these have been
abolished ; and that dishonesty, intemperance, and licentiousness
have been greatly reduced by the introduction of Christianity.
In a voyager to forget these things is base ingratitude ; for
should he chance to be at the point of shipwreck on some un-
known coast, he will most devoutly pray that the lesson of the
missionary may have extended thus far.
In point of morality, the virtue of the women, it has been often
said, is most open to exception. But before they are blamed too
severely, it will be well distinctly to call to mind the scenes de-
scribed by Captain Cook and Mr. Banks, in which the grand-
mothers and mothers of the present race played a part. Those
who are most severe, should consider how much of the morality
of the women in Europe, is owing to the system early impressea
by mothers on their daughters, and how much in each individual
case to the precepts of religion. But it is useless to argue against
such reasoners ; — I believe that, disappointed in not finding the
field of licentiousness quite so open as formerly, they will not
;835.j TAHITI AN PARLIAMENT. 415
give credit to a morality which they do not wish to practise, oi
to a religion which they undervalue, if not despise.
Sunday, 22nd. — The harbour of Papiete, where the queen
resides, may be considered as the capital of the island : it is also
the seat of government, and the chief resort of shipping. Cap-
tain Fitz Roy took a party there this day to hear divine service,
first in the Tahitian language, and afterwards in our own. Mr.
Pritchard, the leading missionary in the island, performed the
service. The chapel consisted of a large airy framework of
wood ; and it was filled to excess by tidy, clean people, of all
ages and both sexes. I was rather disappointed in the apparent
degree of attention ; but I believe my expectations w ere raised
too high. At all events the appearance was quite equal to that
in a country church in England. The singing of the hymns was
decidedly very pleasing ; but the language from the pulpit, al-
though fluently delivered, did not sound well : a constant repe-
tition of words, like " tata ta, mata mai" rendered it monoto-
nous. After English service, a party returned on foot to Ma-
ta vai. It was a pleasant walk, sometimes along the sea-beach
and sometimes under the shade of the many beautiful trees.
About two years ago, a small vessel under English colours
was plundered by some of the inhabitants of the Low Islands,
which w^ere then under the dominion of the Queen of Tahiti. It
was believed that the perpetrators w^ere instigated to this act by
some indiscreet laws issued by her majesty. The British govern-
ment demanded compensation ; which was acceded to, and a sum
of nearly three thousand dollars was agreed to be paid on the
first of last September. The Commodore at Lima ordered Cap-
tain Fitz Roy to inquire concerning this debt, and to demand
satisfaction if it were not paid. Captain Fitz Roy accordingly
requested an interview with the Queen Pomarre, since famous
from the ill-treatment she has received from the French ; and a
parliament was held to consider the question, at which all the
principal chiefs of the island, and the queen, were assembled. I
will not attempt to describe what took place, after the interesting
account given by Captain Fitz Roy. The money, it appeared,
had not been paid ; perhaps the alleged reasons were rather equi-
vocal ; but otherwise I cannot sufficiently express our general
surprise at the extreme good sense, the reasoning powers, mode-
il6 TAHITI. I CHAP. XVIII.
ration, candour, and prompt resolution, which were displayed on
all sides. I believe we all left the meeting with a very different
opinion of the Tahitians, from what we entertained when we
entered. The chiefs and people resolved to subscribe and com-
plete the sum which was wanting ; Captain Fitz Roy urged that
it was hard that their private property should be sacrificed for
the crimes of distant islanders. They replied, that they were
grateful for his consideration, but that Poraarre was their Queen,
and that they were determined to help her in this her difficulty.
This resolution and its prompt execution, for a book was opened
early the next morning, made a perfect conclusion to this very
remarkable scene of loyalty and good feeling.
After the main discussion was ended, several of the chiefs took
the opportunity of asking Captain Fitz Roy many intelligent
questions on international customs and laws, relating to the treat-
ment of ships and foreigners. On some points, as soon as the
decision was made, the law was issued verbally on the spot. This
Tahitian parliament lasted for several hours ; and when it was
over Captain Fitz Roy invited Queen Pomarre to pay the Beagle
a visit.
November 25th. — In tlie evening four boats were sent for her
majesty ; the ship was dressed with flags, and the yards manned
on her coming on board. She was accompanied by most of the
chiefs. The behaviour of all was very proper : they begged for
nothing, and seemed much pleased with Captain Fitz Roy's pre-
sents. The Queen is a large awkward woman, without any
beauty, grace, or dignity. She has only one royal attribute : a
perfect immoveability of expression under all circumstances, and
that rather a sullen one. The rockets v/ere most admired ; and
a deep " Oh ! " could be heard from the shore, all round the dark
bay, after each explosion. The sailors' songs were also much
admired ; and the queen said she thought that one of the most
boisterous ones certainly could not be a hymn ! The royal party
did not return on shore till past midnight.
26th. — In the evening, with a gentle land-breeze, a course
was steered for New Zealand ; and as the sun set, we had a fare-
well view of tlie mountains of Tahiti — the island to which evei^
voyager has offered up his tribute of admiration.
ISKS.J BAY OF ISLANDS. 417
~ — December V^tU. — In the evening we saw in the distance New
Zealand. We may now consider that we have nearly crossed
the Pacific. It is necessary to sail over this great ocean to com-
prehend its immensity. Moving quickly onwards for weeks to-
gether, we meet with nothing but the same blue, profoundly deep,
ocean. Even within the archipelagoes, the islands are mere
specks, and far distant one from the other. Accustomed to look
at maps drawn on a small scale, where dots, shading, and names
are crowded together, we do not rightly judge how infinitely
small the proportion of dry land is to the water of this vast ex-
panse. The meridian of the Antipodes has likewise been passed;
and now every league, it made us happy to think, was one league
nearer to England. These Antipodes call to one's mind old
recollections of childish doubt and wonder. Only the other day I
looked forward to this airy barrier as a definite point in our voy-
age homewards ; but now I find it, and all such resting-places
for the imagination, are like shadows, which a man moving on-
wards cannot catch. A gale of wind lasting for some days, has
lately given us full leisure to measure the future stages in our long
homeward voyage, and to wish most earnestly for its termination.
December 2\st. — Early in the morning we entered the Bay of
Islands, and being becalmed for some hours near the mouth, we
did not reach the anchorage till the middle of the day. The
country is hilly, with a smooth outline, and is deeply intersected
by numerous arms of the sea extending from the bay. The sur-
face appears from a distance as if clothed with coarse pasture,
but this in truth is nothing but fern. On the more distant hills,
as -well as in parts of the valleys, there is a good deal of wood-
land. The general tint of the landscape is not a bright green ;
and it resembles the country a short distance to the south of
Concepcion in Chile. In several parts of the bay, little villages
of square tidy-looking houses are scattered close down to the
water's edge. Three whaling-ships were lying at anchor, and a
canoe every now and then crossed from shore to shore ; with these
exceptions, an air of extreme quietness reigned over the whole
district. Only a single canoe came alongside. This, and the
aspect of the whole scene, afforded a remarkable, and not very
pleasing contrast, with our joyful and boisterous welcome a*
Tahiti.
418 NEW ZEALAND. [chap, xvni.
In the afternoon we went on shore to one of the larger groups
of houses, which yet hardly deserves the title of a village. Its
name is Pahia : it is the residence of the missionaries ; and there
are no native residents except servants and labourers. In the
vicinity of the Bay of Islands, the number of Englishmen, in-
cluding: their families, amounts to between two and three hun-
dred. All the cottages, many of which are white-washed and
look very neat, are the property of the English. The hovels
of the natives are so diminutive and paltry, that they can scarcely
be perceived from a distance. At Pahia, it was quite pleasing
to behold the English flowers in the gardens before the houses ;
there were roses of several kinds, honeysuckle, jasmine, stocks,
and whole hedges of sweetbriar.
December 22nd. — In the morning I went out walking ; but I
soon found that the country was very impracticable. All the
hills are thickly covered with tall fern, together with a low bush
which grows like a cypress ; and very little ground has been
cleared or cultivated. I then tried the sea-beach ; but proceed-
ing towards either hai?d, my walk was soon stopped by salt-
water creeks and deep brooks. The communication between the
inhabitants of the different parts of the bay, is (as in Chiloe)
almost entirely kept up by boats. I was surprised to find that
almost every hill which T ascended, had been at some former time
more or less fortified. The summits were cut into steps or suc-
cessive terraces, and frequently they had been protected by deep
trenches. I afterwards observed that the principal hills inland
in like manner showed an artificial outline. These are the Pas,
so frequently mentioned by Captain Cook under the name of
" hippah ;" the difference of sound being owing to the prefixed
article.
That the Pas had formerly been much used, was evident from
the piles of shells, and the pits in which, as I was informed, sweet
potatoes used to be kept as a reserve. As there was no w^ater on
these hills, the defenders could never have anticipated a long
siege, but only a hurried attack for plunder, against which the
successive terraces w^ould have afforded good protection. The
general introduction of fire-arms has changed the whole system
of warfare ; and an exposed situation on the top of a hill is now
worse than useless. The Pas in consequence are, at the present
1835.1 NEW ZEALAND. 419
day, always built on a level piece of ground. They consist of a
double stockade of thick and tall posts, placed in a zigzag line,
so that every part can be flanked. Within the stockade a mound
of earth is thrown up, behind which the defenders can rest in
safety, or use their fire-arms over it. On the level of the ground
little archways sometimes pass through this breastwork, by which
means the defenders can crawl out to the stockade to reconnoitre
their enemies. The Rev. W. Williams, who gave me this ac-
count, added, that in one Pas he had noticed spurs or buttresses
projecting on the inner and protected side of the mound of earth.
On asking the chief the use of them, he replied, that if two or
three of his men were shot, their neighbours would not see the
bodies, and so be discouraged.
These Pas are considered by the New Zealanders as very per-
fect means of defence : for the attacking force is never so well
disciplined as to rush in a body to the stockade, cut it down, and
effect their entry. When a tribe goes to war, the chief cannot
order one party to go here and another there ; but every man
fights in the manner which best pleases himself; and to each
separate individual to approach a stockade defended by fire-arms
must appear certain death. I should think a more warlike race
of inhabitants could not be found in any part of the world than
the New Zealanders. Their conduct on first seeing a ship, as
described by Captain Cook, strongly illustrates this : the act of
throwing volleys of stones at so great and novel an object, and
their defiance of " Come on shore and we will kill and eat you
all," shows uncommon boldness. This warlike spirit is evident
in many of their customs, and even in their smallest actions. If
a New Zealander is struck, although but in joke, the blow must
be returned ; and of this I saw an instance with one of our
officers.
At the present davjfrom the progress of civilization,there is much
less warfare, except among some of the southern tribes. I heard a
characteristic anecdote of what took place some time ago in the
south. A missionary found a chief and his tribe in preparation
for war ;— their muskets clean and bright, and their ammunition
ready. He reasoned long on the inutility of the war, and the
little provocation which had been given for it. The chief was much
shaken in his resolution, and seemed in doubt : but at length it
420 NEW ZEALAND. [jhap. xnn.
occurred to him that a barrel of his gunpowder was in a bad
state, and that it would not keep much longer. This was brought
forward as an unanswerable argument for the necessity of imme-
diately declaring war : the idea of allowing so much good gun-
powder to spoil was not to be thought of; and this settled the
point. I was told by the missionaries that in the life of Shongi,
the chief who visited England, the love of war was the one and
lasting spring of every action. The tribe in which he was a prin-
cipal chief, had at one time been much oppressed by another tribe,
from the Thames River. A solemn oath was taken by the men,
that when their boys should grow up, and they should be power-
ful enough, they would never forget or forgive these injurie.s.
To fulfil this oath appears to have been Shongi's chief motive for
going to England ; and when there it was his sole object. Pre-
sents were valued only as they could be converted into arms ; of
the arts, those alone interested him which were connected with
the manufacture of arms. Wheii at Sydney, Shongi, by a strange
coincidence, met the hostile chief of the Thames River at the
house of Mr. Marsden : their conduct was civil to each other ;
but Shongi told him that when again in New Zealand he would
never cease to carry war into his country. The challenge was
accepted ; and Shongi on his return fulfilled the threat to the
utmost letter. The tribe on the Thames River was utterly over-
thrown, and the chief to whom the challenge had been given was
himself killed. Shongi, although harbouring such deep feelings
of liatred and revenge, is described as having been a goodnatured
person.
In the evening I went with Captain Fitz Roy and Mr. Baker,
one of the missionaries, to pay a visit to Kororadika : we wan-
dered about the village, and saw and conversed with many of the
people, both men, women, and children. Looking at the New
Zealander, one naturally compares him with the Tahitian ; both
belonging to the same family of mankind. The comparison,
however, tells heavily against the New Zealander. He may,
perhaps, be superior in energy, but in every other respect his
character is of a much lower order. One glance at their respec-
tive expressions, brings conviction to the mind that one is a
Bavage, the other a civilized man. It would be vain to seek in
tlie whole of New Zealand a person with the face and mien of
1835.] EXCURSION TO WAIMATE. 481
the old Tahitian chief Utamnie. No doubt the extraordinary
manner in which tattooing is here practised, gives a disagreeable
expression to their countenances. The complicated but symme-
trical figures covering the whole flice, puzzle and mislead an
unaccustomed eye : it is moreover probable, that the deep inci-
sions, by destroying the play of the superficial muscles, give an
air of rigid inflexibility. But, besides this, there is a twinkling
in the eye, which cannot indicate any thing but cunning and
ferocity. Their figures are tall and bulky ; but not comparable
in elegance with those of the working-classes in Tahiti.
Both their persons and houses are filthily dirty and offensive :
the idea of washing either their bodies or their clothes never
seems to enter their heads. I saw a chief, who was wearing a
shirt black and matted with filth, and when asked how it came
to be so dirty, he replied, with surprise, " Do not you see it is
an old one ?" Some of the men have shirts ; but the common
dress is one or two large blankets, generally black with dirt,
which are thrown over their shoulders in a very inconvenient and
awkward fashion. A few of the principal chiefs have decent suits
of English clothes ; but these are only worn on great occasions.
December 2Srd. — At a place called Waimate, about fifteen
miles from the Bay of Islands, and midway between the eastern
and western coasts, the missionaries have purchased some land
for agricultural purposes. I had been introduced to the Rev
W. Williams, who, upon my expressing a wish, invited me to
pay him a visit there. Mr. Bnshby, the British resident, offered
to take me in his boat by a creek, where I should see a pretty
waterfall, and by which means my walk would be shortened. He
likewise procured for me a guide. Upon asking a neighbouring
chief to recommend a man, the chief himself offered to go ; but
his ignorance of the value of money was so complete, that at
first he asked how many pounds I would give him, but after-
wards was well contented with two dollars. When I showed
the chief a very small bundle, which I wanted carried,' it be-
came absolutely necessary for him to take a slave. These feel-
ing's of pride are beginning to wear away ; but formerly a leading
man would sooner have died, than undergone the indignity of
carrying the smallest burden. My companion was a light active
man, dressed in a dirty blanket, and with his face completely
422 NEW ZEALAND. [chap, xviil
tattooed. He had formerly been a great warrior. He appeared
to be on very cordial terms with Mr. Bushby ; but at various
times they had quarrelled violently. Mr. Bushby remarked that
a little quiet irony would frequently silence any one of these
natives in their most blustering moments. This chief has come
and harangued Mr. Bushby in a hectoring manner, saying, " A
great chief, a great man, a friend of mine, has come to pay me
a visit — you must give him something good to eat, some fine
presents, &c." Mr. Bushby has allowed him to finish his dis
course, and then has quietly replied by some such answer as,
" What else shall your slave do for you ?" The man would then
instantly, with a very comical expression, cease his braggadocio.
Some time ago, Mr. Bushby suffered a far more serious attack.
A chief and a party of men tried to break into his house in the
middle of the night, and not finding this so easy, commenced a
brisk firing with their muskets. Mr. Bushby was slightly
wounded ; but the party was at length driven away. Shortly
afterwards it was discovered who was the aggressor ; and a ge-
neral meeting of the chiefs was convened to consider the case.
It was considered by the New Zealanders as very atrocious, in-
asmuch as it was a night attack, and that Mrs. Bushby was lying
ill in the house : this latter circumstance, much to their honour,
being considered in all cases as a protection. The chiefs agreed
to confiscate the land of the aggressor to the King of England.
The whole proceeding, however, in thus trying and punishing a
chief was entirely without precedent. The aggressor, moreover,
lost caste in the estimation of his equals ; and this was considered
by the British as of more consequence than the confiscation of
his laud.
As the boat was shoving off, a second chief stepped into her,
who only wanted the amusement of the passage up and down the
creek. 1 never saw a more horrid and ferocious expression than
this man had. It immediately struck me I had somewhere seen
his likeness : it will be found in Retzch's outlines to Schiller's
ballad of Fridolin, where two men are pushing Eobert into the
burnino; iron furnace. It is the man who has his arm on Ro-
bert's breast. Physiognomy here spoke the truth ; this chief
had been a notorious murderer, and was an arrant coward tt)
boot. At the point where the boat landed. Mr. Bushby accom-
L 835.1 CEREMONY OF KUBBING NOSES. 423
panied me a few hundred yards on the road : I could not help
admiring the cool impudence of the hoary old villain, whom we
left lying in the boat, when he shouted to Mr. Bushby, " Do
not you stay long, I shall be tired of waiting here."
We now commenced our walk. The road lay along a well-
beaten path, bordered on each side by the tall fern, which covers
the whole country. After travelling some miles, we came to a
little country village, w here a few hovels were collected toge-
ther, and some patches of ground cultivated with potatoes. The
introduction of the potato has been the most essential benefit to
the island ; it is now much more used than any native vegetable.
New Zealand is favoured by one great natural advantage ;
namely, that the inhabitants can never perish from famine. The
whole countrj^ abounds with fern ; and the roots of this plant, if
not very palatable, yet contain much nutriment. A native can
always subsist on these, and on the shell-fish, which are abundant
on all parts of the sea-coast. The villages are chiefly conspi-
cuous by the platforms which are raised on four posts ten or
twelve feet above the ground, and on which the produce of the
fields is kept secure from all accidents.
On coming near one of the huts I was much amused by
seeing in due form the ceremony of rubbing, or, as it ought to be
called, pressing noses. The women, on our first approach, began
uttering something in a most dolorous voice ; they then squatted
themselves down and held up their faces ; my companion standing
over them, one after another, placed the bridge of his nose at right
angles to theirs, and commenced pressing. This lasted rather
longer than a cordial shake of the hand with us ; and as we vary the
force of the grasp of the hand in shaking, so do they in pressing.
During the process they uttered comfortable little grunts, very
much in the same manner as two pigs do, when rubbing against
each other. I noticed that the slave would press noses with any
one he met, indifferently either before or after his master the
chief. Although among these savages, the chief has absolute
power of life and death over his slave, yet there is an entire ab-
sence of ceremony between them. Mr. Burchell has remarked
the same thing in Southern Africa, with the rude Bachapins.
Where civilization has arrived at a certain point, complex for-
malities soon arise between the different grades of society : thup
19
424 NEW ZEALAND. fcHAP. xviii.
at Tahiti all were formerly obliged to uncover themselves as low
as the waist in presence of the king.
The ceremony of pressing noses having been duly completed
with all present, we seated ourselves in a circle in the front of
one of the hovels, and rested there half-an-hour. All the hovels
have nearly the same form and dimensions, and all agree in
being filthily dirty. They resemble a cow-shed with one end
open, but having a partition a little way within, with a square
hole in it, making a small gloomy chamber. In this the inha-
bitants keep all their property, and when the weather is cold
they sleep there. They eat, however, and pass their time in the
open part in front. My guides having finished their pipes, we
continued our walk. The path led through the same undulating
country, the whole uniformly clothed as before with fern. On
our right hand we liad a serpentine river, the banks of which were
fringed with trees, and here and there on the hill sides there was
a clump of wood. The whole scene, in spite of its green colour,
had rather a desolate aspect. The sight of so much fern im-
presses the mind with an idea of sterility : this, however, is not
correct ; for wherever the fern grows thick and breast-high, the
land by tillage becomes productive. Some of the residents
think that all this extensive open country originally was covered
with forests, and that it has been cleared by fire. It is said, that
by digging in the barest spots, lumps of the kind of resin which
flows from the kauri pine are frequently found. The natives
had an evident motive in clearing the country ; for the fern,
formerly a staple article of food, flourishes only in the open
cleared tracks. The almost entire absence of associated grasses,
which forms so remarkable a feature in the vegetation of this
island, may perhaps be accounted for by the land having been
aboriginally covered with forest-trees.
The soil is volcanic ; in several parts we passed over slaggy
lavas, and craters could clearly be distinguished on several of
the neighbouring hills. Although the scenery is nowhere beau-
tiful, and only occasionally pretty, I enjoyed my walk. I should
have enjoyed it more, if my companion, the chief, had not pos-
sessed extraordinary conversational powers. I knew only three
words ; " good," " bad," and " yes :" and with these I answered
all his remarks, without of course havin"- understood one word
1835.J WAIMATE. 425
he said. This, however, was quite sufficient : I was a good
listener, an agreeable person, and he never ceased talking to me.
At length we reached Waimate. After having passed over
so many miles of an uninhabited useless country, the sudden ap-
pearance of an English farm-house, and its well-dressed fields,
placed there as if by an enchanter's wand, was exceedingly plea-
sant. Mr. Williams not being at home, I received in Mr. Da-
vies's house, a cordial welcome. After drinking tea with his
family party, we took a stroll about the farm. At Waimate
there are three large houses, where the missionary gentlemen
Messrs. AVilliams, Davies, and Clarke, reside; and near them
are the huts of the native labourers. On an adjoining slope,
fine crops of barley and wheat were standing in full ear ; and in
another part, fields of potatoes and clover. But I cannot attempt
to describe all I saw ; there were large gardens, with every fruit
and vegetable which England produces ; and many belonging to
a warmer clime. I may instance asparagus, kidney beans, cu-
cumbers, rhubarb, apples, pears, figs, peaches, apricots, grapes,
olives, gooseberries, currants, hops, gorse for fences, and Eng-
lish oaks ; also many kinds of flowers. Around the farm-yard
there were stables, a thrashing-barn with its winnowing machine,
a blacksmith's forge, and on the ground ploughshares and other
tools : in the middle was that happy mixture of pigs and poultry,
lying comfortably together, as in every English farm-yard. At the
distance of a few hundred yards, where the water of a little rill
had been dammed up into a pool, there was a large and substan-
tial water-mill.
All this is very surprising, when it is considered that five
years ago nothing but the fern flourished here. Moreover,
native workmanship, taught by the missionaries, has effected this
change ; — the lesson of the missionary is the enchanter's wand.
The house had been built, the windows framed, the fields
ploughed, and even the trees grafted, by the New Zealander.
At the mill, a New Zealander was seen poM'dered white with
flour, like iiis brother miller in England. When I looked at
this whole scene, I thought it admirable. It was not merely
that England was brought vividly before my mind ; yet, as the
evening drew to a close, the domestic sounds, the fields of corn,
the di:;tant undulating country witli its trees might well have
126 NEW ZEALAND. [cuaf. xviii.
been mistaken for our father-land : nor was it the triumphant
feeling at seeing- what Englishmen could effect ; but rather the
high hopes thus inspired for the future progress of this fine
island.
Several young men, redeemed by the missionaries from slavery,
inhere employed on the farm. They were dressed in a shirt,
jacket, and trousers, and had a respectable appearance. Judging
from one trifling anecdote, I should think they must be honest.
When walking in the fields, a young labourer came up to Mr.
Davies, and gave hira a knife and gimlet, saying that he had found
them on the road, and did not know to whom they belonged !
These young men and boys appeared very merry and good-hu-
moured. In the evening I saw a party of them at cricket : when
I thought of the austerity of which the missionaries have been
accused, I was amused by observing one of their own sons taking
an active part in the game. A more decided and pleasing change
was manifested in the young women, who acted as servants within
the houses. Their clean, tidy, and healthy appearance, like
that of dairy-maids in England, formed a wonderful contrast
with the women of the filthy hovels in Kororadika. The wives
of the missionaries tried to persuade them not to be tattooed ;
but a famous operator having arrived from the south, they said,
" We really must just have a few lines on our lips; else when
we grow old, our lips will shrivel, and we shall be so very ugly."
There is not nearly so much tattooing as formerly ; but as it is a
badge of distinction between the chief and the slave, it will pro-
bably long be practised. So soon does any train of ideas become
habitual, that the missionaries told me that even in their eyes
a plain face looked mean, and not like that of a New Zealand
gentleman.
Late in the evenimj I went to Mr. Williams's house, where I
o
passed the night. I found there a large party of children, col-
lected together for Christmas-day, and all sitting round a table
at tea. I never saw a nicer or more merry group ; and to think
that this was in tlie centre of the land of cannibalism, murder,
and all atrocious crimes ! The cordiality and happiness so
plainly pictured in the faces of the little circle, appeared equally
felt by the older persons of the mission.
December 2'Uh. — In tlie morning, prayers were read in the
1835.J W AIM A IE. 427
native tongue to the whole family. After breakfast I rambled
about the gardens and farm. This was a market-day, when the
natives of the surrounding hamlets bring their potatoes, Indian
corn, or pigs, to exchange for blankets, tobacco, and sometimes,
through the persuasions of the missionaries, for soap. Mr. Da-
vies's eldest son, who manages a farm of his own, is the man of
business in the market. The children of the missionaries, who
came while young to the island, understand the language better
than their parents, and can get anything more readily done by
tlie natives.
A little before noon Messrs. Williams and Davies walked with
me to part of a neighbouring forest, to show me the famous kauri
pine. I measured one of these noble trees, and found it thirty -
one feet in circumference above the roots. There was another
close by, which I did not see, thirty-three feet ; and I heard of
one no less than forty feet. These trees are remarkable for their
smooth cylindrical boles, which run up to a height of sixty, and
even ninety feet, with a nearly equal diameter, and without a
sino-le branch. The crown of branches at the summit is out of
all proportion small to the trunk ; and the leaves are likewise
small compared with the branches. The forest was here almost
composed of the kauri ; and the largest trees, from the parallelism
of their sides, stood up like gigantic columns of wood. The
timber of the kauri is the most valuable production of the island ;
moreover, a quantity of resin oozes from the bark, which is sold
at a penny a pound to the Americans, but its use was then un-
known. Some of the New Zealand forests must be impenetrable
to an extraordinary degree. Mr. Matthews informed me that
one forest only thirty-four miles in width, and separating two
inhabited districts, had only lately, for the first time, been crossed.
He and another missionary, each with a party of about fifty men,
undertook to open a road ; but it cost them more than a fort-
night's labour ! In the woods I saw very few birds. AVith re-
gard to animals, it is a most remarkable fact, that so large an
island, extending over more than 700 miles in latitude, and in
many parts ninety broad, with varied stations, a fine climate, and
land of all heights, from 14,000 feet downwards, with tlie excep-
tion of a small rat, did not possess one indigenous animal. The
several species of that gigantic genus of birds, the Deinornis,
i28 NEW ZEALAND [chap. xviii
seem here to have replaced mammiferous quadrupeds, in the same
manner as the reptiles still do at the Galapagos archipelago. It
is said thai the common Norway rat, in the short space of two
years, annihilated in this northern end of the island, the New
Zealand species. In many places I noticed several sorts of weeds,
which, like the rats, I was forced to own as countrymen. A
leek has overrun whole districts, and will prove very trouble-
some, but it was imported as a favour by a French vessel. The
common dock is also widely disseminated, and will, I fear, for
ever remain a proof of the rascality of an Englishman, who sold
the seeds for those of the tobacco plant.
On returning from our pleasant walk to the house, I dined
with Mr. Williams ; and then, a horse being lent me, I returned
to the Bay of Islands. I took leave of the missionaries with
thankfulness for their kind welcome, and with feelings of high
respect for their gentlemanlike, useful, and upright characters.
I think it would be difficult to find a body of men better adapted
for the high office which they fulfil.
Christmas-Day. — In a few more days the fourth year of our
absence from England will be completed. Our first Christmas-
day was spent at Plymouth ; the second at St. Martin's Cove,
near Cape Horn ; the third at Port Desire, in Patagonia ; the
fourth at anchor in a wild harbour in the peninsula of Tres
Montes ; this fifth here ; and the next, I trust in Providence,
will be in England. We attended divine service in the chapel
of Pahia ; part of the service being read in English, and part in
the native language. Whilst at New Zealand we did not hear
of any recent acts of cannibalism ; but Mr. Stokes found burnt
human bones strewed round a fire-place on a small island near the
anchorage ; but these remains of a comfortable banquet might
have been lying there for several years. It is probable that the
moral state of the people w ill rapidly improve. Mr. Bushby men-
tioned one pleasing anecdote as a proof of the sincerity of some,
at least, of those who profess Christianity. One of his young
men left him, who had been accustomed to read prayers to the
rest of the servants. Some weeks afterwards, happening to pass
late in the evening by an outhouse, he saw and heard one of his
men reading the Bible with difficulty by the light of the fire, to
the others. After this the party knelt and prayed : in their
1835.J FUNERAL OF A NATIVE WOiMAN. 429
prayers they mentioned Mr. Bushby and his family, and the mis-
sionaries, each separately in his respective district.
December 26th. — Mr. Bushby offered to take Mr. Sulivan and
myself in his boat some miles up the river to Cavva-Cawa ; and
proposed afterwards to walk on to the village of Waiomio, where
there are some curious rocks. Following one of the arms of the
bay, we enjoyed a pleasant row, and passed through pretty
scenery, until we came to a village, beyond which the boat could
not pass. From this place a chief and a party of men volun-
teered to walk with us to Waiomio, a distance of four miles.
The chief was at this time rather notorious from having lately
hung one of his wives and a slave for adultery. AVhen one of
the missionaries remonstrated ^vith him he seemed surprised, and
said he thought he was exactly following the English method.
Old Shongi, who happened to be in England during the Queen's
trial, expressed great disapprobation at the whole proceeding :
he said he had five wives, and he would rather cut off all their
heads than be so much troubled about one. Leaving this vil-
lage, we crossed over to another, seated on a hill-side at a little
distance. The daughter of a chief, who was still a heathen, had
died there five days before. The hovel in which she had expired
had been burnt to the ground : her body being enclosed between
two small canoes, was placed upright on the ground, and protected
by an enclosure bearing wooden images of their gods, and the
whole was painted bright red, so as to be conspicuous from afar.
Her gown was fastened to the coffin, and her hair being cut off
was cast at its foot. The relatives of the family had torn the
tlesh of their arms, bodies, and faces, so that they were covered
with clotted blood ; and the old women looked most filthy, dis-
gusting objects. On the following day some of the officers visited
this place, and found the women still howling and cutting them-
selves.
We contiimed our walk, and soon reached Waiomio. Here
there are some singular masses of limestone, resembling ruined
castles. These rocks have long served for burial-places, and in
consequence are held too sacred to be approached. One of the
young men, however, cried out, ** Let us all be brave," and ran
on ahead ; but when within a hundred yards, the whole party
thougnt better of it, and stopped short. With perfect indiffer-
130 NEW ZEALAND. [chap, xviii.
ence, however, they allowed us to examine the whole place. At
this village we rested some hours, during which time there was
a long discussion with Mr. Bushby, concerning the right of sale
of certain lands. One old man, who appeared a perfect genealo-
o-ist, illustrated the successive possessors by bits of stick driven
into the ground. Before leaving the houses a little basketful of
roasted sweet potatoes was given to each of our party ; and we
all, according to the custom, carried them away to eat on the
road. I noticed that among the women employed in cooking,
there was a man-slave : It must be a humiliating thing for a
man in this warlike country to be employed in doing that which
is considered as the lowest woman's work. Slaves are not allowed
to go to war ; but this perhaps can hardly be considered as a
iiardship. I heard of one poor wretch who, during hostilities,
ran away to the opposite party ; being met by two men, he m as
immediately seized ; but as they could not agree to whom he
should belong, each stood over him with a stone hatchet, and
seemed determined that the other at least should not take him
away alive. The poor man, almost dead with fright, was only
saved by the address of a chief's wife. We afterwards enjoyed a
pleasant walk back to the boat, but did not reach the ship till
late in the evening.
December 30iA. — In the afternoon we stood out of the Bay of
Islands, on our course to Sydney. I believe w^e were all glad to
leave New Zealand. It is not a pleasant place. Amongst the
natives there is absent that charming simplicity which is found
at Tahiti ; and the greater part of the English are the very refuse
of society. Neither is the country itself attractive. I look back
but to one bright spot, and that is "VYaimate, with its Christian
inhabitants.
**^^] YDxNEY. 431
CHAPTER XIX.
AUSTRALIA.
Sydney— Excursion to Bathurst— Aspect of the Woods— Party of Natives—
Gradual extinction of the Aborigines— Infection generated by associated
men m health— Blue Mountains— View of the grand gulf-like Valleys—
Their origin and formation— Bathurst, general civility of the lower orders
—State of society— Van Diemen's Land— Hobart Town— Aborio-jnes all
banished— Mount Wellington-King George's Sound-Cheerless aspect
of the Country— Bald Head, calcareous casts of branches of trees-
Party of Natives— Leave Australia.
January Uth, 1836.— Early in the morning a light air carried
us towards the entrance of Port Jackson. Instead of beholding
a verdant country, interspersed with fine houses, a straight line
of yellowish cliff brought to our minds the coast of Patagonia.
A solitary lighthouse, built of white stone, alone told us that we
were near a great and populous city. Having entered the har*
bour, it appears fine and spacious, with cliff-formed shores of
horizontally stratified sandstone. The nearly level country is
covered with thin scrubby trees, bespeaking the curse of sterility.
Proceeding further inland, the country improves: beautiful
villas and nice cottages are here and there scattered along the
beach.^ In the distance stone houses, two and three stories high,
and windmills standing on the edge of a bank, pointed out to°us
the neighbourhood of the capital of Australia.
At last we anchored within Sydney Cove. We found the
little basin occupied by many large ships, and surrounded by
warehouses. In the evening I walked through the town, and
returned full of admiration at the whole scene. It is a most
magnificent testimony to the power of the British nation. Here,
in a less promising country, scores of years have done many times
more than an equal number of centuries have effected in" South
America. My first feeling was to congratulate myself that I
was born an Englishman. Upon seeing more of the town after
wards, perhaps my admiration fell a little ; but yet it is a fine
^32 NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. xix.
town. The streets are regular, broad, clean, and kept in excel-
lent order ; the houses are of. a good size, and the shops well
furnished. It may be faithfully compared to the large suburbs
which stretch out from London and a few other great towns in
England ; but not even near London or Birmingham is there
an appearance of such rapid growth. The number of large
houses and other buildings just finished was truly surprising ;
nevertheless, every one complained of the high rents and diffi-
culty in procuring a house. Coming from South America, where
in the towns every man of property is known, no one thing sur-
prised me more than not being able to ascertain at once to whom
this or that carriage belonged.
I hired a man and two horses to take me to Bathurst, a village
about one hundred and twenty miles in the interior, and the
centre of a great pastoral district. By this means I hoped to
gain a general idea of the appearance of the country. On tlie
morning of the 16th (Januarj'^) I set out on my excursion. Tiie
first stage took us to Paramatta, a small country town, next to
Sydney in importance. The roads were excellent, and made
upon the MacAdam principle, whinstone having been brought
for the purpose from the distance of several miles. In all respects
there was a close resemblance to England : perhaps the alehouses
here were more numerous. The iron gangs, or parties of con-
victs who have committed here some offence, appeared the least
like England : they were working in chains, under the charge of
sentries with loaded arms. The power which the Government
possesses, by means of forced labour, of at once opening good
roads throughout the country, has been, I believe, one main
cause of the early prosperity of this colony. I slept at night at
a very comfortable inn at Emu ferry, thirty-five miles from
Sydney, and near the ascent of the Blue Mountains. This line
of road is the most frequented, and has been the longest inhabited
of any in the colony. The wliole land is enclosed with high
railings, for the farmers have not succeeded in rearing hedges.
There are many substantial houses and good cottages scattered
about ; but although considerable pieces of land are under culti-
vation, the greater part yet remains as when first discovered.
The extreme uniformity of the vegetation is the most remark-
able feature in the landscape of the greater part of New South
^836.1 APPEARANCE OF THE FOl>ESTS. 433
Wales. Everywhere we have an open woodland, the ground
being- partially covered with a very thin pasture, with little
appearance of verdure. The trees nearly all belong to one
family, and mostly have their leaves placed in a vertical, instead
of, as in Europe, in a nearly horizontal position : the foliage is
scanty, and of a peculiar pale green tint, without any gloss.
Hence the woods appear light and shadowless : this, although a
loss of comfort to the traveller under the scorching rays of
feummer, is of importance to the farmer, as it allows grass to
grow where it otherwise would not. The leaves are not shed
periodically : this character appears common to tlie entire
southern hemisphere, namely. South America, Australia, and
the Cape of Good Hope. The inhabitants of this hemisphere,
and of the intertropical regions, thus lose perhaps one of the
most glorious, though to our eyes common, spectacles in the
world — the first bursting into full foliage of the leafless tree.
They may, however, say that we pay dearly for this by
having the land covered with mere naked skeletons for so many
months. This is too true ; but our senses thus acquire a keen
relish for the exquisite green of the spring, which the eyes of
those living within the tropics, sated during the long year with
the gorgeous productions of those glowing climates, can never
experience. The greater number of the trees, with the exception
of some of the Blue-gums, do not attain a large size ; but they
grow tall and tolerably straight, and stand well apart. The bark
of some of the Eucalypti falls annually, or hangs dead in long
shreds which swing about with the wind, and give to the woods
a desolate and untidy appearance. I cannot imagine a more com-
plete contrast, in every respect, than between the forests of Yal-
divia or Chiloe, and the woods of Australia.
At sunset, a party of a score of the black aborigines passed by,
each carrying, in their accustomed manner, a bundle of spears
and other weapons. By giving a leading young man a shilling,
they were easily detained, and threw their spears for my amuse-
ment. They were all partly clothed, and several could speak u
little English : their countenances were good-humoured and
pleasant, and they appeared far from being such utterly degraded
beings as they have usually been represented. In their own arts
they are admirable. A (^ap being fixed at thirtv yards distance,
134 NEW SOU'lll WALES. [.chap, xix,
they transfixed it with a spear, delivered by the throw ing-stiei^
with the rapidity of an arrow from the bow of a practised archer.
In tracking animals or men they show most wonderful sagacity ;
and I heard of several of tlieir remarks which manifested con-
siderable acuteness. They will not, however, cultivate the
ground, or build houses and remain stationary, or even take the
trouble of tending a flock of sheep when given to them. On the
whole they appear to me to stand some few degrees higher in the
scale of civilization than the Fuegians.
It is very curious thus to see in the midst of a civilized people,
a set of harmless savages wandering about without knowing
where they shall sleep at night, and gaining their livelihood by
hunting in the woods. As the white man Jias travelled onwards,
he has spread over the country belonging to several tribes.
These, although thus enclosed by one common people, keep up
their ancient distinctions, and sometimes go to war with each
other. In an engagement which took place lately, the two
parties most singularly chose the centre of the village of Bathurst
for the field of battle. This was of service to the defeated side,
for the runaway warriors took refuge in the barracks.
The number of aborigines is rapidly decreasing. In my whole
ride, with tiie exception of some boys brought up by English-
men, I saw only one other party. This decrease, no doubt, must
be partly owing to the introduction of spirits, to European dis-
eases (even the milder ones of which, such as the measles,* prove
very destructive), and to the gradual extinction of the wild ani-
mals. It is said that numbers of their children invariably perish
in very early infancy from the effects of their wandering life ;
and as the difficulty of procuring food increases, so must their
wandering- habits increase; and hence the population, -without
any apparent deaths from famine, is repressed in a manner ex-
tremely sudden compared to what happens in civilized countries,
where the father, though in adding to his labour he may -.njure
himself, does not destroy his offspring.
* It is remarkable how the same disease is modified in different climates.
At the little island of St. Helena, the introduction of scarlet-fever is dreaded
as a plague. In some countries, foreigners and natives are as ditferently
atfected by certain contagious disorders, as if they had been different
animals ; of which fact some instances have occurred in Chile ; and, accord
iug to Humboldt, in Mexico. (Polit. Essay, New Spain, vol. iv.)
1836.] DECREASE OF THE ABORIGINES 435
Besides these several evident causes of destruction, there ap-
pears to be some more mysterious agency generally at work.
Wherever the European has trod, death seems to pursue the
aboriginal. We may look to the wide extent of the Americas,
Polynesia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Australia, and we find
the same result. Nor is it the white man alone that thus acts
the destroyer ; the Polynesian of Malay extraction has in parts
of the East Indian archipelago, thus driven before him the dark-
coloured native. The varieties of man seem to act on each other
in the same way as different species of animals — the stronger
always extirpating the weaker. It was melancholy at !Ne\v
Zealand to hear the fine energetic natives saying, that they knew
the land was doomed to pass from their children. Every one
has heard of the inexplicable reduction of the population in the
beautiful and healthy island of Tahiti since the date of Captain
Cook's voyages ; although in that case we might have expected
that it would have been increased ; for infanticide, which for-
merly prevailed to so extraordinary a degree, has ceased, profli-
gacy has greatly diminished, and the murderous wars become
less frequent.
The Rev. J. Williams, in his interesting work,* says, that the
first intercourse between natives and Europeans, " is invariably
attended with the introduction of fever, dysentery, or some other
disease, which carries off numbers of the people." Again he
affirms, " It is certainly a fact, which cannot be controverted,
that most of the diseases which have raged in the islands during
my residence there, have been introduced by ships ;| and what
* Narrative of Missionary Enterprise, p. 282.
t Captain Beechey (chap, iv., vol. i.) states that the inhabitants of Pitcairn
Island are firmly convinced that after the arrival of every ship they sutler
cutaneous and other disorders. Captain Beechey attributes this to the
change of diet during the time of the visit. Dr. Macculloch (Western Isles,
vol. ii., p. 32) says, " It is asserted, that on the arrival of a stranger (at
St. Kilda) all the inhabitants, in the common phraseology, catch a cold."
Dr. Macculloch considers the whole case, although often previously affirmed,
as ludicrous. He adds, however, that " the question was put by us to the
inhabitants who unanimously agreed in the story." In Vancouver's Voyage,
there is a somewhat similar statement with respect to Otaheite. Dr. Diefieu-
bach, in a note to his translation of this Journal, states that the same fact is
universally believed by the inhabitants of the Chatham Islands, and in parts
of New Zealand. It is impossible that such a belief should have become
universal in the northern hemisphere, at the Antipodes, and in the Pacific,
without some good foundation. Humboldt (Polit. Ebsay on King of New
435 NEW SOUTH vYALES. [chap, xix
renders tliis fact remarkable is, that there might be no appear-
ance of disease among the crew of the ship which conveyed this
destructive importation." This statement is not quite so extra-
ordinary as it at first appears ; for several cases are on record of
the most malignant fevers having broken out, altliongh the
parties themselves, who were the cause, were not affected. In
the early part of the reign of George III., a prisoner who had
been confined in a dungeon, was taken in a coach with four con-
stables before a magistrate ; and, although the man himself was
not ill, the four constables died from a short putrid fever ; but
the contaofion extended to no others. From these facts it would
almost appear as if the effluvium of one set of men shut up for
some time together was poisonous when inhaled by others ; and
possibly more so, if the men be of different i-aces. Mysterious
as this circumstance appears to be, it is not more surprising than
that the body of ones fellow-creature, directly after death, and
before putrefaction has commenced, should often be of so dele-
terious a quality, that the mere puncture from an instrument
used in its dissection, should prove fatal.
VI th. — Early in the morning we passed the Nepean in a ferry
boat. The river, although at this spot both broad and deep, had
a very small body of running water. Having crossed a low
piece of land on the opposite side, Ave reached the slope of the
Blue Mountains. The ascent is not steep, the road having been
cut with much care on the side of a sandstone cliff. On the
summit an almost level plain extends, which, rising impercep-
tibly to the westward, at last attains a height of more than
3000 feet. From so grand a title as Blue Mountains, and
from their absolute altitude, I expected to have seen a bold chain
of mountains crossing the country ; but instead of this, a sloping
plain presents merely an inconsiderable front to the low land
near the coast. From this first slope, the view of the extensive
woodland to the east was striking, and the surrounding trees
Spain, vol. iv.) says, that the great epidemics at Panama and Callao are
"marked" by the arrival of ships from Chile, because the people from that
temperate region, first experience the fatal effects of the torrid zones. I
may add, that I have heard it stated in Shropshire, that sheep, which have
been imported from vessels, although themselves in a healthy condition,
if placed in the same fold with othere, frequently produce sickness in th*
flock.
L83G.J GREAT CLIFF-BOUNDED VAi^LEY. 4:j7
grew bold and lofty. But when once on the sandstone platform,
the scenery becomes exceedingly monotonous ; each side of tlie
road is bordered by scrubby trees of the never-failing Euca-
lyptus family ; and with the exception of two or three small
inns, there are no houses or cultivated land : the road, moreover,
is solitary ; the most frequent object being a bullock-Maggon,
piled up with bales of wool.
In the middle of the day we baited our horses at a little inn,
called the Weatherboard. The country here is elevated 2800
feet above the sea. About a mile and a half from tliis place
there is a view exceedingly well worth visiting. Following
down a little valley and its tiny rill of water, an immense gulf
unexpectedly opens through the trees which border the path-
way, at the depth of perhaps 1500 feet. Waliiing on a few yards,
one stands on the brink of a vast precipice, and below one sees a
grand bay or gulf, for I know not what other name to give it,
thickly covered with forest. The point of view is situated as if
at the head of a bay, the line of cliff diverging on each side,
and showing headland behind headland, as on a bold sea-coast.
These cliffs are composed of horizontal strata of whitish sand-
stone ; and are so absolutely vertical, that in many places a person
standing on the edge and throwing down a stone, can see it strike
the trees in the abyss below. So unbroken is the line of cliff,
that in order to reach the foot of the waterfall, formed by this
little stream, it is said to be necessary to go sixteen miles round.
About five miles distant in front, another line of cliff extends,
which thus appears completely to encircle the valley ; and hence
the name of bay is justified, as applied to this grand amphi-
theatrical depression. If we imagine a winding harbour, with
its deep water surrounded by bold cliff-like shores, to be laid dry,
and a forest to spring up on its sandy bottom, we should then
have the appearance and structure here exhibited. This kind of
view was to me quite novel, and extremely magnificent.
In the evening we reached the Blackheath. The sandstone
plateau has here attained the height of 3400 feet ; and is covered,
as before, with the same scrubby woods. From the road, there
were occasional glimpses into a profound valley, of the same cha-
racter as the one described ; but from the steepness and depth
of its sides, the bottom was scarcely ever to be seen. The
138 NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap, xix
Blackheath is a very comfortable inn, kept by an old soldier ;
and it reminded me of the small inns in North Wales.
I8th. — Very early in the morning-, I walked about three miles
to see Govett's Leap : a view of a similar character with that
near the Weatherboard, but perhaps even more stupendous. So
early in the day the gulf was filled with a thin blue haze, which^
although destroying the general effect of the view, added to the
apparent depth at which the forest was stretched out beneath our
feet. These valleys, which so long presented an insuperable
barrier to the attempts of tlie most enterprising of the colonists
to reach the interior, are most remarkable. Great arm-like
bays, expanding at their upper ends, often branch from the main
valleys and penetrate the sand^stone platform ; on the other hand,
the platform often sends pronion^^ories into the valleys, and even
leaves in them great, almost insulated, masses. To descend into
some of these valleys, it is necessary to go round twenty miles ;
and into otliers, the surveyors have only lately penetrated, and
the colonists have not yet been able to drive in their cattle. But
the most remarkable feature in their structure is, that althougli
several miles wide at their heads, they generally contract towards
their mouths to such a degree as to become impassable. The
Surveyor-General, Sir T. Mitchell,* endeavoured in vain, first
walking and then by crawling between the great fallen fragments
of sandstone, to ascend through the gorge by which the river
Grose joins the Nepean ; yet the valley of the Grose in its
upper part, as I saw, forms a magnificent level basin some miles
in width, and is on all sides surrounded by cliffs, the summits of
which are believed to be nowhere less than 3000 feet above the
level of the sea. When cattle are driven into the valley of the
Wolgan by a path (which I descended), partly natural and partly
made by the owner of the land, they cannot escape ; for this
valley is in every other part surrounded by perpendicular cliffs,
and eight miles lower down, it contracts from an average width
of half a mile, to a mere chasm, impassable to man or beast.
Sir T. Mitchell states that the great valley of the Cox river with
all its branches, contracts, where it unites with the Kepean, into
* Travels in Australia, vol. i., p. 154. I must express my obligation to
Sir T. Rlitehell, for several interesting personal communications, on the
subject of these great valleys of New South Wales,
iS36,] GREAT VALLEYS. 439
a gorge 2200 yards in width, and about 1000 feet in depth.
Other similar cases might have been added.
The first impression, on seeing the correspondence of the hori-
zontal strata on each side of these valleys and great amphitliea-
trical depressions, is that they have been hollowed out, like, otlier
valleys, by tho action of water ; but when one reflects on tht* enor-
mous amount of stone, which on this view must have been re-
moved through mere gorges or chasms, one is led to ask whether
these spaces may not have subsided. But considering the form
of the irregularly branching valleys, and of the narrow promon-
tories projecting into them from the platforms, we are compelled
to abandon this notion. To attribute these hollows to the pre-
sent alluvial action would be preposterous ; nor does the drain-
age from the summit-level always fall, as I remarked near the
Weatherboard, into the head of these valleys, but into one side
of their bay -like recesses. Some of the inhabitants remarked to
me that they never viewed one of those bay-like recesses, with
tlie headlands receding on both hands, without being strucli with
their resemblance to a bold sea-coast. TJiis is certainly the case ;
moreover, on the present coast of New South Wales, the nume-
rous, fine, widely-branching harbours, which are generally con-
nected with the sea by a narrow mouth worn through the sand-
stone coast-cliffs, varying from one mile in width to a quarter
of a mile, present a likeness, thougli on a miniature scale, to
the great valleys of the interior. But tlien immediately occurs
the startling difficulty, why has the sea w^orn out these great,
though circumscribed depressions on a wide platform, and left
mere gorges at tlie openings, through which the whole vast amount
of triturated matter must have been carried away ? The only
light I can throw upon this enigma, is by remarking that banks
of the most irregular forms appear to be now forming in some
seas, as in parts of the West Indies and in the Red Sea, and that
their sides are exceedingly steep. Such banks, I have been led
to suppose, have been formed by sediment heaped by strong cur-
rents on an irregular bottom. That in some cases the sea, instead
of spreading out sediment in a uniform sheet, heaps it round
submarine rocks and islands, it is hardly possible to doubt, after
examining the charts of the West Indies ; and that the waves
have power to form high and precipitous cliffs, even in land«
MO NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap, xix
locked liarbours, I have noticed in many parts of South America.
To apply these ideas to the sandstone platforms of New South
Wales, I imagine that the strata were heaped by the action ol
strong- currents, and of the undulations of an open sea, on an
irregular bottom ; and that the valley -like spaces thus left un-
filled had their steeply sloping flanks v/orn into cliffs, during a
slow elevation of the land ; the worn-down sandstone being re-
moved, either at the time when the narrow gorges were cut by
the retreating sea, or subsequently by alluvial action.
Soon after leaving the Blackheath, we descended from the
sandstone platform by the pass of Mount Victoria. To effect
this pass, an enormous quantity of stone has been cut tiirough ;
the design, and its manner of execution, being worthy of any
line of road in England. We now entered upon a country less
elevated by nearly a thousand feet, and consisting of granite.
With the change of rock, the vegetation improved ; the trees
were both finer and stood farther apart ; and the pasture be-
tween tliem was a little greener and more plentiful. At Hassan's
Walls, I left the high road, and made a short detour to a farm
called Walerawang ; to the superintendent of which I had a
letter of introduction from the owner in Sydney. Mr. Brow ne
had the kindness to ask me to stay the ensuing day, which I had
much pleasure in doing. This place offers an example of one of
the large farming, or rather sheep-grazing, establishments of the
colony. Cattle and horses are, however, in this case rather more
numerous than usual, owing to some of the valleys being swampy
and producing a coarser pasture. Two or three flat pieces of
ground near the house were cleared and cultivated with corn,
which the harvest-men were now reaping : but no more wheat is
sown than sufficient for the annual support of the labourers em-
ployed on the establishment. The usual number of assigned
convict-servants here is about forty, but at the present time there
were rather more. Although the farm was well stocked with
every necessary, there was an apparent absence of comfort ; and
not one single woman resided here. The sunset of a fine day
will generally cast an air of happy contentment on any scene ;
but here, at this retired farm-house, the brightest tints on the
eurrounding woods could not make me forget that forty har-
J 836.1 ORNITHORHYNCHUS. 441
riened, profligate men were ceasing from their daily labonrS;
like the slaves from Africa, yet without their holy claim for
compassion.
Early on the next morning, Mr. Archer, the joint superin-
tendent, had the kindness to take me out kangaroo-hunting. We
continued riding the greater part of the day, but had very bad
sport, not seeing a kangaroo, or even a wild dog. The grey-
hounds pursued a kangaroo rat into a hollow tree, out of which
we dragged it : it is an animal as large as a rabbit, but with the
figure of a kangaroo. A few years since this country abounded
with wild animals ; but now the emu is banished to a long dis-
tance, and the kangaroo is become scarce ; to both the English
greyhound has been highly destructive. It may be long before
these animals are altogether exterminated, but their doom is fixed.
The aborigines are always anxious to borrow the dogs from the
farm-houses : the use of them, the offal when an animal is killed,
and some milk from the cows, are the peace-offerings of the
settlers, who push farther and farther towards the interior. The
^thoughtless aboriginal, blinded by these trifling advantages, is
delighted at the approach of the white man, who seems predes-
tined to inherit the country of his children.
Although having poor sport, we enjoyed a pleasant ride. The
woodland is generally so open that a person on horseback can
gallop through it. It is traversed by a few flat-bottomed valleys,
which are green and free from trees : in such spots the scenery
was pretty like that of a park. In the whole country I scarcely
saw a place without the marks of a fire ; whether these had been
more or less recent — whether the stumps were more or less black,
was the greatest change which varied the uniformity, so weari-
some to the traveller's eye. In these woods there are not many
birds ; I saw, however, some large flocks of the white cockatoo
feeding in a corn-field, and a few most beautiful parrots ; crows
like our jackdaws were not uncornmon, and another bird some-
thing like the magpie. In the dusk of the evening I took a stroll
along a chain of ponds, which in this dry country represented
the course of a river, and had the good fortune to see several of
the famous Ornithorhynchus paradoxus. They were diving and
playing about the surface of the water, but showed so little of
their bodies, that they might easily have been mistaken for water-
^2 NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. xix.
rats. Mr. Browne shot one : certainly it is a most extraordinary
animal ; a stuffed specimen does not at all give a good idea of the
appearance of the head and beak when fresh ; the latter becoming
iiard and contracted.*
20th. — A long day's ride to Bathurst. Before joining the
high road we followed a mere path through the forest ; and
the country, with the exception of a few squatters' huts, was
very solitary. "We experienced this day the sirocco-like wind of
Australia, which comes from the parched deserts of the interior.
Clouds of dust were travelling in every direction ; and the wind
felt as if it had passed over a fire. I afterwards heard that the
thermometer out of doors had stood at 11 9*^, and in a closed room
at 96°. In the afternoon we came in view of the downs of Ba-
thurst. These undulating but nearly smooth plains are very
remarkable in this country, from being absolutely destitute of
trees. They support only a thin brown pasture. We rode some
miles over this country, and then reached the township of Ba-
thurst, seated in the middle of what may be called either a very
broad valley, or narrow plain. I was told at Sydney not to.
form too bad an opinion of Australia by judging of the country
from the road-side, nor too good a one from Bathurst ; in this
latter respect, I did not feel myself in the least danger of being
prejudiced. The season, it must be owned, had been one of great
drought, and the country did not wear a favourable aspect ;
although I understand it was incomparably worse two or three
months before. The secret of the rapidly growing prosperity of
Bathurst is, that the brown pasture which appears to the
stranger's eye so wretched, is excellent for sheep-grazing. The
town stands, at the height of 2200 feet above the sea, on the
banks of the Macquarie : this is one of the rivers flowing into the
vast and scarcely known interior. The line of watershed, which
divides the inland streams from those on the coast, has a height
*
* I was interested by finding here the hollow conical pitfall of the lion-
ant, or some other insect : first a fly fell down the treacherous slope and
immediately disappeared ; then came a large but unwary ant ; its struggles
i,o escape being very violent, those curious little jets of sand, described by.
Kirby and Spence (Entomol., vol. i., p. 425) as being flirted by the insect's
tail, were promptly directed against the expected victim. But the ant en-
joyed a better fate than the fly, and escaped the fatal jaws which lay con-
cealed at the base of the conical hollow. This Australian pit-fall was onlj
about half the size of that made by the European lion-ant.
1836.] STATE OF SOCIETY 443
of about 3000 feet, and runs in a north and south direction at
the distance of from eighty to a hundred miles from the sea-side.
The Macquane figures in the map as a respectable river, and it
is the largest of those draining this part of the water-shed ; yet
to my surprise I found it a mere chain of ponds, separated from
each other by spaces almost dry. Generally a small stream is
running ; and sometimes there are high and impetuous floods.
Scanty as the supply of the Wciter is throughout this district, it
becomest still scantier further inland.
22nd. — I commenced my return, and followed a new road
called Lockyer's Line, along which the country is rather more
hilly and picturesque. This was a long day's ride ; and the house
where I wished to sleep was some way off the road, and not easily
found. I met on this occasion, and indeed on all others, a very
general and ready civility among the lower orders, which, when
one considers what they are, and what they have been, would
scarcely have been expected. The farm where I passed the night,
was owned by two young men who had only lately come out,
and were beginning a settler's life. The totai want of almost
every comfort was not very attractive ; but future and certain
prosperity was before their eyes, and that not far distant.
The next day we passed through large tracts of country in
flames, volumes of smolce sweeping across the road. Before noon
we joined our former road, and ascended Mount Victoria. I
slept at the Weatherboard, and before dark took another walk to
the amphitheatre. On the road to Sydney I spent a very pleasant
evening with Captain King at Dunheved ; and thus ended my
little excursion in the colony of New South Wales.
Before arriving here the three things which interested me
most were — the state of society a,mongst the higher classes, the
condition of the convicts, and the degree of attraction sufficient
to induce persons to emigrate. Of course, after so very short a
visit, one's opinion is worth scarcely anything ; but it is as diffi-
cult not to form some opinion, as it is to form a correct judg-
ment. On the whole, from what I heard, more than from what
I saw, I w^as disappointed in the state of society. The whole
community is rancorously divided into parties on almost every
subject. Among those who, from their station in life, ought to
be the best, many live in such open profligacy that respectable
144 NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. xix.
people cannot associate with them. There is much jealousy be-
tween the children of the rich emancipist and the free settlers,
the former being pleased to consider honest men as interlopers.
The whole population, poor and rich, are bent on acquiring
wealth : amongst the higher orders, wool and sheep-grazing
form the constant subject of conversation. There are many
serious drawbacks to the comforts of a family, the chief of
which, perhaps, is being surrounded by convict servants. How
thoroughly odious to every feeling, to be waited on by a man
who the day before, perhaps, was flogged, from your representa-
tion, for some trifling misdemeanour. The female servants are
of course much worse : hence children learn the vilest expressions,
and it is fortunate, if not equally vile ideas.
On the other hand, the capital of a person, without any trouble
on his part, produces him treble interest to what it will in Eng-
land ; and with care he is sure to grow rich. The luxuries of
life are in abundance, and very little dearer than in England,
and most articles of food are cheaper. The climate is splendid,
and perfectly healthy ; but to my mind its charms are lost by
the uninviting aspect of the country. Settlers possess a great
advantage in finding their sons of service when very young. At
the age of from sixteen to twenty, they frequently take charge
of distant farming stations. This, however, must happen at the
expense of their boys associating entirely with convict servants.
I am not aware that the tone of society has assumed any peculiar
character ; but with such habits, and without intellectual pur-
suits, it can hardly fail to deteriorate. My opinion is such, that
nothing but rather sharp necessity should compel me to emi-
grate.
The rapid prosperity and future prospects of this colony are to
me, not understanding these subjects, very puzzling. The two
main exports are wool and whale-oil, and to both of these pro-
ductions there is a limit. The country is totally unfit for canals,
therefore there is a not very distant point, beyond which the
land-carriage of wool will not repay the expense of shearing and
tending sheep. Pasture everywhere is so thin that settlers have
already pushed far into the interior : moreover, the country
further inland becomes extremely poor. Agriculture, on account
of the droughts, can never succeed on an extended scale: there-
1836.] STATE OF THE CONVICTS. 443
fore, so far as I can see, Australia must ultimately depend upon
being the centre of commerce for the southern hemisphere,
and perhaps on her future manufactories. Possessing coal, she
always has the moving power at hand. From the habitable
country extending along the coast, and from her English extrac-
tion, she is sure to be a maritime nation. I formerly imagined
that Australia would rise to be as grand and powerful a country
as North America, but now it appears to me that such future
grandeur is rather problematical.
With respect to the state of the convicts, I had still fewer
opportunities of judging than on the other points. The first
question is, whether their condition is at all one of punishment :
no one will maintain that it is a very severe one. This, however,
I suppose, is of little consequence as long as it continues to be
an object of dread to criminals at home. The corporeal wants
of the convicts are tolerably well supplied : their prospect of
future liberty and comfort is not distant, and after good conduct
certain. A " ticket of leave," which, as long as a man keeps
clear of suspicion as well us of crime, makes him free within a
certain district, is given upon good conduct, after years propor-
tional to the length of the sentence ; yet with all this, and over-
looking the previous imprisonment and wretched passage out, 1
believe the years of assignment are passed away with discontent
and iinhappiness. As an intelligent man remarked to me, the
convicts know no pleasure beyond sensuality, and in this they are
not gratified. The enormous bribe which Government possesses
in offering free pardons, together with the deep horror of the
secluded penal settlements, destroys confidence between the con-
victs, and so prevents crime. As to a sense of shame, such a
feeling does not appear to be known, and of this I witnessed
some very singular proofs. Though it is a curious fact, I was
universally told that the character of the convict population is
one of arrant cowardice; not unfrequently some become despe-
rate, and quite indifferent as to life, yet a plan requiring cool or
continued courage is seldom put into execution. The worst
feature in the whole case is, that although there exists what may
be called a legal reform, and comparatively little is committed
which the law can touch, yet that any moral reform should take
place appears to be quite out of the question. T wns ar.sured by
446 VAN DIEMEN S LAND. Lchap. xix
well-informed people, that a man who should try to improve,
could not while living with other assigned servants ; — his life
would be one of intolerable misery and persecution. Nor must
the contamination of the convict-ships and prisons, both here'
and in England, be forgotten. On the whole, as a place oi
punishment, the object is scarcely gained ; as a real system oi
reform it has failed, as perhaps would every other plan ; but as
a means of making men outwardly honest, — of converting vaga-
bonds, most useless in one hemisphere, into active citizens oi
another, and thus giving birth to a new and splendid country — a
grand centre of civilization — it has succeeded to a degree perhaps
unparalleled in history.
30th. — The Beagle sailed for Hobart Town in Van Diemen's
Land. On the oth of February, after a six days' passage, of
which the first part was fine, and the latter very cold and squally,
we entered the mouth of Storm Bay : the weather justified this
awful name. The bay should rather be called an estuary, for it
receives at its head the waters of the Derwent. Near the mouth,
there are some extensive basaltic platforms ; but higher up the
land becomes mountainous, and is covered by a light wood. The
lower parts of the hills which skirt the bay are cleared ; and the
bright yellow fields of corn, and dark green ones of potatoes,
appeared very luxuriant. Late in the evening we anchored in
tiie snug cove, on the shores of which stands the capital of Tas-
mania. The first aspect of the place was very inferior to that of
Sydney ; the latter might be called a city, this only a town. It
stands at the base of Mount Wellington, a mountain 3100 feet
high, but of little picturesque beauty : from this source, how-
ever, it receives a good supply of water, Eound the cove there
are some fine warehouses, and on one side a small fort. Coming
from the Spanish settlements, where such magnificent care has
generally been paid to the fortifications, the means of defence in
these colonies appeared very contemptible. Comparing the town
with Sydney, I was chiefly struck with the comparative fewness
of the large houses, either built or building. Hobart Town, from
the census of 1835, contained 13,826 inhabitants, and the whole
of Tasmania 36,505.
All the abori«-ines have been removed to an island in Bass*8
1836.J ABORIGINES. 447
Straits, so that Van Dienien's Land enjoys the great advantage
of being free from a native population. This most cruel step
seems to have been quite unavoidable, as the only means of
stopping a fearful succession of robberies, burnings, and mur-
ders, committed by the blacks ; and which sooner or later would
have ended in their utter destruction. I fear there is no doubt,
that this train of evil and its consequences, originated in the in-
famous conduct of some of our countrymen. Thirty years is a
short period, in which to have banished the last aboriginal from
his native island, — and that island nearly as large as Ireland.
The correspondence on this subject, which took place between
the government at home and that of Van Diemen's Land, is very
interesting. Although numbers of natives were shot and taken
prisoners in the skirmishing, which was going on at intervals for
several years ; nothing seems fully to have impressed them with
the idea of our overwhelming power, until the whole island, in
1830, was put under martial law, and by proclamation the whole
population commanded to assist in one great attempt to secure
the entire race. The plan adopted was nearly similar to that of
the great hunting-matches in India : a line was formed reaching
across the island, with the intention of driving the natives into
a cul-de-sac on Tasman's peninsula. The attempt failed ; the
natives,' having tied up their dogs, stole during one night through
the lines. This is far from surprising, when their practised senses,
and usual manner of crawling after wild animals is considered.
I have been assured that they can conceal themselves on almost
bare ground, in a manner which until witnessed is scarcely cre-
dible ; their dusky bodies being easily mistaken for the blackened
stumps which are scattered all over the country. I was told
of a trial between a party of Englishmen and a native, who was
to stand in full view on the side of a bare hill ; if the English-
men closed their eyes for less than a minute, he would squat
down, and then they were never able to distinguish him from
the surrounding stumps. But to return to the hunting-match ;
the natives understanding this kind of warfare, were terribly
alarmed, for they at once perceived the power and numbers of
the whites. Shortly afterwards a party of thirteen belonging to
two tribes came in ; and, conscious of their unprotected condi-
tion, deli> ered themselves up in despair. Subsequently by the
20
446 VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. [chap, xix
intrepid exertions of Mr. Robinson, an active and benevolent
man, who fearlessly visited by himself the most hostile of the
natives, the whole were induced to act in a similar manner.
They were then removed to an island, where food and clothes
were provided them. Count Strzelecki states,* that " at the
epoch of their deportation in 1835, the number of natives
amounted to 210. In 1842, that is after the interval of seven
years, they mustered only fifty-four individuals ; and, while each
family of the interior of New South Wales, imcontaminated by
contact with the whites, swarms with children, those of Flinders'
Island had during eight years, an accession of only fourteen in
number !"
The Beagle staid here ten days, and in this time I made se-
veral pleasant little excursions, chiefly with the object of examin-
ing the geological structure of the immediate neighbourhood.
The main points of interest consist, first in some highly fossili-
ferous strata, belonging to the Devonian or Carboniferous period ;
secondly, in proofs of a late small rise of the land ; and lastly, in
a solitary and superficial patch of yellowish limestone or tra-
vertin, which contains numerous impressions of leaves of trees,
together with land -shells, not now existing. It is not impro-
bable that this one small quarry, includes the only remaining
record of the vegetation of Van Diemen's Land during one
former epoch.
The climate here is damper tlian in New South Wales, and
hence the land is more fertile. Agriculture flourishes : the cul-
tivated fields look well, and the gardens abound with thriving
vegetables and fruit-trees. Some of the farm-houses, situated
in retired spots, had a very attractive appearance. The general
aspect of the vegetation is similar to tha,t of Australia ; perhaps
it is a little more green and cheerful ; and the pasture between
the trees rather more abundant. One day I took a long walk
on the side of the bay opposite to the town : I crossed in a steam-
boat, two of which are constantly plying backwards and forwards.
The machinery of one of these vessels was entirely manufactured
in this colony, which, from its very foundation, then numbered
only three and thirty years ! Another day I ascended Mount
Wellington ; I took with me a guide, for I failed in a first
* Physical Doscription of New Soath Wales and Van Diemen's Land, p. 354.
1836.] KING GEORGE'S SOUND. 449
attempt, from the thickness of the wood. Our guide, however,
was a stupid fellow, and conducted us to the southern and damp
side of the mountain, where the vegetation was very luxuriant ;
and where the labour of the ascent, from the number of rotten
trunks, was almost as great as on a mountain in Tierra del Fuego
or in Chiloe. It cost us five and a half hours of hard climbing
before we reached the summit. In many parts the Eucalypti
grew to a great size, and composed a noble forest. In some
of the dampest ravines, tree-ferns flourished in an extraordinary
manner ; I saw one which nmst have been at least twenty feet
high to the base of the fronds, and was in girth exactly six feet.
The fronds forming the most elegant parasols, produced a gloomy
shade, like that of the first hour of night. The summit of the
mountain is broad and flat, and is composed of huge angular
masses of naked greenstone. Its elevation is 3100 feet above
the level of the sea. The day was splendidly clear, and we en-
joyed a most extensive view ; to the north, the country appeared
a mass of wooded mountains, of about the same height with that
on which we were standing, and with an equally tame outline :
to the south the broken land and water, forming many intricate
bays, was mapped with clearness before us. After staying some
hours on the summit, we found a better way to descend, but did
not reach the Beagle till eight o'clock, after a severe day's
work.
February *lth. — The Beagle sailed from Tasmania, and, on
the 6th of the ensuing month, reached King George's Sound,
situated close to the S.W. corner of Australia. We staid there
eight days ; and we did not during our voyage pass a more dull
and uninteresting time. The country, viewed from an eminence,
appears a woody plain, with here and there rounded and partly
bare hills of granite protruding. One day I went out with a
party, in hopes of seeing a kangaroo hunt, and walked over a good
many miles of counuy. Everywhere we found the soil sandy,
and very poor ; it supported either a coarse vegetation of thin,
low brushwood and wiry grass, or a forest of stunted trees. Th«^
scenery resembled that of the high sandstone platform of the Bluo
Mountains ; the Casuarina (a tree somewhat resembling a Scotch
fir) is, however, here in greater number, and the Eucalyptus m
rather less. In the open parts tliere were many grass-treef,
450 KING GEORGE'S SOUND. chap. xix.
a plant which, in appearance, has some affinity with the pahu ;
but, instead of being surmounted by a crown of noble fronds, it
can boast merely of a tuft of very coarse grass-like leaves. The
general bright green colour of the brushwood and other plants,
viewed from a distance, seemed to promise fertility. A single
walk, however, was enough to dispel such an illusion ; and he
who thinks with me will never wish to walk again in so unin-
viting a country.
One day I accompanied Captain Fitz Roy to Bald Head ; the
place mentioned by so many navigators, where some imagined
that they saw corals, and others that they saw petrified trees,
standing in the position in which they had grown. According
to our view, the be<ls have been formed by the wind having
heaped up fine sand, composed of minute rounded particles of
shells and corals, during which process branches and roots of
trees, together with many land-shells, became enclosed. The
whole then became consolidated by the percolation of calcareous
matter ; and the cylindrical cavities left by the decaying of the
wood, were thus also filled up with a hard pseudo-stalactitical
stone. The weather is now ■^vearing away the softer parts, and
in consequence the hard cassis of the roots and branches of the
trees project above the surface, and, in a singularly deceptive
manner, resemble the stumps of a dead thicket.
A large tribe of natives, called the White Cockatoo men,
happened to pay the settlement a visit while we were there.
These men, as well as those of the tribe belonging to King
George's Sound, being tempted by the offer of some tubs of rice
and sugar, were persuaded to hold a " corrobery," or great
dancing-party. As soon as it grew dark, small fires were lighted,
and the men commenced their toilet, which consisted in painting
themselves white in spots and lines. As soon as all was ready,
large fires were kept blazing, round which the women and chil-
dren were collected as spectators ; the Cockatoo and King
George's men formed two distinct parties, and generally danced
in answer to each other. The dancing consisted in their running
either sideways or in Indian file into an open space, and stamp-
ing the ground with great force as they marched together. Their
heavy footsteps were accompanied by a kind of grunt, by beating
their clubs and spears togetlier. and by various other gesticula-
1836.J C0RR0I3ERY, OR NATIVE DANCE. 451
tions, such as extending their arms and wriggling their bodies.
It was a most rude, barbarous scene, and, to our ideas, without
any sort of meaning ; but we observed that the black women
and children watched it with the greatest pleasure. Perhaps
these dances originally represented actions, such as wars and
victories; there was one called the Emu dance, in which each
ujan extended his arm in a bent manner, like the neck of that
bird. In another dance, one man imitated the movements of a
kangaroo grazing in the woods, whilst a second crawled up, and
pretended to spear him. When both tribes mingled in the dance,
the ground trembled with the heaviness of their steps, and the
air resounded with their wild cries. Every one appeared in high
spirits, and the group of nearly naked figures, viewed by the
light of the blazing fires, all moving in hideous harmony, formed
a perfect display of a festival amongst the lowest barbarians. In
Tierra del Fuego, we have beheld many curious scenes in savage
life, but never, I think, one where the natives were in such high
spirits, and so perfectly at their ease. After the dancing was
over, the whole party formed a great circle on the ground, aixl
the boiled rice and sugar was distributed, to the delight of all.
After several tedious delays from clouded weather, on the
14th of March, we gladly stood out of King George's Sound on
our course to Keeling Island. Farewell, Australia ! you are a
rising child, and doubtless some day will reign a great princess
in the South : but you are too great and ambitious for aflfection,
jet not great enough for respect. I leave your shores without
sorrow or regret.
iS2 KEELING ISLAND. [chap, tlx.
CHAPTER XX.
KEELING ISLAND : — CORAL FORMATIONS.
Keeling Island — Singular appearance — Scanty Flora — Transport of Seeds —
Birds and Insects — Ebbing and flowing Springs — Fields of dead Coral
— Stones transported in the roots of Trees — Great Crab — Stinging Corals
— Coral-eating Fish — Coral Formations — Lagoon Islands or Atolls —
Depth at which reef- building Corals can live — Vast Areas interspersed
with low Coral Islands— Subsidence of their foundations — Barrier Eeefs
— Fringing Reefs — Conversion of Fringing Reefs into Barrier Reefs, and
into Atolls — Evidence of changes in Level — Breaches in Barrier Reefs —
Maldiva Atolls ; their peculiar structure— Dead and submerged Reefs —
Areas of subsidence and elevation — Distribution of Volcanos — Subsidence
slow, and vast in amount.
April 1st. — We arrived in view of the Keeling or Cocos Islands,
situated in the Indian Ocean, and about six hundred miles dis-
tant from the coast of Sumatra. This is one of the lagoon-
islands (or atolls) of coral formation, similar to those in the Low
Archipelago which we passed near. When the ship was in the
channel at the entrance, Mr. Liesk, an English resident, came
off in his boat. The history of the inhabitants of this place, in as
few words as possible, is as follows. About nine years ago, Mr.
Hare, a worthless character, brought from the East Indian archi-
pelago a number of Malay slaves, which now, including children,
amount to more than a hundred. Shortly afterwards, Captain
Ross, who had before visited these islands in his merchant-ship,
arrived from England, bringing with him his family and goods
for settlement : along with him came Mr. Liesk, who had been
a mate in his vessel. The Malay slaves soon ran away from the
islet on which Mr. Hare was settled, and joined Captain Ross's
party. Mr. Hare upon this was ultimately obliged to leave the
place.
The Malays are now nominally in a state of freedom, and cer-
tainly are so, as far as regards their personal treatment; but iji
most other points they are considered as slaves. From their dis-
1836.] SINGULAR APPEARANCE. 4.53
contented state, from the repeated removals from islet to islet,
and perhaps also from a little mismanagement, things are not very
prosperous. The island has no domestic quadruped, excepting
the pig, and the main vegetable production is the cocoa-nut.
The whole prosperity of the place depends on this tree : the only
exports being oil from the nut, and the nuts themselves, which
are taken to Singapore and Mauritius, where they are chiefly
used, when grated, in making curries. On the cocoa-nut, also,
the pigs, which are loaded with fat, almost entirely subsist, as do
the ducks and poultry. Even a huge land-crab is furnished by
nature with the means to open and feed on this most useful pro-
duction.
The ring-formed reef of the lagoon-island is surmounted in
the greater part of its length by linear islets. On the northern
or leeward side, there is an opening through which vessels can
pass to the anchorage within. On entering, the scene was very
curious and rather pretty ; its beauty, however, entirely de-
pended on the brilliancy of the surrounding colours. The shallow,
clear, and still water of the lagoon, resting in its greater part on
white sand, is, when illumined by a vertical sun, of the most
vivid green. This brilliant expanse, several miles in width, is
on all sides divided, either by a line of snow-\> hite breakers from
the dark heaving waters of the ocean, or from the blue vault of
heaven by the strips of land, crowned by the level tops of the
cocoa-nut trees. As a white cloud here and there affords a
pleasing contrast with the azure sky, so in the lagoon, bands of
living coral darken the emerald green water.
The next morning after anchoring, I went on shore on Direc-
tion Island. The strip of dry land is only a few hundred yards
in width ; on the lagoon side there is a white calcareous beach, the
radiation from which under this sultry climate was very oppres-,
sive; and on the outer coast, a solid broad flat of coral-rock
served to break the violence of the open sea. Excepting near
the lagoon, where there is some sand, the land is entirely com-
posed of rounded fragments of coral. In such a loose, dr}', stony
soil, the climate of the intertropical regions alone could produce
a vigorous vegetation. On some of the smaller islets, nothing
could be more elegant than the manner in which the young and
full-grown cocoa-nut trees, without destroying each other's sym-
454 KEELING ISLAND. [chap, xx
metiy, were ming-led into one wood. A beach of glittering white
sand formed a border to these fairy spots.
I will now give a sketch of the natural history of these islands,
which, from its very paucity, possesses a peculiar interest. The
cocoa-nut tree, at the first glance, seems to compose the whole
wood ; there are, however, five or six other trees. One of
these grows to a very large size, but, from tiie extreme softness
of its wood, is useless ; another sort affords excellent timber for
ship-building. Besides the trees, the number of plants is exceed-
ingly limited, and consists of insignificant weeds. In my collec-
tion, which includes, I believe, nearly the perfect Flora, there
are twenty species, without reckoning a moss, lichen, and fungus.
To this number two trees must be added ; one of which was not
in flower, and the other I only heard of. The latter is a solitary
tree of its kind, and grows near the beach, where, without doubt,
the one seed was thrown up by the waves. A Guilandina also
grows on only one of the islets. I do not include in the above
list the sugar-cane, banana, some other vegetables, fruit-trees,
and imported grasses. As the islands consist entirely of coral,
and at one time must have existed as mere water-washed reefs,
all their terrestrial productions must have been transported here
by the waves of the sea. In accordance with this, the Florula
has quite the character of a refuge for the destitute : Professor
Hcnslow informs me that of the twenty species nineteen be-
long to different genera, and these again to no less than sixteen
families !*
In Holman's f Travels an account is given, on the authority
of Mr. A. S. Keating, who resided twelve months on these
islands, of the various seeds and other bodies which have been
known to have been washed on shore. " Seeds and plants from
Sumatra and Java have been driven up by the surf on the wind-
ward side of the islands. Among them have been found the
Kimiri, native of Sumatra and the peninsula of Malacca ; the
cocoa-nut of Balci, known by its shape and size ; the Dadass,
which is planted by the Malays with the pepper-vine, the latter
intwining round its trunk, and supporting itself by the p'-^.ckles
* These plants are described in the Annals of Nat. Hist., vol. i. 1838,
P 337.
t Holman s Travels, vol. iv. p. 378.
.836.] SEEDS TRANSPORTED BY THE SEA 455
on its stem ; the soap-tree ; the castor-oil plant ; trunks of the
sago palm ; and various kinds of seeds unknown to the Malays
settled on the islands. These are all supposed to have been
driven by the N.W. monsoon to the coast of New Holland, and
thence to these islands by the S.E. trade-wind. Large masses of
Java teak and Yellow wood have also been found, besides im-
mense trees of red and white cedar, and the blue gum-wood of
New Holland, in a perfectly sound condition. All the hardy
seeds, such as creepers, retain their germinating power, but the
softer kinds, among which is the mangostin, are destroyed in the
passage. Fishing-canoes, apparently from Java, have at times
been washed on shore." It is interesting thus to discover how
numerous the seeds are, which, coming from several countries,
are drifted over the wide ocean. Professor Henslow tells me, he
believes that nearly all the plants which I brought from these
islands, are common littoral species in the East Indian archipe-
lago. From the direction, however, of the winds and currents,
it seems scarcely possible that they could have come here in a
direct line. If, as suggested with much probability by Mr.
Keating, they were first carried towards the coast of New Hol-
land, and thence drifted back together with the productions of
that country, the seeds, before germinating, must have travelled
between 1800 and 2400 miles.
Chamisso,* when describing the Eadack Archipelago, situated
in the western part of the Pacific, states that " the sea brings to
these islands the seeds and fruits of many trees, most of which
have yet not grown here. The greater part of these seeds appear
lo have not yet lost the capability of growing." It is also said
that palms and bamboos from somewhere in the torrid zone, and
trunks of northern firs, are washed on shore : these firs must have
come from an immense distance. These facts are higlily inte-
resting. It cannot be doubted that if there were land-birds to
pick up the seeds when first cast on shore, and a soil better
adapted for their growth than the loose blocks of coral, tliat the
most isolated of the lagoon- islands would in time possess a far
more abundant Flora than they now have.
The list of land animals is even poorer than that of the plants.
Some of the islets are inhabited by rats, which were brought in
* Kotzebue's First Voyage, vol. iii., p. 155.
4r.6 KEELING ISLAND. [chap. xx.
a ship from the Mauritius, wrecked liere. These rats are con-
sidered by Mr. Waterhouse as identical with the English kind,
but they are smaller, and more brightly coloured. There are
no true land-birds ; for a snipe and a rail (Rallus Phillippensis),
though living entirely in the dry herbage, belong to the order of
Waders. Birds of this order are said to occur on several of the
small low islands in the Pacific. At Ascension, where there is
no land bird, a rail (Porphyrio simplex) was shot near the
summit of the mountain, and it was evidently a solitary straggler.
At Tristan d'Acunha, where, according to Carmichael, there are
only two land birds, there is a coot. From these facts I believe
that the waders, after the innumerable web-footed species, are
generally the first colonists of small isolated islands. I may add,
that whenever I noticed birds, not of oceanic species, very far
out at sea, they always belonged to this order ; and hence they
would naturally become the earliest colonists of any rei.iote point
of land.
Of reptiles I saw only one small lizard. Of insects I took
pains to collect every kind. Exclusive of spiders, which were
numerous, there were thirteen species.* Of these, one only was
a beetle. A small ant swarmed by thousands under the loose dry
blocks of coral, and was the only true insect which M^as abun-
dant. Although the productions of the land are thus scanty, if
we look to the waters of the surrounding sea, the number of
organic beings is indeed infinite. Chamisso has described f the
natural history of a lagoon-island in the Radack Archipelago ;
and it is remarkable how closely its inhabitants, in number and
kind, resemble those of Keeling Island. There is one lizard
and two waders, namely, a snipe and curlew. Of plants there
are nineteen species, including a fern ; and some of these are the
same with those growing here, though on a spot so immensely
remote, and in a different ocean.
The long strips of land, forming the linear islets, have been
raised only to that height to which the surf can throw fragments
of coral, and the wind heap up calcareous sand. The solid flat
* The thirteen species belong to the following orders : — In the Coleoptera,
a minute Elater ; Orthoptera, a Gryllus and a Blatta ; Hemiptera, one spe-
cies; Homoptera, two; Nevroptera, a Chrysopa; Hymevoptera, two ants:
Lepidoptera nocturna, a Diopa?a, and a Pterophorus (?) ; JJiptera, two species
T Kotzebue's First Voyage, vol. iii., p. 222.
•.83G.1 THE SEPTLEMENT. 457
of coral rock on the outsi(..€, by its breadth, breaks the first vio-
lence of the waves, which otherwise, in a day, would sweep away
these islets and all their productions. The ocean and the land
seem here struggling for mastery : although terra firma has ob-
tained a footing, the denizens of the water think their claim at
least equally good. In everj'^ part one meets hermit crabs of
more than one species,* carrying on their backs the shells whicli
they have stolen from the neighbouring beach. Overhead, nume-
rous gannets, frigate-birds, and terns, rest on the trees ; and
the wood, from the many nests and from the smell of the atmos-
phere, might be called a sea-rookery. The gannets, sitting on
their rude nests, gaze at one with a stupid yet angry air. The
noddies, as their name expresses, are silly little creatures. But
there is one charming bird : it is a small snow^-white tern, which
smoothly hovers at the distance of a few feet above one's head,
its large black eye scanning, with quiet curiosity, your expres-
sion. Little imagination is required to fancy that so light and
delicate a body must be tenanted by some w^andering fairy
spirit.
Sunday, Aptil 3rd. — After service I accompanied Captain
Fitz Roy to the settlement, situated at the distance of some miles,
on the point of an islet thickly covered with tall cocoa-nut trees.
Captain Eoss and Mr. Liesk live in a large barn-like house
open at both ends, and lined with mats made of woven bark.
The houses of the Malays are arranged along the shore of the
lagoon. The whole place had rather a desolate aspect, for there
were no gardens to show the signs of care and cultivation. The
natives belong to different islands in the East Indian archipelago,
but all speak the same language : we saw the inhabitants of
Borneo, Celebes, Java, and Sumatra. In colour they resemble
the Tahitians, from whom they do not widely differ in features.
Some of the women, however, show a good deal of the Chinese
character. I liked both their general expressions and the sound
of their voices. They appeared poor, and their houses were des-
titute of furniture ; but it was evident, from the plumpness of
* The large claws or pincers of some of these crabs are most beautifully
adapted, when drawn back, to form an operculum to the shell, nearly as
perfect as the proper one originally belonging to the molluscous animal. 1
was assured, and as far as my observation went I found it so, that certaiu
species of the hermit-crabs always use certain species of shells.
458 KEELING ISLAND. [chap. xx.
the little childron, that cocoa-nuts and turtle afford no bad sus-
tenance.
On this island the wells are situated, from which ships obtain
water. At first siglit it appears not a little remarkable that the
fresh water should regularly ebb and flow with tlie tides ; and it
has even been imagined, that sand has the power of filtering the
salt from the sea-water. These ebbing wells are common on
some of the low islands in the West Indies. The compressed
sand, or porous coral rock, is permeated like a sponge with the
salt water ; but the rain which falls on the surface must sink to
the level of the surrounding sea, and must accumulate there, dis-
placing an equal bulk of the salt water. As the water in the
lower part of the great sponge-like coral mass rises and falls
with the tides, so will the water n^ar the surface ; and this will
keep fresh, if the mass be sufficiently compact to prevent much
mechanical admixture ; but where the land consists of great loose
blocks of coral with open interstices, if a well be dug, the walar,
as I have seen, is brackish.
After dinner we stayed to see a curious half superstitious scene
acted by the Malay women. A large wooden spoon dressed in
garments, and which had been carried to the grave of a dead
man, they pretend becomes inspired at the full of the moon, and
will dance and jump about. After the proper preparations, the
spoon, held by two women, became convulsed, and danced in
good time to the song of the surrounding children and women.
It was a most foolish spectacle ; but Mr. Liesk maintained that
many of the Malays believed in its spiritual movements. The
dance did not commence till the moon had risen, and it was well
worth remaining to behold her bright orb so quietly shining
through the long arms of the cocoa-nut trees as they waved in
the evening breeze. These scenes of the tropics are in them-
selves so delicious, that they almost equal those dearer ones at
home, to which we are bound by each best feeling of the mind.
The next day I employed myself in examining the very inte-
resting, yet simple structure and origin of these islands. The
water being unusually smooth, I waded over the outer flat of dead
rock as far as the living mounds of coral, on which the swell of
the open sea breaks. In some of the gullies and hollows there
were beautiful green and other coloured fishes, and the forms
f836.j TURTLE-CHASE. 469
and tints of many of the zoophytes were admirable. It is ex-
casable to grow enthusiastic over the infinite numbers of organic
beings with which the sea of the tropics, so prodigal of life,
teems ; yet I must confess I think those naturalists who have
described, in well-known words, the submarine grottoes decked
with a thousand beauties, have indulged in rather exuberant
language.
April 6th. — I accompanied Captain Fitz Roy to an island at
the head of the lagoon ; the channel was exceedingly intricate,
winding through fields of delicately branched corals. We saw
several turtle, and two boats were then employed in catching
them. The water was so clear and shallow, that although at
first a turtle quickly dives out of sight, yet in a canoe or boat
under sail, the pursuers after no very long cha?e come up to it.
A man standing ready in the bow, at this moment dashes through
the water upon the turtle's back ; then clinging with both hands
by the shell of its neck, he is carried away till the animal be-
comes exhausted and is secured. It was quite an interesting
chase to see the two boats thus doubling about, and the men
dashing head foremost into the water trying to seize their prey.
Captain Moresby informs me that in the Chagos archipelago in
this same ocean, the natives, by a horrible process, take the shell
from the back of the living turtle. " It is covered with burning
charcoal, which causes the outer shell to curl upwards ; it is
then forced off with a knife, and before it becomes cold flattened
between boards. After this barbarous process the animal is
suffered to regain its native element, where, after a certain time,
a new shell is formed ; it is, however, too thin to be of any ser-
vice, and the animal always appears languishing and sickly."
When we arrived at the head of the lagoon, we crossed a
narrow islet, and found a great surf breaking on the windward
coast. I can hardly explain the reason, but there is to my mind
much grandeur in the view of the outer shores of these lagoon-
islands. There is a simplicity in the barrier-like beach, the
margin of green bushes and tall cocoa-nuts, the solid flat of dead
coral-rock, strewed here and there witli great loose fragments,
and the line of furious breakers, all rounding away towards
either hand. The ocean throwing its waters over the broad reef
appears an invincible, all-powerful enemy ; yet wo sec it resisted
460 KEELING ISLAND. [chap, xx
aind even conquered, by means which at first seem most weak and
inefficient It is not that the ocean spares the rock of coral ;
the great fragments scattered over the reef, and heaped on the
beach, whence the tall cocoa-nut springs, plainly bespeak the
unrelenting power of the weaves. Nor are any periods of repose
granted. The long swell caused by the gentle but steady action
of the trade-wind, always blowing in one direction over a wide
area, causes breakers, almost equalling in force those during a
gale of wind in the temperate regions, and which never cease to
rage. It is impossible to behold these waves without feeling a
conviction that an island, though built of the hardest rock, let it
be porphyry, granite, or quartz, would ultimately yield and be
demolished by such an irresistible power. Yet these low, insig-
nificant coral-islets stand and are victorious : for here another
power, as an antagonist, takes part in the contest. The organic
forces separate the atoms of carbonate of lime, one by one, from
the foaming breakers, and unite them into a symmetrical struc-
ture. Let the hurricane tear up its thousand huge fragments ;
yet what will that tell against the accumulated labour of myriads
of architects at work night and day, month after month ? Thus
do we see the soft and gelatinous body of a polypus, through the
agency of the vital laws, conquering the great mechanical power
of the waves of an ocean which neither the art of man nor the
inanimate w^orks of nature could successfully resist.
We did not return on board till late in the evening, for we
staid a long time in the lagoon, examining the fields of coral and
the gigantic shells of the chama, into which, if a man were to put
his hand, he would not, as long as the animal lived, be able to
withdraw it. Near the head of the lagoon, I was much surprised
to find a wide area, considerably more than a mile square, covered
with a forest of delicately branching corals, which, though stand-
ing upright, were all dead and rotten. At first I was quite at a
loss to understand the cause ; afterwards it occurred to me that
it was owing to the following rather curious combination of cir-
cumstances. It should, however, first be stated, that corals are
not able to survive even a short exposure in the air to the sun's
rays, so that their upward limit of growth is determined by tliat
of lowest water at spring tides. It appears, from some old charts,
that the long island to windward was formerly separated by wide
1836.J STONES TRANSPORTED BY TREES. 461
channels into several islets ; this fact is likewise indicated by the
trees being younger on these portions. Under the former con-
dition of the reef, a strong breeze, by throwing more water over
the barrier, would tend to raise the level of the lagoon. 'Now
it acts in a directly contrary manner ; for the water within tlie
lagoon not only is not increased by currents from the outside,
but is itself blown outwards by the force of the wind. Hence
it is observed, that the tide near the head of the lagoon does not
rise so high during a strong breeze as it does when it is calm.
This difference of level, although no doubt very small, has, I
believe, caused the death of those coral-groves, which under the
former and more open condition of the outer reef had attained
the utmost possible limit of upward growth.
A few miles north of Keeling there is another small atoll,
the lagoon of which is nearly filled up with coral-mud. Captain
Ross found embedded in the conglomerate on the outer coast, a well-
rounded fragment of greenstone, rather larger than a man's head :
he and the men with him were so much surprised at this, that
they brought it away and preserved it as a curiosity. The oc-
currence of this one stone, where every other particle of matter
is calcareous, certainly is very puzzling. The island has scarcely
ever been visited, nor is it probable that a ship had been wrecked
there. From the absence of any better explanation, I came to
the conclusion that it must have come entangled in the roots
of some large tree : when, however, I considered the great
distance from the nearest land, the combination of chances against
a stone thus being entangled, the tree w ashed into the sea, floated
so far, then landed safely, and the stone finally so embedded as
to allow of its discovery, I was almost afraid of imagining a
means of transport apparently so improbable. It was therefore
with great interest that I found Chamisso, the justly distin-
guished naturalist who accompanied Kotzebue, stating that the
inhabitants of the Radack archipelago, a group of lagoon-islands
in the midst of the Pacific, obtained stones for sharpening their
instruments by searching the roots of trees which are cast upon
the beach. It will be evident that this must have happened
several times, since laws have been established that such stones
belong to the chief, and a punishment is inflicted on any one
who attempts to steal them. When the isolated position of these
162 KEELING ISLAND. [chai-. xx.
small islands in the midst of a vast ocean — their great distance
from any land excepting that of coral formation, attested by the
value which the inhabitants, who are such bold navigators, attach
to a stone of any kind,* — and the slowness of the currents of
the open sea, are all considered, the occurrence of pebbles thus
transported does appear wonderful. Stones may often be thus
carried ; and if the island on wiiich they are stranded is con-
structed of any other substance besides coral, they would scarcely
attract attention, and their origin at least would never be guessed.
Moreover, this agency may long escape discovery from the pro-
bability of trees, especioJly those loaded with stones, floating
beneath the surface. In the channels of Tierra del Fuego large
quantities of drift timber are cast upon the beach, yet it is ex-
tremely rare to meet a tree swimming on the water. These
facts may possibly throw light on single stones, whether angular
or rounded, occasionally found embedded in fine sedimentary
masses.
During another day I visited West Islet, on which the vege-
tation was perhaps more luxuriant than on any other. The co-
coa-nut trees generally grow separate, but here the young ones
flourished beneath their tall parents, and formed with their long
and curved fronds the most shady arbours. Those alone who
have tried it, know how delicious it is to be seated in such shade,
and drink the cool pleasant fluid of the cocoa-nut. In this
island there is a large bay-like space, composed of the finest
white sand : it is quite level, and is only covered by the tide at
high water ; from this large bay smaller creeks penetrate the
surrounding woods. To see a field of glittering white sand,
representing water, with the cocoa-nut trees extending their tall
and waving trunks round the margin, formed a singular and very
pretty view.
I have before alluded to a crab which lives on the cocoa-nuts :
it is very common on all parts of the dry land, and grows to a
monstrous size : it is closely allied or identical with the Birgos
latro. The front pair of legs terminate in very strong and
iieavy pincers, and the last pair are fitted with others weaker and
much narrower. It would at first be thought quite impossible
* Some natives carried by Kotzebue to Kamtschatka collected stones to
take back to their country.
1836.] GREAT CRAB. 463
for a crab to open a strong cocoa-nut covered with the husk '
but Mr. Liesk assures me that he has repeatedly seen this
effected. The crab begins by tearing the husk, fibre by fibre,
and always from that end under which the three eye-holes are
situated ; when this is completed, the crab commences hammer-
ing with its heavy claws on one of the eye-holes till an opening
is made. Then turning round its body, by the aid of its pos-
terior and narrow pair of pincers, it extracts the white albu-
minous substance. I think this is as curious a case of instinct
as ever I heard of, and likewise of adaptation in structure be-
tween two objects apparently so remote from each other in the
scheme of nature, as a crab and a cocoa-nut tree. The Birgos
is diurnal in its habits ; but every night it is said to pay a visit
to the sea, no doubt for the purpose of moistening its branchiae.
The young are likewise hatched, and live for some time, on the
coast. These crabs inhabit deep burrows, which they hollow
out beneath the roots of trees ; and where they accumulate sur-
prising quantities of the picked fibres of the cocoa-nut husk, on
which they rest as on a bed. The Malays sometimes take ad-
vantage of this, and collect the fibrous mass to use as junk.
These crabs are very good to eat; moreover, under the tail of the
larger ones there is a great mass of fat, which, when melted, some-
times yields as much as a quart bottle full of limpid oil. It has
been stated by some authors that the Birgos crawls up the
cocoa-nut trees for the purpose of stealing the nuts : I very
much doubt the possibility of this ; but with the Pandanus* the
task would be very much easier. I was told by Mr. Liesk that
on these islands the Birgos lives only on the nuts which have
fallen to the ground.
Captain Moresby informs me that this crab inhabits the
Chagos and Seychellc groups, but not the neighbouring Maldiva
archipelago. It formerly abounded at Mauritius, but only a
few small ones are now found there. In the Pacific, this species,
or one with closely allied habits, is saidf to inhabit a single
coral island, north of the Society group. To show the wonder-
ful strength of the front pair of pincers, I may mention, that
aptain Moresby confined one in a strong tin-box, which had
* See Proceedings of Zoological Society, 1832, p. 17
"f Tyemian and Bennett. Voyage, &c., vol. ii., p. 33.
464 KEELING ISLAND. [chap. xx.
held biscuits, the lid being secured with wire ; but the crab
turned down the edges and escaped. In turning down the edges,
it actually punched many small holes quite through the tin !
I was a good deal surprised by finding two species of coral of
the genus Millepora (M. complanata and alcicornis), possessed
of the power of stinging. The stony branches or plates, when
taken fresh from the water, have a harsh feel and are not slimy,
although possessing a strong and disagreeable smell. The sting-
ing property seems to vary in different specimens : when a piece
was pressed or rubbed on the tender skin of the face or arm, a
pricking sensation was usually caused, which came on after the
interval of a second, and lasted only for a few minutes. One
day, however, by merely touching my face with one of the
branches, pain was instantaneously caused ; it increased as usual
after a few seconds, and remaining sharp for some minutes, was
perceptible for half an hour afterwards. The sensation was as
bad as that from a nettle, but more like that caused by the Phy-
salia or Portuguese man-of-war. Little red spots were produced
on the tender skin of the arm, which appeared as if they would
have formed watery pustules, but did not. M. Quoy mentions
this case of the Millepora ; and I have heard of stinging corals
in the West Indies. Many marine animals seem to have this
power of stinging : besides the Portuguese man-of-war, many
jelly-fish, and the Aplysia or sea-slug of the Cape de Verd
Islands, it is stated in the voj^age of the Astrolabe, that an Acti-
nia or sea-anemone, as well as a flexible coralline allied to Ser-
tularia, both possess this means of oflfence or defence. In the
East Indian sea, a stinging sea-weed is said to be found.
Two species of fish, of the genus Scarus, which are common
here, exclusively feed on coral : both are coloured of a splendid
bluish-green, one living invariably in the lagoon, and the other
amongst the outer breakers. Mr. Liesk assured us, that he had
repeatedly seen whole shoals grazing with their strong bony jaws
on the tops of the coral branches : I opened the intestines of
several, and found them distended with yellowish calcareous
sandy mud. The slimy disgusting Holuthuriae (allied to our
star-fish), which the Chinese gourmands are so fond of, also feed
largely, as I am informed by Dr. Allan, on corals ; and the bony
apparatus within their bodies seems well adapted for this end
18S6.J CORAL FORMATIONS. 465
These holuthuriae, the fish, the numerous burrowing shells, ami
nereidous worms, which perforate every block of dead coral,
must be very efficient agents in producing the fine white niud
which lies at the bottom and on the shores of the las:oon. A
portion, however, of this mud, which when wet strikingly re-
sembled pounded chalk, was found by Professor Ehrenberg tO
be partly composed of siliceous-shielded infusoria.
April \2th. — In the morning we stood out of the lagoon on
our passage to the Isle of France. I am glad we have visited
these islands : such formations surely rank high amongst the
wonderful objects of this world. Captain Fitz Roy found no
bottom with a line 7200 feet in length, at the distance of only
2200 yards from the shore ; hence this island forms a lofty sub-
marine mountain, with sides steeper even than those of the most
abrupt volcanic cone. The saucer-shaped summit is nearly ten
miles across ; and every single atom,* from the least particle to
the largest fragment of rock, in this great pile, which however
is small compared with very many other lagoon-islands, bears
the stamp of having been subjected to organic arrangement. We
feel surprise when travellers tell us of the vast dimensions ot
the Pyramids and other great ruins, but how utterly insignificant
are the greatest of these, when compared to these mountains of
stone accumulated by the agency of various minute and tender
animals ! This is a wonder which does not at first strike the
eye of the body, but, after reflection, the eye of reason.
I will now give a very brief account of the three great classes
of coral-reefs ; namely. Atolls, Barrier, and Fringing-reefs, and
will explain my views j" on their formation. Almost every
voyager who has crossed the Pacific has expressed his unbounded
astonishment at the lagoon-islands, or as I shall for the future
call them by their Indian name of atolls, and has attempted
some explanation. Even as long ago as the year 1605, Pyrard
* I exclude, of course, some soil which has been imported here in vessels
from Malacca and Java, and likewise some small fragments of pumice,
drifted here by the waves. The one block of green-stone, moreover, on the
northern island must be excepted.
t These were first read before the Geological Society in May, 1837,
and have since been developed in a separate volume on the 'Structure ani
Distribution of Coral Reefs.'
4C6 LAGOON-ISLANDS, [chap. xx.
de Laval well exclaimed, " C'est une meruille de voir chacun
de ces atollons, enuironne d'un grand banc de pierre tout autour,
n'y avant point d'artifice humain." The accompanying sketch
of Whitsunday Island in the Pacific, copied from Capt. Beechey'e
admirable Voyage, gives but a faint idea of the singular aspect
of an atoll.: it is one of the smallest size, and has its narrow
islets united together in a ring. The immensity of the ocean.
the fury of the breakers, contrasted with the lowness of the land
and the smoothness of the bright green water within the lagoon,
can hardly be imagined without having been seen.
The earlier voyagers fancied that the coral-building animals
instinctively built up their great circles to afford themselves pro-
tection in the inner parts ; but so far is this from the truth, that
those massive kinds, to whose growth on the exposed outer shores
the very existence of the reef depends, cannot live within the
lagoon, where other delicately-branching kinds flourish. More-
over, on this view, many species of distinct genera and families
are supposed to combine for one end ; and of such a combination,
not a single instance can be found in the whole of nature. The
theory that has been most generally received is, that atolls are
based on submarine craters ; but when we consider the form and
size of some, the number, proximity, and relative positions of
others, this idea loses its plausible character : thus, Suadiva atoll
is 44 geographical miles in diameter in one line, by 34 miles in
another line ; Rimsky is 54 by 20 miles across, and it has a
strangely sinuous margin ; Bow atoll is 30 miles long, and on an
average only 6 in width ; Menchicoff atoll consists of three atolls
united or tied together Tliis theory, moreover, is totally inap-
1836.] OK ATOLLS. 467
plicable to the northern Maldiva atolls in the Indian Ocean
(one of which is 88 miles in length, and between 10 and 20 in
breadth), for they are not bounded like ordinary atolls by narrow
reefs, but by a vast number of separate little atolls ; other little
atolls rising out of the great central lagoon-like spaces. A third
and better theory was advanced by Chamisso, who thought that
from the corals growing more vigorously where exposed to the
open sea. as undoubtedly is the case, the outer edges would grow
up from the general foundation before any other part, and that
this would account for the ring or cup-shaped structure. But
we shall immediately see, that in this, as well as in the crater-
theory, a most important consideration has been overlooked,
namely, on what have the reef -building corals, which cannot live
at a great depth, based their massive structures ?
Numerous soundings were carefully taken by Captain Fitz
Roy on the steep outside of Keeling atoll, and it was found that
within ten fathoms, the prepared tallow at the bottom of the
lead, invariably came up marked with the impressions of living
corals, but as perfectly clean as if it had been dropped on a
carpet of turf ; as the depth increased, the impressions became
less immerous, but the adhering particles of sand more and more
numerous, until at last it was evident that the bottom consisted
of a smooth sandy layer : to carry on the analogy of the turf,
the blades of grass grew thinner and thinner, till at last the soil
was so sterile, that nothing sprang from it. From these obser-
vations, confirmed by many others, it may be safely inferred that
the utmost depth at wliich corals can construct reefs is between
20 and 30 fathoms, Now there are enormous areas in the
Pacific and Indian Oceans, in . which every single island is
of coral formation, and is raised only to that height to which
the waves can throw up fragments, and the winds pile up sand.
Thus the Radack group of atolls is an irregular square, 520
-miles long and 240 broad ; tiie Low archipelago is elliptic-formed,
840 miles in its longer, and 420 in its shorter axis : there are
other small groups and single low islands between these two
archipelagoes, making a linear space of ocean actually more than
4000 miles in length, in which not one single island rises above
the specified height. Again, in the Indian Ocean there is a
space of ocean 1500 miles in length, including three archi-
468 AREAS OF SUBSIDENCE. [chap, xx
pelagoes, in which every island is low and of coral formation.
From the fact of the reef-building corals not living at great
depths, it is absolutely certain that throughout these vast areas,
wherever there is now an atoll, a foundation must have ori-
i^inally existed within a depth of from 20 to 30 fathoms from the
surface. It is improbable in the highest degree that broad,
lofty, isolated, steep-sided banks of sediment, arranged in groups
and lines hundreds of leagues in length, could have been depo-
sited in the central and profoundest parts of the Paicific and
Indian Oceans, at an immense distance from any continent, and
where the water is perfectly limpid. It is equally improbable
that the elevatory forces should have uplifted th^o1l^|^o^lt the
above vast areas, innumerable great rocky banks within 20 to 30
fathoms, or 120 to 180 feet, of the surface of the sea, and not
one single point above that level ; for where on the whole face
of the globe can we find a single chain of mountains, even a few
hundred miles in length, with their many summits rising within
a few feet of a given level, and not one pinnacle above it ? If
then the foundations, whence the atoll-building corals sprang,
were not formed of sediment, and if they were not lifted up to
the required level, they must of necessity have subsided into it ;
and this at once solves the difficulty. For as mountain after
mountain, and island after island, slowly sank beneath the water,
fresh bases would be successively afforded for the growth of the
corals. It is impossible here to enter into all the necessary
details, but I venture to defy* any one to explain in any other
manner, how it is possible that numerous islands should be dis-
tributed throuo;hout vast areas — all the islands beino; low — all
being built of corals, absolutely requiring a foundation within
a limited depth from the surface.
Before explaining how atoll-formed reefs acquire their pecu-
liar structure, we must turn to the second great class, namely,
Barrier-reefs. These either extend in straight lines in front of
the shores of a continent or of a large island, or they encircle
smaller islands ; in both cases, being separated from the land by
* It is remarkable that Mr. Lyell, even in the first Edition of his ' Princi-
ples of Geology,' inferred that the amount of subsidence in the Pacific must
have exceeded that of elevation, from the area of land being very small
relatively to the agents there tending to form it, namely, the growth of coral
and volcanic action.
1836.]
BARRIER-REEFS.
469
a broad and rather deep channel of water, analogous to the
lagoon within an atoll. It is remarkable how little attention
has been paid to encircling barrier- reefs ; yet they are truly
wonderful structures. The following sketch represents part of
the barrier encircling the island of Bolabola in the Pacific, as
seen from one of the central peaks. In this instance the whole line
of reef has been converted into land ; but usually a snow-white line
of great breakers, with only here and there a single low islet
crowned with cocoa-nut trees, divides the dark heaving waters
of the ocean from the light-green expanse of the lagoon-channel.
And the quiet waters of this channel generally bathe a fringe of
low alluvial soil, loaded with the most beautiful productions of
the tropics, and lying at the foot of the wild, abrupt, central
mountains.
Encircling barrier-reefs are of all sizes, from three miles to
no less than forty-four miles in diameter ; and that which fronts
one side, and encircles both ends, of New Caledonia, is 400 miles
long. Each reef includes one, two, or several rocky islands of
various heights ; and in one instance, even as many as twelve
separate islands. The reef runs at a greater or less distance
from the included land ; in the Society archipelago generally
from one to three or four miles ; but at Hoofoleu the reef is
20 miles on -the southern side, and 14 miles on the opposite
or northern side, from the included islands. The depth within
the lagoon-channel also varies much ; from 10 to 30 fathoms
may be taken as an average ; but at Vanikoro there are spaces no
less than 56 fathoms or 336 feet deep. Internally the reef either
slopes gently into the lagoon-cliannel,.or ends in a pprpendicular
470 BARRIEK-REEFS. [chaf. xx
wall sometimes between two and three hundred feet under water
in height : externally the reef rises, like an atoll, with extreme
abruptness out of the profound depths of the ocean. What can
be more singular tlian these structures? We see an island,
which may be compared to a castle situated on the summit of a
lofty submarine mountain, protected by a great wall of coral -
rock, always steep externally and sometimes internally, with a
broad level summit, here and there breached by narrow gate-
ways, through which the largest ships can enter the wide and
deep encircling moat.
As far as the actual reef of coral is concerned, there is not the
smallest difference, in general size, outline, grouping, and even
in quite trifling details of structure, between a barrier and an
atoll. The geographer Balbi has well remarked, that an encircled
island is an atoll with high land rising out of its lagoon ; remove
the land from within, and a perfect atoll is left.
But what has caused these reefs to spring up at such great
distances from the shores of the included islands? It cannot be
that the corals will not grow close to the land ; for the shores
within the lagoon-channel, when not surrounded by alluvial soil,
are often fringed by living reefs ; and we shall presently see
that there is a whole class, which I have called Fringing Reefs
from their close attachment to the shores both of continents and
of islands. Again, on what have the reef-building corals, which
cannot live at great depths, based their encircling structures ?
This is a great apparent difficulty, analogous to that in the case
of atolls, which has generally been overlooked. It will be per-
ceived more clearly by inspecting the following sections, which
are real ones, taken in north and south lines, through the islands
with their barrier-reefs, of Vanikoro, Gambler, and Maurua ;
and they are laid down, both vertically and horizontally, on the
same scale of a quarter of an inch to a mile.
It should be observed that the sections might have been taken
iii any direction through these islands, or through many other
encircled islands, and the general features would have been the
same. Now bearing in mind that reef-building coral cannot
live at a greater depth than from 20 to 30 fathoms, and that the
scale is so small that the plummets on the right hand sliow a
depth of 200 fathoms, on what are these barrier-reefs based?
1836.J
BAKllIER-EEEFii.
471
'liiU'lliP'
\. Vanikoro. 2. Gambier Islands. 3. Maurua.
The horizontal shading sho\vs the barrier-reefs and lagoon-ch»nnels. The inclined
shading above the level of the sea (AA), shows the actual form of the land : the inclined
shading below this line, shows its probable prolongation under water.
Are we to suppose that each island is surrounded by a collar-
like submarine ledge of rock, or by a great bank of sediment,
ending abruptly where the reef ends? If the sea had for-
merly eaten deeply into the islands, before they were protected
by the reefs, thus having left a shallow ledge round them under
water, the present shores would have been invariably bounded by
great precipices ; but this is most rarely the case. Moreover, on
this notion, it is not possible to explain why the corals sliould
have sprung up, like a wall, from the extreme outer margin of
the ledge, often leaving a broad space of water within, too deep
for the growth of corals. The accumulation of a wide bank of
sediment all round these islands, and generally widest where the
included islands are smallest, is highly improbable, considering
their exposed positions in the central and deepest parts of the
ocean. In the case of the barrier-reef of New Caledonia, which
extends for 150 miles beyond the northern point of the island, in
the same straight line with which it fronts the west coast, it is
hardly possible to believe, that a bank of sediment could thus have
been straightly deposited in front of a lofty island, and so far be-
yond its termination in the open sea. Finally, if we look to other
oceanic islands of about the same height and of similar geological
constitution, but not encircled by coral reefs, we may in vain
search for so trifling a eircumauibieiit depth as 30 fatiioms, excfpt
21
472 FRINGING-REEFS. [chap. xx.
quite near to their shores ; for usually land that rises abruptly out
of water, as do most of the encircled and non- encircled oceanic
islands, plunges abruptly under it. On what then, I repeat, are
these barrier-reefs based ? Why, with their wide and deep moat-
like channels, do they stand so far from the included land ? We
shall soon see how easily these difficulties disappear.
We come now to our third class of Fringing Reefs, which will
require a very short notice. Where the land slopes abruptly
under water, these reefs are only a few yards in width, forming
a mere ribbon or fringe round the shores : where the land slopes
gently under the water the reef extends further, sometimes even
as much as a mile from the land ; but in such cases the soundings
outside the reef, always show that the submarine prolongation of
the land is gently inclined. In fact the reefs extend only to that
distance from the shore, at which a foundation within the requi-
site depth from 20 to 30 fathoms is found. As far as the actual
reef is concerned, there is no essential difference between it and
that forming a barrier or an atoll : it is, however, generally of
less width, and consequently few islets have been formed on it.
From the corals growing more vigorously on the outside, and
from the noxious effect of the sediment washed inwards, the outer
edge of the reef is the highest part, and between it and the land
there is generally a shallow sandy channel a few feet in depth.
Where banks of sediment have accumulated near to the surface,
as in parts of the West Indies, they sometimes become fringed
with corals, and hence in some degree resemble lagoon-islands or
atolls ; in the same manner as fringing -reefs, surrounding gently-
sloping islands, in some degree resemble barrier-reefs.
No theory on the formation of coral-reefs can be considered
satisfactory which does not include the three great classes. We
have seen that we are driven to believe in the subsidence of
those vast areas, interspersed with low islands, of which not one
rises above the height to which the wind and waves can throw
up matter, and yet are constructed by animals requiring a
foundation, and that foundation to lie at no great depth. Let
us then take an island surrounded by fringing-reefs, which offer
no difficulty in their structure ; and let this island with its
reef, represented by the unbroken lines in the woodcut, slowly
1836.J
THKOliY OF COEAL-REKFS.
47ii
subside. Now as the island sinks down, either a few feet at
a time or quite insensibly, we may safely infer, from what
A A Outer edges of the fringing- reef, at the level ot the sea. BB. The shores of the
fringed island.
A'A'. Outer edges of the reef, after its upward growth during a period of subsidence,
now converted into a barrier, with islets on it. B'B'. The shores of the now encircled
island. CC. Lagoon-channel.
N.B. In this and the following woodcut, the subsidence of the land could be repre
seated only by an apparent rise in the level of the sea.
is known of the conditions favourable to the growth of coral,
that the living masses, bathed by the surf on the margin of
the reef, will soon regain the surface. The water, however,
will encroach little by little on the shore, the island becom-
ing lower and smaller, and the space between the inner edge
of the reef and the beach proportionally broader. A section
of the reef and island in this state, after a subsidence of several
hundred feet, is given by the dotted lines. Coral islets are sup-
posed to have been formed on the reef; and a ship is anchored
in the lagoon-channel. This channel will be more or less deep,
according to tlie rate of subsidence, to the amount of sediment
accumulated in it, and to the growth of the delicately branched
corals which can live there. The section in this state resem-
bles in ever}^ respect one drawn through an encircled island : in
fact, it is a real section (on the scale of -517 of an inch to a mile)
through Bolabola in the Pacific. We can now at once see why
encircling barrier-reefs stand so far from the shores which they
front. We can also perceive, that a line drawn perpendicularly
down from the outer edge of the new reef, to tlie foundation of
solid rock beneath the old fiinging-reef, will exceed by as many
feet as there have been feet of subsidence, that small limit of
depth at which the efl?ective corals can live:— the little archi-
tects having built up their great wall-like mass, as the whole
sank down, upon a basis formed of other corals and their conso-
474
THEOKY OF CORAL-KEEFS.
[chap. XX.
lidated fragments. Thus the difficulty on this head, which ap-
peared so great, disappears.
If, instead of an island, we had taken the shore of a continent
fringed with reefs, and had imagined it to have subsided, a great
straight barrier, like that of Australia or !Xew Caledonia, sepa-
rated from the land by a wide and deep channel, would evidently
have been the result.
Let us take our new encircling barrier-reef, of which the sec-
tion is now represented by unbroken lines, and which, as I have
said, is a real section through Bolabola, and let it go on sub-
As the barrier-reef slowly sinks down, the co-rals will
siding
ife s,.
A' A'. Outer edgps of the barr:er-reef at the level of the sea, with islets on it. B'B'. The
shores of the included island. CC. The lagoon channel.
A" A". Outer edges of the reef, now converted into an atoll. C. The lagoon of the
new atoll.
N.H. According to the true scale, the depths of the lagoon-channel and lagoon are much
exagger ted.
go on vigorously growing upwards ; but as the island sinks, the
water will gain inch by inch on the shore — the separate moun
tains first forming separate islands within one great reef — and
finally, the last autl highest pincaele di.vippearing. The instant
this takes place, a perfect atoll is formed : I have said, remove
the high land from within an encircling barrier-reef, and an atoll
is left, and the land has been removed. We can now per-
ceive how it comes that atolls, having sprung from encircling
barrier-reefs, resemble them in general size, form, in the manner
in w^hich they are grouped together, and in their arrangem.ent
in single or double lines ; for they may be called rude outline
charts of the sunken islands over which they stand. We can
further see how it arises that the atolls in the Pacific and Indian
oceans extend in lines parallel to the generally prevailing strike of
the hig-h islands and great coast-lines of tho.se oceans. I venture,
1836.] SUBSIDENCE OF COl?AL-FEEFS. 475
therefore, to affirm, that on the theory of the upward growth of
the corals daring the sinking of the land,* all the leading- fea-
tures in those w^onderful structures, the lagoon-islands or atolls^
which have so long excited the attention of voyagers, as well as
in the no less wonderful barrier-reefs, whether encircling small
islands or stretching for hundreds of miles along the shores of a
continent, are simply explained.
It may be asked, whether 1 can offer any direct evidence of
the subsidence of barrier-reefs or atolls ; but it must be borne in
mind how ditficult it must ever be to detect a movement, the
tendency of which is to hide under water the part affected. Ke-
vertheless, at Keeling atoll I observed on all sides of the lagoon
old cocoa-nut trees undermined and falling ; and in one place
the foundation-posts of a shed, which the inhabitants asserted
had stood seven years before just above high-water mark, bu
now was daily washed by every tide : on inquiry I found that
three earthquakes, one of them severe, had been felt here during
the last ten years. At Yanikoro, the lagoon-channel is remark-
ably deep, scarcely any alluvial soil has accumulated at the foot
of the lofty included mountains, and remarkably few islets have
been formed by the heaping of fragments and sand on the wall-
like barrier-reef; these facts, and some analogous ones, led me
to believe that this island must lately have subsided and the
reef grown upwards : here again earthquakes are frequent and
very severe. lii the Society archipelago, on the other hand,
where the lagoon-channels are almost choked up, where much
low alluvial land has accumulated, and where in some cases long
islets have been formed on the barrier-reefs — facts all showing
that the islands have not very lately subsided — only feeble shocks
are most rarely felt. In these coral formations, where the land
and water seem struggling for mastery, it must be ever difficult
to decide between the effects of a change in the set of the tidet
and of a slight subsidence : that many of these reefs and atolls
* It has been highly satisfactory to me to find the following passage in a
pamphlet by Mr. Couthouy, one of the naturalists in the great Antarctic Ex-
pedition of the United States : — " Having personally examined a large
number of coral-islands, and resided eight months among the volcanic
class having shore and partially encircling reefs, I may be permitted
to state that my own observations have impressed a conviction of the cor-
rectness of the theory of Mr. Darwin." — The naturalists, however, of tiik
expedition differ with me on some points respecting coral formations.
176 CHANGES IN C( RAL-REEFS. Icaxv. x\
are subject to changes of some kind is certain ; on some atolls
ciie islets appear to have increased greatly within a late period ;
on others they have been partially or wholly washed away. The
inhabitants of parts of the Maldiva archipelago know the date
of the first formation of some islets ; in other parts, the corals
are now flourishing on water-washed reefs, where holes made
for graves attest the former existence of inhabited land. It is
difficult to believe in frequent changes in the tidal currents of an
open ocean ; whereas, we have in the earthquakes recorded by
the natives on some atolls, and in the great fissures observed on
other atolls, plain evidence of changes and disturbances in pro-
gress in the subterranean regions.
It is evident, on our theory, that coasts merely fringed by
reefs cannot have subsided to any perceptible amount ; and
therefore they must, since the growth of their corals, either have
remained stationary or have been upheaved. Now it is remark-
able how generally it can be shown, by the presence of upraised
organic remains, thift the fringed islands have been elevated :
and so far, this is indirect e\ idence in favour of our theory. I
was particularly struck with this fact, when I found to my sur-
prise, that the descriptions given by MM. Quoy and Gaimard
were applicable, not to reefs in general as implied by them, but
only to those of the fringing-class ; my surprise, however, ceased
when I afterwards found that, by a strange chance, all the several
islands visited by these eminent naturalists, could be shown by
their own statements to have been elevated within a recent geo-
logical era.
Not only the grand features in the structure of barrier-reefs
and of atolls, and of their likeness to each other in form,
size, and other characters, are explained on the theory of sub-
sidence— w^hich theory we are independently forced to admit in
the very areas in question, from the necessity of finding bases
for the corals within the requisite depth — but many details in
structure and exceptional cases can thus also be simply explained.
I will give only a few instances. In barrier- reefs it has long
been remarked with surprise, that the passages through the reef
exactly face valleys in the included land, even in cases where the
reef is separated from the land by a lagoon-channel so wide and
;o much deeper than the actual passage itself, that it seems hardly
»83J.J BJREACHES IN BARRIER-REEFS. 47?
possible that the very small quantity of water or sediment bronglit
down could injure the corals on the reef. Now, every reef of
the fringing-class is breached by a narrow gateway in front of
the smallest rivulet, even if dry during the greater part of tlie
year, for the mud, sand, or gravel, occasionally washed down,
kills the corals on which it is deposited. Consequently, wlien
an island thus fringed subsides, though most of the narrow gate-
ways w^ill probably become closed by the outward and upward
growth of the corals, yet any that are not closed (and some must
always be kept open by the sediment and impure water flowing
out of the lagoon-channel) will still continue to front exactly
the upper parts of those valleys, at the mouths of which the
original basal fringing-reef was breached.
We can easily see how an island fronted only on one side, or
on one side with one end or both ends encircled by barrier-reefs,
might after long-continued subsidence be converted either into
a single wall-like reef, or into an atoll with a great straight spur
projecting from it, or into two or three atolls tied together by
straight reefs — all of which exceptional cases actually occur.
As the reef-building corals require food, are preyed upon by
other animals, are killed by sediment, cannot adhere to a loose
bottom, and may be easily carried down to a depth whence they
cannot spring up again, we need feel no surprise at the reefs
both of atolls and barriers becoming in parts imperfect. The
great barrier of New Caledonia is thus imperfect and broken in
many parts ; hence, after long subsidence, this great reef would
not produce one great atoll 400 miles in length, but a chain or
archipelago of atolls, of very nearly the same dimensions with
those in the Maldiva archipelago. Moreover, in an atoll once
breached on opposite sides, from the likelihood of the oceanic
and tidal currents passing straight through the breaches, it
is extremely improbable that the corals, especially during con-
tinued subsidence, would ever be able again to unite the rim .
if they did not, as the whole sank downwards, one atoll would be
di\ ided into two or more. In the Maldiva archipelago there are
distinct atolls so related to each other in position, and separated
by channels either unfathomable or very deep (the channel be-
tween Ross and Ari atolls is 150 fathoms, and that between the
north and south Nillandoo atolls is 200 fathoms in depth), thai
i78 MALDIVA ARCHIPELAGO. [chap, xx
't is impossible to look at a map of them without believing that
they were once more intimately related. And in this same archi-
pelago, Mahlos-Mahdoo atoll is divided by a bifurcating channel
from 100 to 132 fathoms in depth, in such a manner, that it is
scarcely possible to say whether it ought strictly to be called three
separate atolls, or one great atoll not yet finally divided.
I will not enter on many more details ; but I must remark
that the curious structure of the northern Maldiva atolls receives
(taking into consideration the free entrance of the sea through
their broken margins) a simple explanation in the upward and
outward growth of the corals, originally based both on small
detached reefs in their lagoons, such as occur in common atolls,
and on broken portions of the linear marginal reef, such as bounds
every atoll of the ordinary form. I cannot refrain from once
again remarking on the singularity of these complex structures
— a great sandy and generally concave disk rises abruptly from
the unfathomable ocean, with its central expanse studded, and
its edge symmetrically bordered with oval basins of coral-rock
just lipping the surface of the sea, sometimes clothed with vege-
tation, and each containing a lake of clear water !
One more point in detail : as in two neighbouring archipe-
lagoes corals flourish in one and not in the other, and as so many
conditions before enumerated must affect their existence, it would
be an inexplicable fact if, during the changes to which earth,
air, and water are subjected, the reef-building corals were to
keep alive for perpetuity on any one spot or area. And as by
our theory the areas including atolls and barrier-reefs are subsid-
ing, we ought occasionally to find reefs both dead and sub-
merged. In all reefs, owing to the sediment being washed
out of the lagoon or lagoon-channel to leeward, that side is least
favourable to the long- continued vigorous growth of the corals ;
hence dead portions of reef not unfrequently occur on the lee-
ward side ; and these, though still retaining their proper wall-
like form, are now in several instances sunk several fathoms be-
neath the surface. The Chagos group appears from some cause,
possibly from the subsidence having been too rapid, at present
to be much less favourably circumstanced for the growth of
reefs than formerly : one atoll has a portion of its marginal reef,
nine miles in length, dead and submerged ; a second has only a
1836.] DEAD AND SUNKEN KEEFS. 479
few quite small living points which rise to the surface ; a third
and fourth are entirely dead and submerged ; a fifth is a mere
wreck, with its structure almost obliterated. It is remarkable
that in all these cases, the dead reefs and portions of reef lie at
nearly the same depth, namely, from six to eight fathoms beneath
the surface, as if they had been carried down by one uniform
movement. One of these " half-drowned atolls," so called by
Capt. Moresby (to whom I am indebted for much invaluable
information), is of vast size, namely, ninety nautical miles across
in one direction, and seventy miles in another line ; and is in
many respects eminently curious. As by our theory it follow s
that new atolls will generally be formed in each new area of
subsidence, two weighty objections might have been raised,
namely, that atolls must be increasing indefinitely in number ;
and secondly, that in old areas of subsidence each separate atoll
must be increasing indefinitely in thickness, if proofs of their
occasional destruction could not have been adduced. Thus
have we traced the history of these great rings of coral-rock, from
their first origin through their normal changes, and through the
occasional accidents of their existence, to their death and final
obliteration.
In my volume on ' Coral Formations' I have published a map,
in which I have coloured all the atolls dark-blue, the barrier-
reefs pale-blue, and the fringing-resfs red. These latter reefs
have been formed whilst the land has been stationary, or, as ap-
pears from the frequent presence of upraised organic remains,
whilst it has been slowly rising : atolls and barrier-reefs, on the
other hand, have grown up during the directly opposite movement
of subsidence, which movement must have been very gradual,
and in the case of atolls so vast in amount as to have buried
every mountain-summit over wide ocean-spaces. Now in this
map we see that the reefs tinted pale and dark-blue, which have
been produced by the same order of movement, as a general rule
manifestly stand near each other. Again we see, that the areas
with the two blue tints are of wide extent ; and that they lie
separate from extensive lines of coast coloured red, both of which
circumstances might naturally have been inferred, on the theory
of the nature of the reefs having been governed by the nature
4610 DISTRIBUTION OF COKAL-KEEFS, [chai^ xx.
of the earth's movement. It deserves notice, that in more than
one instance where single red and blue circles approach near
each other, I can show that there have been oscillations of level ;
for in such cases the red or fringed circles consist of atolls, ori-
ginally by our theory formed during subsidence, but subsequently
upheaved ; and on the other hand, some of the pale-blue or en-
circled islands are composed of coral-rock, which must havr3 been
uplifted to its present height before that subsidence took place,
during which the existing barrier-reefs grew upwards.
Authors have noticed with surprise, that although atolls are
the commonest coral-structures throuijhout some enormous
oceanic tracts, they are entirely absent in other seas, as in the
West Indies : we can now at once perceive the cause, for where
there has not been subsidence, atolls cannot have been formed ;
and in the case of the West Indies and parts of the East Indies,
these tracts are known to have been rising within the recent pe-
riod. The larger areas, coloured red and blue, are all elongated ;
and between the two colours there is a degree of rude alternation,
as if the rising of one had balanced the sinking of the other.
Taking into consideration the proofs of recent elevation both on
the fringed coasts and on some others (for instance, in South Ame-
rica) where there are no reefs, we are led to conclude that the great
continents are for the most part rising areas ; and from the nature
of the coral-reefs, that the central parts of the great oceans are
sinking areas. The East Indian archipelago, the most broken
land in the world, is in most parts an area of elevation, but sur-
rounded and penetrated, probably in more lines than one, by
narrow areas of subsidence.
I have marked with vermilion spots all the many known active
volcanos within the limits of this same map. Their entire ab-
sence from every one of the great subsiding areas, coloured either
pale or dark blue, is most striking ; and not less so is the coin-
cidence of the chief volcanic chains with the parts coloured red,
which we are led to conclude have either long remained station-
ary, or more generally have been recently upraised. Although
a few of tlie vermilion spots occur within no great distance of
single circles tinted blue, yet not one single active volcano is
situated within several hundred miles of an archipelago, or even
small group of atolls. It is, therefore, a striking fact that in
1836.] THEIR RELATION TO VOLCANOS. 481
the Friendly Archipelago, which consists of a group of atolls
upheaved and since partially worn down, two volcanos, and
perhaps more, are historically known to have been in action. On
the other hand, although most of the islands in the Pacific which
are encircled by barrier-reefs, are of volcanic origin, often with
the remnants of craters *.till distinguishable, not one of them is
known to have ever been in eruption. Hence in these cases it
would appear, that volcanos burst forth into action and become
extinguished on the same spots, accordingly as elevatory or sub-
siding movements prevail there. Numberless facts could be
adduced to prove that upraised organic remains are common
wherever there are active volcanos ; but until it could be shown
that in areas of subsidence, volcanos were either absent or inac-
tive, the inference, however probable in itself, that their distri-
bution depended on the rising or falling of the earth's surface,
would have been hazardous. But now, I think, we may freely
admit this important deduction..
Taking a final view of the map, and bearing in mind the state-
ments made with respect to the upraised organic remains, we
must feel astonished at the vastness of the areas, which have
suffered changes in level either downwards or upwards, within a
period not geologically remote. It would appear, also, that the
elevatory and subsiding movements follow nearly the same laws.
Throughout the spaces interspersed with atolls, where not a single
peak of high land has been left above the level of tlie sea, the sink-
ing must have been immense in amount. The sinking, moreover,
whether continuous, or recurrent with intervals sufficiently long
for the corals again to bring up their living edifices to the surface,
must necessarily have been extremely slow. This conclusion is
probably the most important one, which can be deduced from the
study of coral formations ; — and it is one which it is difficult to
imagine, how otherwise could ever have been arrived at. Nor can
I quite pass over the probability of the former existence of large
archipelagoes of lofty islands, where now only rings of coral -rock
scarcely break the open expanse of the sea, throwing some light
on the distribution of the inhabitants of the other high islands, now
left standing so immensely remote from each other in the midst
of the great oceans. The reef-constructing corals have indeed
reared and preserved wonderful memorials of the subterranean
482 VAST AMOUNT OF SUBSIDENCE [chap. xx.
oscillations of level ; we see in each barrier-reef a proof that die
land has there subsided, and in each atoll a monument over an
island now lost. We may thus, like unto a geologist who had
lived his ten thousand years and kept a record of the passing
changes, gain some insight into the great system by which the
surface of this globe has been broken up, and land and water Ju-
terchaiiged.
1836.] APPEARANCE OF MAURITIUS. 483
CHAPTER XXL
MAURITIUS TO ENGLAND.
Mauritius, beautiful appearance of— Great crateriform ring of Mountains-
Hindoos— St. Helena— History of the changes in the vegetation— Cause of
the extinction of land-shells — Ascension — "Variation in the imported rats
— Volcanic Bombs — Beds of infusoria — Bahia — Brazil— Splendour of tro-
pical scenery — Pernambuco^Singular Reef— Slavery — Return to Eng-
land— Retrospect on our voyage.
April 29th. — In the morning we passed round the northern end
of Mauritius, or the Isle of France. From this point of view
the aspect of the island equalled the expectations raised by the
many well-known descriptions of its beautiful scenery. The
sloping- plain of the Pamplemousses, interspersed with houses,
and coloured by the large fields of sugar-cane of a bright green,
composed the foreground. The brilliancy of the green was the
more remarkable, because U is a colour which generally is con-
spicuous only from a very s\iort distance. Towards the centre
of the island groups of wooded mountains rose out of this highly-
cultivated plain ; their summits, as so commonly happens with
ancient volcanic rocks, being jagged into the sharpest points.
Masses of white clouds were collected around these pinnacles, as
if for the sake of pleasing the stranger's eye. The whole island,
with its sloping border and central mountains, was adorned with
an air of perfect elegance : the scenery, if I may use such an
expression, appeared to the sight harmonious.
I spent the greater part of the next day in walking about the
town, and visiting different people. The town is of considerable
size, and is said to contain 20,000 inhabitants ; the streets are
very clean and regular. Although the island has been so many
years under the English government, the general character of
the place is quite French : Englishmen speak to their servants
in French, and the shops are all French ; indeed I should think
that Calais or Boulogne was much more Anglified. There is a
iS4 MAURITIUS. [chap. xxi.
very pretty little theatre, in which operas are excellently per-
formed. We were also surprised at seeing large booksellers*
shops, with well-stored shelves ; — music and reading bespeak our
approach to the old world of civilization ; for in truth both Aus-
tralia and America are new worlds.
The various races of men walking in the streets afford the
most interesting spectacle in Port Louis. Convicts from India
are banished here for life ; at present there are about 800, and
they are employed in various public works. Before seeing these
people, I had no idea that the inhabitants of India were such
noble-looking figures. Their skin is extremely dark, and many
of the older men had large mustaches and beards of a snow-white
colour ; this, together with the fire of their expression, gave
them quite an imposing aspect. The greater number had been
banished for murder and the worst crimes ; others for causes
which can scarcely be considered as moral faults, such as for not
obeying, from superstitious motives, the English laws. These
men are generally quiet and well conducted ; from their outw^ard
conduct, their cleanliness, and faithful observance of their
strange religious rites, it was impossible to look at them with
the same eyes as on our wretched convicts in New South Wales.
May \st. — Sunday. I took a quiet walk along the sea-coast
to the north of the town. The plain in this part is quite uncul-
tivated ; it consists of a field of black lava, smoothed over with
coarse grass and bushes, the latter being chiefly Mimosas. The
scenery may be described as intermediate in character between
that of the Galapagos and of Tahiti ; but this will convey a
definite idea to very few^ persons. It is a very pleasant country,
but it has not the charms of Tahiti, or the grandeur of Brazil.
The next day I ascended La Pouce, a mountain so called from a
thumb-like projection, which rises close behind the town to a
height of 2600 feet. The centre of the island consists of a great
platform, surrounded by old broken basaltic mountains, with their
strata dipping seawards. The central platform, formed of com-
paratively recent streams of lava, is of an oval shape, thirteen
geographical miles across, in the line of its shorter axis. The
exterior bounding mountains come into that class of structures
called Craters of Elevation, which are supposed to have been
ibrmed not like ordinary craters, but by a great and suddec
1836. J MAURITIUS. 4J?5
upheaval. There appears to me to be insuperable objections to
this view : on the other hand, I can hardly believe, in this and
in some other cases, that these marginal crateriform mountains
are merely the basal remnants of immense volcanos, of which
the summits either have been blown off, or swalloNved up in
subterranean abysses.
From our elevated position we enjoyed an excellent view over
the island. The country on this side appears pretty well culti-
vated, being" divided into fields and studded with farm-houses.
I was however assured that of the whole land, not more than
half is yet in a productive state ; if such be the case, considering
the present large export of sugar, this island, at some future
period when thickly peopled, will be of great value. Since
England has taken possession of it, a period of only twenty-five
years, the export of sugar is said to have increased seventy-five
fold. One great cause of its prosperity is the excellent state of
the roads. In the neighbouring Isle of Bourbon, which remains
under the French government, the roads are still in the same
miserable state as they were here only a few years ago. Al-
though the French residents must have largely profited by the
increased prosperity of their island, yet the English government
is far from popular.
3rd. — In the evening Captain Lloyd, the Surveyor-general,
so well known from his examination of the Isthmus of Panama,
invited Mr. Stokes and myself to his country-house, which is
situated on the edge of Wilheim Plains, and about six miles from
the Port. We staid at this delightful place two days ; standing
nearly 800 feet above the sea, the air was cool and fresh, and
on every side there were delightful walks. Close by, a grand
ravine has been worn to a depth of about 500 feet through the
slightly inclined streams of lava, which have flowed from the
central platform.
5th. — Captain Lloyd took us to the Riviere Noire, which is
several miles to the southward, that I might examine some rocks
of elevated coral. We passed through pleasant gardens, and
fine fields of sugar-cane growing amidst huge blocks of lava.
The roads were bordered by hedges of Mimosa, and near many
of the houses there were avenues of the mango. Some of the
views, where the peaked hills and the cultivated farms were seen
186 ST. HELENA. [chap. xxi.
together, were exceedingly picturesque ; and we were constantly
tempted to exclaim, *' How pleasant it would be to pass one's
life in such quiet abodes !" Captain Lloyd possessed an ele-
phant, and he sent it half way with us, that we might enjoy a
ride in true Indian fashion. The circumstance which surprised
me most was its quite noiseless step. This elephant is the only
one at present on the island ; but it is said others will be sent for.
May 9th. — We sailed from Port Louis, and, calling at the
Cape of Good Hope, on the 8th of July we arrived off St.
Helena. This island, the forbidding aspect of which has been
so often described, rises abruptly like a huge black castle from
the ocean. Near the town, as if to complete nature's de-
fence, small forts and guns fill up every gap in the rugged
rocks. The town runs up a fiat and narrow valley; the houses
look respectable, and are interspersed with a very few green
trees. AVhen approaching the anchorage there was one striking
view : an irregular castle perched on the summit of a lofty hill,
and surrounded by a few scattered fir-trees, boldly projected
against the sky.
The next day I obtained lodgings within a stone's throw of
Napoleon's tomb :* it was a capital central situation, whence I
could- make excursions in every direction. During the four
days I staid here, I M^ndered over the island from morning to
night, and examined its geological history. My lodgings were
situated at a height of about 2000 feet ; here the weather was
cold and boisterous, with constant showers of rain ; and every
now and then the whole scene was veiled in thick clouds.
Near the coast the rough lava is quite bare : in the central
and higher parts, feldspathic rocks by their decomposition have
produced a clayey soil, which, where not covered by vegetation,
is stained in broad bands of many bright colours. At this
season, the land moistened by constant showers, produces a sin-
gularly bright green pasture, which lower and lower down, gra-
dually fades away and at last disappears. In latitude 16°, and
* After the volumes of eloquence which have poured forth on this subject,
it is dangerous even to mention the tomb. A modern traveller, in twelve
lines, burdens the poor little island with the following titles, — it is a grave,
tomb, pyramid, cemetery, sepulchre, catacomb, sarcophagus, minaret, an J
mausoleum !
.836.] ITS APPEARANCE. 487
at the trifling elevation of 1500 feet, it is surprising to behold a
vegetation possessing a character decidedly British. The liills
are crowned with irregular plantations of Scotch firs ; and tlie
sloping banks are thickly scattered over with thickets of gorse,
covered with its bright yellow flowers. Weeping-willows are
common on the banks of the rivulets, and the hedges are made
of the blackberry, producing its well-known fruit. When we
consider that the number of plants now found on the island is
746, and that out of these fifty-two alone are indigenous species,
the rest having been imported, and most of them from England,
we see the reason of the British character of the vegetation.
Many of these English plants appear to flourish better than in
their native country ; some also from the opposite quarter of
Australia succeed remarkably well. The many imported species
must have destroyed some of the native kinds ; and it is only on
the highest and steepest ridges, that the indigenous Flora is
now predominant.
Tlie English, or rather Welsh character of the scenery, is
kept up by the numerous cottages and small white houses ;
some buried at the bottom of the deepest valleys, and others
mounted on the crests of the lofty hills. Some of the views are
striking, for instance that from near Sir W. Doveton's house,
where the bold peak called Lot is seen over a dark wood of firs,
the whole being backed by the red water-worn mountains of the
southern coast. On viewing the island from an eminence, the
first circumstance which strikes one, is the number of the roads
and forts : the labour bestowed on the public works, if one for-
gets its character as a prison, seems out of all proportion to its
extent or value. There is so little level or useful land, that it
seems surprising how so many people, about 5000, can subsist
liere. The lower orders, or the emancipated slaves, are I be-
lieve extremely poor: they complain of the want of work. From
tlie reduction in the number of public servants, owing to the
island having been given up by the East India Company, and
the consequent emigration of many of the richer people, the po-
verty probably will increase. The chief food of the working
class is rice with a little salt meat ; as neither of these articles
are the products of the island, but must be purchased with
money, the low wages tell heavily on the poor people. Now
-lys ST. HELENA. Ichap. xxi.
that the people are blessed with freedom, a right which 1 believe
they value fully, it seems probable that their numbers will
quickly increase : if so, what is to become of the little state of
St. Helena?
My guide was an elderly man, who had been a goatherd when
a boy, and knew every step amongst the rocks. He w^as of a
race many times crossed, and although wdth a dusky skin, he had
not the disagreeable expression of a mulatto. He was a very
civil, quiet old man, and such appears the character of the
greater number of the lower classes. It was strange to my ears
to hear a man, nearly white and respectably dressed, talking
with indifference of the times when he was a slave. With my
companion, who carried our dinners and a horn of water, w^hich
is quite necessary, as all the water in the lower valleys is saline,
I every day took long walks.
Beneath the upper and central or-reen circle, the wild valleys
are quite desolate and untenanted. Here, to the geologist,
there were scenes of high interest, showing successive changes
and complicated disturbances. According to my views, St.
Helena has existed as an island from a very remote epoch:
some obscure proofs, however, of the elevation of the land are
still extant. I believe that the central and highest peaks form
parts of the rim of a great crater, the southern half of which
has been entirely removed by the waves of the sea : there is,
moreover, an external wall of black basaltic rocks, like the
coast-mountains of Mauritius, which are older than the central
volcanic streams. On the higher parts of the island, con-
siderable numbers of a shell, long thought a marine species,
occur embedded in the soil. It proves to be a Cochlogena,
or land-shell of a very peculiar form ; * with it I found six
other kinds ; and in another spot an eighth species. It is
remarkable that none of them are nowfqund living. Their
extinction has probably been caused by the entire destruction
of the woods, and the consequent loss of food and shelter,
which occurred during the early part of the last century.
The history of the changes, which the elevated plains of
* It deserves notice, that all the many specimens of this shell found by
me in one spot, differ, as a marked variety, from another set of specimen
procured from a different spot
1836.] CHANGES IN THE VEGETATION. 489
Longwood and Deadwood have undergone, as given in General
Beatson's account of the island, is extremely curious. Both
plains, it is said, in former times were covered with wood, and
were therefore called the Great Wood. So late as the year
1716 there were many trees, but in 1724 the old trees had
mostly fallen ; and as goats and hogs had been suffered to range
about, all the young trees had been killed. It appears also
from the official records, that the trees were unexpectedly, some
years afterwards, succeeded by a wire grass, which spread over the
whole surface,* General Beatson adds that now this plain " is
covered with fine sward, and is become the finest piece of pas-
ture on the island." The extent of surface, probably covered
by wood at a former period, is estimated at no less than two
thousand acres ; at the present day scarcely a single tree can be
found there. It is also said that in 1709 there were quantities
of dead trees in Sandy Bay ; this place is now so utterly desert,
that nothing but so w^ell attested an account could have made me
believe that they could ever have grown there. The fact, that
the goats and hogs destroyed all the young trees as they sprang
up, and that in the course of time the old ones, which were safe
from their attacks, perished from age, seems clearly made out.
Goats were introduced in the year 1502; eighty -six years after-
wards, in the time of Cavendish, it is known that they were ex-
ceedingly numerous. More than a century afterwards, in 1731,
when the evil was complete and irretrievable, an order was
issued that all stray animals should be destroyed. It is very
interesting thus to find, that the arrival of animals at St. Helena
in 1501, did not change the whole aspect of the island, until a
period of two hundred and twenty years had elapsed : for the
g-oats were introduced in 1502, and in 1724 it is said " the old
trees had mostly fallen." There can be little doubt that this
great change in the vegetation affected not only the land-shells,
causing eight species to become extinct, but likewise a multitude
of insects.
St. Helena, situated so remote from any continent, in the
midst of a great ocean, and possessing a unique Flora, excites
our curiosity. The eight land-shells, though now extinct, and
one living Succinea, are peculiar species found nowhere else,
* Beatson's St. Helena. Introductory chapter, p. 4.
490 ST. HELENA. [chap. xxi.
Mr. Cuming, however, informs me that an English Helix is
common here, its eggs no doubt having been imported in some
of the many introduced plants. Mr. Cuming collected on the
coast sixteen species of sea-shells, of which seven, as far as he
knows, are confined to this island. Birds and insects * as mig-ht
have been expected, are very few in number ; indeed I believe
all the birds have been introduced within late years, Partridsres
and pheasants are tolerably abundant : the island is nmch too
English not to be subject to strict game-laws. I was told of a
more unjust sacrifice to such ordinances than I ever heard of
even in England. The poor people foraierly used to burn a
plant, which grows on the coast-rocks, and export the soda from
its ashes ; but a peremptory order came out prohibiting this
practice, and giving as a reason tliat the partridges would have
nowhere to build !
* Among these few insects, I was surprised to find a small Aphodlus {jiiov
spec.) and an Oryctes, both extremely numerous under dung. When the
island was discovered it certainly possessed no quadruped, excepting per Imps
a mouse : it becomes, therefore, a difficult point to ascertain, whether these
stercovorous insects have since been imported by accident, or if aborigines,
on what food they formerly subsisted. On the banks of the Plata, where,
from the vast number of cattle and horses, the fine plains of turf are richly
manured, it is vain to seek the many kinds of dung-feeding beetles, which
occur so abundantly in Europe. I observed only an Oryctes (the insects of
this genus in Europe generally feed on decayed vegetable matter) and two
species of Phanteus, common in such situations. On the opposite side of the
Cordillera in Chiloe, another species of Phana^us is exceedingly abundant,
and it buries the dung of the cattle in large earthen balls beneath the ground.
There is reason to believe that the genas Phanseus, before the introduction
of cattle, acted as scavengers to man. In Europe, beetles, which find support
in the matter which has already contributed towards the life of other and
larger animals, are so numerous, that there must be considerably more than
one hundred diiferent species. Considering this, and observing what a
quantity of food of this kind is lost on the plains of La Plata, I imagined 1
saw an instance where m.an had disturbed that chain, by which so many
animals are linked together in their native country. In Van Diemen's Land,
however, I found four species of Onthophagus, two of Aphodius, and one of
a third genus, very abundant under the dung of cows; yet these latter
animals had been then introduced only thirty-three years. Previously to
that time, the Kangaroo and some other small animals were the only quad-
rupeds ; and their dung is of a very different quality from that of their suc-
cessors introduced by man. In England the greater number of stercovorous
beetles are confined in their appetites ; that is, they do not depend indiffer-
ently on any quadruped for the means of subsistence. The change, there-
fore, in habits, which must have taken place in Van Diemen's Land, is
highly remarkable. I am indebted to the Rev. F. W. Hope, who, 1 hope,
will permit me to call him my master in Entomology, for giving me tht
Siames of the foregoing insects.
1836.] ST. HELENA— ASCENSION. 491
In my walks I passed more than once over the grassy plain,
bounded by deep valleys, on which Longwood stands. Viewed
from a short distance, it appears like a respectable gentleman's
country-seat. In front there are a few cultivated fields, and
beyond them the smooth hill of coloured rocks called the Flag-
staff, and the rugged square black mass of the Barn. On the
whole the view was rather bleak and uninteresting. The only
inconvenience I suffered during my walks was from the impe-
tuous winds. One day I noticed a curious circumstance : stand-
ing on the edge of a plain, terminated by a great cliff of about a
thousand feet in depth, I saw at the distance of a few yards
right to windward, some tern, struggling against a very strong
breeze, whilst, where I stood, the air was quite calm. Ap-
proaching close to the brink, where the current seemed to be
deflected upwards from the face of the cliff, I stretched out my
arm, and immediately felt the full force of the wind : an invisible
barrier, two yards in width, separated perfectly calm air from a
strong blast.
I so much enjoyed my rambles among the rocks and moun-
tains of St. Helena, that I felt almost sorry on the morning of
the 14th to descend to the town. Before noon I was on board,
and the Beagle made sail.
On the 19th of July we reached Ascension. Those who have
beheld a volcanic island, situated under an arid climate, will at
once be able to picture to themselves the appearance of Ascen-
sion. They will imagine smooth conical hills of a bright red
colour, with their summits generally truncated, rising separately
out of a level surface of black rugged lava. A principal mound
in the centre of the island, seems the father of the lesser cones.
It is called Green Hill ; its name being taken from the faintest
tinge of that colour, which at this time of the year is barely
perceptible from the anchorage. To complete the desolate scene,
the black rocks on the coast are la.-^hed by a wild and turbulent
sea.
The settlement is near the beach ; it consists of several houses
and barracks placed irregularly, but well built of vhite free-
stone. The only inhabitants are marines, and some negroes
liberated from slave-ships, who are paid and victualled by govern-
4S2 ASCENSION. [chap. xxi.
nient. There is not a private person on the island. Many of
the marines appeared well contented with their situation ; they
think it better to serve their one-and-twenty years on shore, let
it be what it may, than in a ship ; in this choice, if I were a
marine, I should most heartily agree.
The next morning- I ascended Green Hill, 2840 feet high,
and thence w^alked across the island to the windward point. A
good cart-road leads from the coast-settlement to the houses,
gardens, and fields, placed near the summit of the central moun-
tain. On the roadside there are milestones, and likewise cis-
terns, where each thirsty passer-by can drink some good water.
Similar care is displayed in each part of the establishment, and
especially in the management of the springs, so that a single
drop of water may not be lost : indeed the whole island may be
compared to a huge ship kept in first-rate order. I could not
help, when admiring the active industry which had created such
effects out of such means, at the same time regretting that it had
been wasted on so poor and trifling an end. M. Lesson has
remarked with justice, that the English nation alone would have
thought of making the island of Ascension a productive spot ;
any other people would have held it as a mere fortress in the
ocean.
Near this coast nothing grows ; further inland, an occasional
green castor- oil plant, and a few grasshoppers, true friends of
the desert, may be met with. Some grass is scattered over the
surface of the central elevated region, and the whole much re-
sembles the worse parts of the Welsh mountains. But scanty as
the pasture appears, about six hundred sheep, many goats, a few
cows and horses, all thrive well on it. Of native animals, land-
crabs and rats swarm in numbers. Whether the rat is really
indigenous, may well be doubted ; there are two varieties as de-
scribed by Mr. Waterhouse ; one is of a black colour, with fine
glossy fur, and lives on the grassy summit ; the other is brown-
coloured and less glossy, with longer hairs, and lives near the
settlement on the coast. Both these varieties are one-third
smaller than the common black rat (M. rattus) ; and they differ
from it both in the colour and character of their fur, but in no
other essential respect. I can hardly doubt that these rats (like
the commo" mouse, which has also run wild) have been imported,
1836.] VOLCANIC BOMBS. 493
and, as at the Galapagos, have varied from the effect of the new
conditions to which they have been exposed : hence the variety
on the summit of the island differs from that on the coast. Of
native birds there are none ; but the guinea-fowl, imported from
the Cape de Verd Islands, is abundant, and the common fowl
has likewise run wild. Some cats, which were originally turned
out to destroy the rats and mice, have increased, so as to become
a great plague. The island is entirely without trees, in which,
and in every other respect, it is very far inferior to St. Helena.
One of my excursions took me tow^ards the S.W. extremity of
the island. The day was clear and hot, and I saw the island,
not smiling with beauty, but staring with naked hideousness.
The lava streams are covered with hummocks, and are ruorared
to a degree which, geologically speaking, is not of easy expla-
nation. The intervening spaces are concealed with layers of
pumice, ashes, and volcanic tuff. Whilst passing this end of the
island at sea, I could not imagine what the white patches were
with which the whole plain was mottled ; I now found that they
were seafowl, sleeping in such full confidence, that even in mid-
day a man could walk up and seize hold of them. These birds
were the only living creatures I saw during the whole day.
On the beach a great surf, although the breeze was light, came
umbling over the broken lava rocks.
The geology of this island is in many respects interesting.
In several places 1 noticed volcanic bombs, that is, masses of lava
which have been shot through the air whilst fluid, and have con-
sequently assumed a spherical or pear-shape. Not only their ex-
ternal form, but, in several cases, their internal structure shows in
a very curious manner that they have revolved in their aerial course.
The internal structure of one of these bombs, when broken, is
represented very accurately in the woodcut on the next page.
The central part is coarsely cellular, the cells decreasing in size
towards the exterior ; w^here there is a shell-like case about the
third of an inch in thickness, of compact stone, which again is
overlaid by the outside crust of finely cellular lava. I think
there can be little doubt, first, that the external crust cooled
rapidly in the state in which we now see it ; secondly, that the
still fluid lava within, w^as packed by the centrifugal force, gene-
rated by the revolving of the bomb, against the external cooled
494
ASCENSION.
[chap. XXI.
crust, and so produced the solid shell of stune ; and lastly, that
the centrifugal force, by relieving the pressure in the more
central parts of the bomb, allowed the heated vapours to ex-
pand their cells, thus forming the coarsely cellular mass of the
centre.
A hill, formed of the older series of volcanic rocks, and which
has been incorrectly considered as the crater of a volcano, is re-
markable from its broad, slightly hollowed, and circular summit
having been filled up with many successive layers of ashes and
fine scoriae. These saucer -shaped layers crop out on the mar-
gin, forming perfect rings of many different colours, giving to
the summit a most fantastic appearance ; one of these rings is
white and broad, and resembles a course round which horses
have been exercised ; hence the hill has been called the Devil's
Riding School. I brought away specimens of one of the tufa-
ceous layers of a pinkish colour ; and it is a most extraordinary
fact, that Professor Ehrenberg * finds it almost wholly composed
of matter which has been organized : he detects in it some silice-
ous-shielded, fresh-water infusoria, and no less than twenty-five
different kinds of the siliceous tissue of plants, chiefly of grasses.
* Monats. der Koutg. Akad. d. Wiss, zu Berlin. Vom April, 1845
1836.J BAHIa, brazil. 49b
From the absence of all carbonaceous matter, Professor Ehren-
berg believes that these organic bodies have passed through the
volcanic fire, and have been erupted in the state in which we
now see them. The appearance of tlie layers induced me to
believe that they had been deposited under water, though from
the extreme dryness of the climate I was forced to imagine, tliai
torrents of rain had probably fallen during some great eruption,
and tiiat thus a temporary lake had been formed, into which the
ashes fell. But it may now be suspected that the lake was not a
temporary one. Anyhow, we may feel sure, that at some former
epoch, the climate and productions of Ascension were very dif-
ferent from what they now are. Where on the face of the earth
can we find a spot, on which close investigation will not discover
signs of that endless cycle of change, to which this earth has
been, is, and will be subjected ?
On leaving Ascension we sailed for Bahia, on the coast of
Brazil, in order to complete the chronometrical measurement of
the world. We arrived there on August 1st, and stayed foiii-
days, during which I took several long walks. I was glad to
find my enjoyment in tropical scenery had not decreased from tlie
want of novelty, even in the slightest degree. The elements of
the scenery are so simple, that they are worth mentioning, as a
proof on what trifling circumstances exquisite natural beauty
depends.
The country may be described as a level plain of about three
hundred feet in elevation, which in all parts has been worn into
flat-bottomed valleys. This structure is remarkable in a granitic
land, but is nearly universal in all those softer formations of
which plains are usually composed. The whole surface is covered
by various kinds of stately trees, interspersed with patches of
cultivated ground, out of which houses, convents, and chapels
arise. It must be remembered that within the tropics, the wild
luxuriance of nature is not lost even in the vicinity of large
cities; for the natural vegetation of the hedges and hill-sides
overpowers in picturesque effect the artificial labour of man.
Hence, there are only a few spots where the bright red soil
affords a strong contrast with the universal clothing of green.
From the edges of the plain there are distant views eitiier of
the ocean, or of the great Bay with its low-wooded shor( s, and
?2
496 BAHIA, BRAZIL. [cuap. xxi.
on which numerous boats and canoes show their white sails.
Excepting from these points, the scene is extremely limited ;
following the level pathways, on each hand, only glimpses into the
wooded valleys below can be obtained. The houses, I may add,
and especially the sacred edifices, are built in a peculiar and
rather fantastic style of architecture. They are all whitewashed ;
so that when illumined by the brilliant sun of midday, and as
seen against the pale blue sky of the horizon, they stand out more
like shadows than real buildings.
Such are the elements of the scenery, but it is a hopeless attempt
to paint the general effect. Learned naturalists describe these
scenes of the tropics by naming a multitude of objects, and men-
tioning some characteristic feature of each. To a learned
traveller this possibly may communicate some definite ideas : but
who else from seeing a plant in an herbarium can imagine its
appearance when growing in its native soil ? AYho from seeing
choice plants in a hothouse, can magnify some into the dimen-
sions of forest trees, and crowd others into an entangled jungle ?
Who when examining in the cabinet of the entomologist the gay
exotic butterflies, and singular cicadas, will associate with these
lifeless objects, the ceaseless harsh music of the latter, and the
lazy flight of the former, — the sure accompaniments of the still,
glowing noonday of the tropics? It is when the sun has
attained its greatest height, that such scenes should be viewed :
then the dense splendid foliage of the mango hides the ground
with its darkest shade, whilst the upper branches are rendered
from the profusion of light of the most brilliant green. In the
temperate zones the case is different — the vegetation there is not
80 dark or so rich, and hence the rays of the declining sun, tinged
of a red, purple, or bright yellow colour, add most to the beauties
of those climes.
AVhen quietly walking along the shady pathways, and admir-
ing each successive view, I wished to find language to express
my ideas. Epithet after epithet was found too weak to convey
to those who have not visited the intertropical regions, the sens-
ation of delight v.'hich the mind experiences. I have said that
the plants in a hothouse fail to communicate a just idea of the
vegetation, yet I must recur to it. The land is one great wild,
untidy, luxuriant hothouse, made by Nature for herself, but taken
IhSo.J TKOPICAL SCENERY. 497
possession of by man, who has studded it with gay houses and
formal gardens. How great would be the desire in every ad-
mirer of nature to behold, if such were possible, the scenery of
another planet ! yet to every person in Europe, it may be truly
said, that at the distance of only a few degrees from his native
soil, the glories of another world are opened to him. In my last
walk I stopped again and again to gaze on these beauties, and
endeavoured to fix in my mind for ever, an impression which at
the time I knew sooner or later must fail. The form of the
orange-tree, the cocoa-nut, the palm, the mango, the tree-fern,
the banana, will remain clear and separate ; but the thousand
beauties which unite these into one perfect scene must fade
away; yet they will leave, like a tale heard in childhood, a
picture full of indistinct, but most beautiful figures.
August 6th. — In the afternoon we stood out to sea, with the
intention of making a direct course to the Cape de Verd Islands.
Unfavourable winds, however, delayed us, and on the 12th we
ran into Pernambuco, — a large city on the coast of Brazil, in
latitude 8° south. We anchored outside the reef; but in a short
time a pilot came on board and took us into the inner harbour,
where we lay close to the town.
Pernambuco is built on some narrow and low sand-banks^,
which are separated from each other by shoal channels of salt
water. I'he three parts of the town are connected together by
two long bridges built on wooden piles. The town is in all parts
disgusting, the streets being narrow, ill-paved, and filthy ; the
houses, tall and gloomy. The season of heavy rains had hardly
come to an end, and lience the surrounding country, which is
scarcely raised above the level of the sea, was flooded with
water ; and I failed in all my attempts to take long walks.
The flat swampy land on which Pernambuco stands is sur-
rounded, at the distance of a few miles, by a semicircle of low
hills, or rather by the edge of a country elevated perhaps two
hundred feet above the sea. The old city of Olinda stands on
one extremity of this range. One day I took a canoe, and pro-
ceeded up one of the channels to visit it ; I found the old town
from its situation both sweeter and cleaner than that of Pernam-
buco. I must here commemorate what happened for the first
time during cur nearly five years' wandering, namely, having
t93 PERNAMBUCO, BRAZIL. [chap, xxj
met with a want of politeness : I was refused in a sullen manner
at two different houses, and obtained with difficulty from a third,
permission to pass through their gardens to an uncultivated hill,
for the purpose of viewing the country. I feel glad that this
happened in the land of the Brazilians, for I bear them no good
will — a land also of slavery, and therefore of moral debasement.
A Spaniard would have felt ashamed at the very thought of re-
fusing such a request, or of behaving to a stranger with rudeness.
The channel by which we went to and returned from Olinda, was
bordered on each side by mangroves, which sprang like a minia-
ture forest out of the greasy mud-banks. The bright green
colour of these bushes always reminded me of the rank grass in
a churchyard : both are nourished by putrid exhalations ; the
one speaks of death past, and the other too often of death to
come.
The most curious object which I saw in this neighbourhood,
was the reef that forms the harbour. I doubt whether in the
whole world any other natural structure has so artificial an ap-
pearance.* It runs for a length of several miles in an absolutely
straight line, parallel to, and not far distant from, the shore. It
varies in width from thirty to sixty yards, and its surface is level
and smooth • it is composed of obscurely-stratified hard sand-
stone. At hio-h water the waves break over it ; at low water its
summit is left dry, and it might then be mistaken for a break-
water erected by Cyclopean workmen. On this coast the cur-
rents of the sea tend to throw up in front of the land, long spits
and bars of loose sand, and on one of these, part of the town
of Pernambuco stands. In former times a long spit of this
nature seems to have become consolidated by the percolation of
calcareous matter, and afterwards to have been gradually up-
heaved ; the outer and loose parts during this process having been
worn away by the action of the sea, and the solid nucleus left as
we now see it. Although night and day the waves of the open
Atlantic, turbid with sediment, are driven against the steep out-
side edges of this wall of stone, yet the oldest pilots know of no
tradition of any change in its appearance. This durability is
nuich the most curious fact in its history : it is due to a tough
* 1 have described this Bar in detail, in the Lond. and Edin. Phil. Mag.,
Yo^. xix. (1841% p. 257
836.] SLAVERY. 499
.ayer, a few inches thick, of calcareous matter, wholly formed by
:he successive growth and death of the small shells of Serpulse,
together with some few barnacles and nulliporse. These nulli-
Dorae, which are hard, very simply-organized sea-plants, play an
analogous and important part in protecting the upper surfaces of
coral-reefs, behind and within the breakers, where the true corals,
during the outward growth of the mass, become killed by ex-
posure to the sun and air. These insignificant organic beings,
especially the Serpulas, have done good service to the people of
Pernambuco ; for without their protective aid the bar of sand-
stone would inevitably have been long ago worn away, and
without the bar, there would have been no harbour.
On the 19th of August we finally left the shores of Brazil. I
thank God, I shall never again visit a slave-country. To this
day, if I hear a distant scream, it recalls with painful vividness
my feelings, when passing a house near Pernambuco, I heard
the most pitiable moans, and could not but suspect that some
poor slave was being tortured, yet knew that I was as powerless
as a child even to remonstrate. I suspected that these moans
were from a tortured slave, for I was told that this was the case
in another instance. Near Rio de Janeiro I lived opposite to an
old lady, who kept screws to crush the fingers of her female
slaves. I have staid in a house where a young household mu-
latto, daily and hourly, was reviled, beaten, and persecuted
enough to break the spirit of the lowest animal. I have seen a
little boy, six or seven years old, struck thrice with a horse-whip
(before I could interfere) on his naked head, for having handed
me a glass of water not quite clean ; I saw his father tremble at
a mere glance from his master's eye. These latter cruelties
were witnessed by me in a Spanish colony, in which it has
always been said, that slaves are better treated than by the
Portuguese, English, or other European nations. I have seen
at Rio Janeiro a powerful negro afraid to ward off a blow di-
rected, as he thought, at his face. I was present when a kind-
hearted man was on the point of separating for ever the men,
women, and little children of a large number of families who
had long lived together. I will not even allude to the many
heart-sickening atrocities which I authentically heard of; — nor
would I have mentioned the above revolting details, had I not
500 SLAVERY. j^chap. xxl
met with several people, so blinded by the constitutional gaiety
of the negro, as to speak of slavery as a tolerable evil. Such
people have generally visited at the houses of the upper classes,
where the domestic slaves are usually well treated ; and they
have not, like myself, lived amongst the lower classes. Such
enquirers will ask slaves about their condition ; they forget that
the slave must indeed be dull, who does not calculate on the
chance of his answer reaching his master's ears.
It is argued that self-interest will prevent excessive cruelty ;
as if self-interest protected our domestic animals, which are far
less likely than degraded slaves, to stir up the rage of their savage
masters. It is an argument long since protested against with
noble feeling, and strikingly exemplified, by the ever illustrious
Humboldt. It is often attempted to palliate slavery by com-
paring the state of slaves with our poorer countrymen : if the
misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by
our institutions, great is our sin ; but how this bears on slavery,
I cannot see ; as well might the use of the thumb-screw be de-
fended in one land, by showing that men in another land suffered
from some dreadful disease. Those who look tenderly at the
slave-owner, and with a cold heart at the slave, never seem to
put themselves into the position of the latter ; — what a cheerless
prospect, with not even a hope of change ! picture to yourself
the chance, ever hanging over you, of your wife and your little
children— those objects which nature urges even the slave to
call his own— being torn from you and sold like beasts to the
first bidder ! And these deeds are done and palliated by men,
who profess to love their neighbours as themselves, who believe
in God, and pray that his Will be done on earth ! It makes
one's blood boil, yet heart tremble, to think that we Englishmen
and our American descendants, with their boastful cry of liberty,
have been and are so guilty : but it is a consolation to reflect,
that we at least have made a greater sacrifice, than ever made by
any nation, to expiate our sin.
On the last day of August we anchored for the second time at
Porto Praya in the Cape de Verd archipelago ; thence we pro-
ceeded to the Azores, where we staid six days. On the 2nd
of October we made the shores of England ; and at Falmouth 1
I836.J RETROSPKCT. 501
^eft the Beagle, having lived on board the good little vessel
nearly five years.
Our Voyage having come to an end, I will take a short retro-
spect of the advantages and disadvantages, the pains and pleasures,
of our circumnavigation of the world. If a person asked my ad-
vice, before undertaking a long voyage, my answer would depend
upon his possessing a decided taste for some branch of knowledge,
which could by this means be advanced. No doubt it is a high
satisfaction to behold various countries and the many races of
mankind, but the pleasures gained at the time do not counter-
balance the evils. It is necessary to look forward to a harvest,
however distant that may be, when some fruit will be reaped,
some good effected.
Many of the losses which must be experienced are obvious ;
such as that of the society of every old friend, and of the sight
of those places with which every dearest remembrance is so inti-
mately connected. These losses, however, are at the time partly
relieved by the exhaustless delight of anticipating the long wished-
for day of return. If, as poets say, life is a dream, I am sure in
a voyage these are the visions which best serve to pass away the
long night. Other losses, although not at first felt, tell heavily
after a period : these are the want of room, of seclusion, of rest;
the jading feeling of constant hurry ; the privation of small luxu-
ries, the loss of domestic society, and even of music and the other
pleasures of imagination. When such trifles are mentioned, it is
evident that the real grievances, excepting from accidents, of a
sea-life are at an end. The short space of sixty years has made
an astonishing difference in the facility of distant navigation.
Even in the time of Cook, a man who left his fireside for such
expeditions underwent severe privations. A yacht now, with
every luxury of life, can circumnavigate the globe. Besides the
vast improvements in ships and naval resources, the whole western
shores of America are thrown open, and Australia has become
the capital of a rising continent. How different are the circum-
stances to a man sliipwrecked at the present day in the Pacific,
to what they were in the time of Cook ! Since his voyage a
hemisphere has been added to the civilized world.
If a person suffer much frcm sea-sickness, let him weigh it
>02 RETROSPECT. [caAP. xxi.
heavily in the balance. I speak from experience : it is no trifling
evil, cured in a week. If, on the other hand, he take pleasure
in naval tactics, he will assuredly have full scope for his taste.
But it must be borne in mind, how large a proportion of the time,
during a long voyage, is spent on the water, as compared with
the days in harbour. And what are the boasted glories of tlie
illimitable ocean ? A tedious waste, a desert of water, as the
Arabian calls it. No doubt there are some delightful scenes.
A moonlight night, with the clear heavens and the dark glitter-
mg sea, and the white sails filled by the soft air of a gently-
blowing trade-wind ; a dead calm, with the heaving surface po-
lished like a mirror, and all still except the occasional flapping
of the canvass. It is well once to behold a squall with its rising
arch and coming fury, or the heavy gale of wind and mountain-
ous waves. I confess, however, my imagination had painted
something more grand, more terrific in the full-grown storm. It
is an incomparably finer spectacle when beheld on shore, where
the waving trees, the wild flight of the birds, the dark shadows
and bright lights, the rushing of the torrents, all proclaim the
strife of the unloosed elements. At sea the albatross and little
petrel fly as if the storm were their proper sphere, the water rises
and sinks as if fulfilling its usual task, the ship alone and its in-
habitants seem the objects of wrath. On a forlorn and weather-
beaten coast, the scene is indeed different, but the feelings par-
take more of horror than of wild delight.
Let us now look at the brighter side of the past time. The
pleasure derived from beholding the scenery and the general
aspect of the various countries we have visited, has decidedly
been the most constant and highest source of enjoyment. It is
probable that the picturesque beauty of many parts of Europe
exceeds anything which we beheld. But there is a growing plea-
sure in comparing the character of the scenery in different coun-
tries, which to a certain degree is distinct from merely admiring
its beauty. It depends chiefly on an acquaintance with the indi-
vidual parts of each view : I am strongly induced to believe that,
as in music, the person who understands every note will, if he
also possesses a proper taste, more thoroughly enjoy the whole,
so he who examines each part of a fine view, may also thoroughly
comprehend the full and combined effect. Hence, a travellei
1836.] PETKOSPECT. 503
should be a botanist, for in all views plants form the chief embel-
lishment. Group masses of naked rock even in the wildest forms,
and they may for a time afford a sublime spectacle, but they will
soon grow monotonous. Paint them with bright and varied co-
lours, as in Northern Chile, they will become fantastic ; clothe
them with vegetation, they must form a decent, if not a beautiful
picture.
When I say that the scenery of parts of Europe is probably supe-
rior to anything which we beheld, I except, as a class by itself,
that of the intertropical zones. The two classes cannot be com-
pared together ; but I have already often enlarged on the grandeur
of those regions. As the force of impressions generally depends
on preconceived ideas, I may add, that mine were taken from the
vivid descriptions in the Personal Narrative of Humboldt, which
far exceed in merit anything else which I have read. Yet with
these high-wrought ideas, my feelings were far from partaking of
a tinge of disappointment on my first and final landing on the
shores of Brazil.
Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind,
none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by the
hand of man ; whether those of Brazil, where the powers of Life
are predominant, or those of Tierra del Fuego, where Death and
Decay prevail. Both are temples filled with the varied produc-
tions of the God of Nature : — no one can stand in these solitudes
unmoved, and not feel that there is more in man than the mere
breath of his body. In calling up images of the past, I find that
the plains of Patagonia frequently cross before my eyes ; yet
tliese plains are pronounced by all wretched and useless. They
can be described only by negative characters ; without habita-
tions, without water, without trees, without mountains, they sup-
port merely a few dwarf plants. "Why then, and the case is not
peculiar to myself, have these arid wastes taken so firm a hold on
my memory ? Why have not the still more level, the greener
and more fertile Pampas, which are serviceable to mankind, pro-
duced an equal impression ? I can scarcely analyze these feel-
ings : but it must be partly owing to the free scope given to the
imagination. The plains of Patagonia are boundless, for they
are scarcely passable, and hence unknown : they bear the stamp
of having lasted, as tney are now, for ages, and there appears no
bOA RETROSPECT. [chap. xxt.
limit to their duration through future time. If, as the ancients
supposed, the flat earth was surrounded by an impEissable breadth
of water, or by deserts heated to an intolerable excess, who would
not look at these last boundaries to man's knowledge with deep
but ill-defined sensations?
Lastly, of natural scenery, the views from lofty mountains,
though certainly in one sense not beautiful, are very memorable.
When looking down from the highest cre.st of the Cordillera,
the mind, undisturbed by minute details, was filled with the stu-
pendous dimensions of the surrounding masses.
Of individual objects, perhaps nothing is more certain to create
astonishment than the first sight in his native haunt of a barba-
rian,— of man in his lowest and most savage state. One's miiid
hurries back over past centuries, and then asks, could our pro-
genitors have been men like these ? — men, whose very signs and
expressions are less intelligible to us than those of the domesti-
cated animals ; men, who do not possess the instinct of those
animals, nor yet appear to boast of human reason, or at least of
arts consequent on that reason. I do not believe it is possible
to describe or paint the difference between savage and civilized
man. It is the difference between a wild and tame animal : and
part of the interest in beholding a savage, is the same which
would lead every one to desire to see the lion in his desert, the
tiger tearing his prey in the jungle, or the rhinoceros wandering
over the wild plains of Africa.
Among the other most remarkable spectacles which we have
beheld, may be ranked the Southern Cross, the cloud of Magellan,
and the other constellations of the southern hemisphere— the
water-spout — the glacier leading its blue stream of ice, over-
hanging the sea in a bold precipice — a lagoon-island raised by
the reef-building corals — an active volcano— and the overwhelm-
ing effects of a violent earthquake. These latter phenomena,
perhaps, possess for me a peculiar interest, from their intimate
connexion with the geological structure of the world. The
earthquake, however, must be to every one a most impressive
event : the earth, considered from our earliest childhood as the
type of solidity, has oscillated like a thin crust beneath our feet ;
and in seeing the laboured works of man in a moment over-
thrown, we feel the insignificance of his boasted power.
1836.J RRTKOSPECT. 505
It has been said, that the love of the chase is an inherent de-
light in man — a relic of an instinctive passion. If so, I am sure
the pleasure of living in the open air, with the sky for a roof
and the ground for a table, is part of the same feeling ; it is the
savage returning to his wild and native habits. I always look
back to our boat cruises, and my land journeys, when through
unfrequented countries, with an extreme delight, which no
scenes of civilization could have created. I do not doubt that
every traveller must remember the glowing sense of happiness
which he experienced, when he first breathed in a foreign clime,
where the civilized man had seldom or never trod.
There are several other sources of enjoyment in a long voyage,
\v1iich are of a more reasonable nature. The map of the world
ceases to be a blank ; it becomes a picture full of the most varied
and animated figures. Each part assumes its proper dimensions :
continents are not looked at in the light of islands, or islands
considered as mere specks, which are, in truth, larger than many
kingdoms of Europe. Africa, or North and South America,
are well-sounding names, and easily pronounced ; but it is not
until having sailed for weeks along small portions of their shores,
that one is thoroughly convinced what vast spaces on our im-
mense world these names imply.
From seeing the present state, it is impossible not to look for-
ward with high expectations to the future progress of nearly an
entire hemisphere. The march of improvement, consequent on
the introduction of Christianity throughout the South Sea, pro-
bably stands by itself in the records of history. It is the more
striking when we remember that only sixty years since, Cook,
whose excellent judgment none will dispute, could foresee no
prospect of a change. Yet these changes have now been effected
by the philanthropic spirit of the British nation.
In the same quarter of the globe Australia is rising, or indeed
may be said to have risen, into a grand centre of civilization,
which, at some not very remote period, will rule as empress over
the southern hemisphere. It is impossible for an Englishman to
behold these distant colonies, without a high pride and satisfac-
tion. To hoist the British flag, seems to draw with it as a cer-
tain consequence, wealth, prosperity, and civilization.
In conclusion it appears to me that nothing can be more
.yf
506 RETROSPECT. [chap, xxi
improving to a young naturalist, than a journey in distant coun-
tries. It both sharpens, and partly allays that want and craving,
which, as Sir J. Herschel remarks, a man experiences although
every corporeal sense be fully satisfied. The excitement from
the novelty of objects, and the chance of success, stimulate him
to increased activity. Moreover, as a number of isolated facts
soon become uninteresting, the habit of comparison leads to ge-
neralization. On the other hand, as the traveller stays but a
short time in each place, his descriptions must generally consist
of mere sketches, instead of detailed observations. Hence arises,
as I have found to my cost, a constant tendency to fill up the
wide gaps of knowledge, by inaccurate and superficial hypo-
theses.
But I have too deeply enjoyed the voyage, not to recommend
any naturalist, although he must not expect to be so fortunate
in his companions as I have been, to take all chances, and to
start, on travels by land if possible, if otherwise on a long voyage.
He may feel assured, he will meet with no difficulties or dan-
gers, excepting in rare cases, nearly so bad as he beforehand
anticipates. In a moral point of view, the effect ought to be,
to teach him good-humoured patience, freedom from selfishness,
the habit of acting for himself, and of making the best of every
occurrence. In short, he ought to partake of the characteristic
qualities of most sailors. Travelling ought also to teach him
distrust ; but at the same time he will discover, how many truly
kind-hearted people there are, with whom he never before had,
or ever again will have any further communication, who yet are
ready to offer him the most disinterested assistance.
Note. — The snake, described at page 96, with the curious habit of vibrat-
ing its tail, is a new species of Trigonocephalus, which M. Bibron proposes
to call T. crepitans.
( 607 )
INDEX.
Abbott, Mr., on spiders, 35
Aborigines banished from Van Die-
men's Land, 447
of Australia, 433 to 450
Abrolhos, 14
Absence of trees in Pampas, 46
Aconcagua, volcano of, 253, 291
Actinia, stinging species, 464
Africa, Southern part desert, yet sup-
ports large animals, 85
Agouti, habits of, 69
Ague common in Peru, 365
Albemarle Island, 376
Allan, Dr., on Diodon, 14
on Holuthurise, 465
Alluvium, saliferous, in Peru, 364
, stratified, in Andes, 315
Amblyrhynchus, 385, 394
Anas, species of, 199
Animalculse, see Infusoria
Antarctic islands, 248
Antipodes, 417
Ants at Keeling island, 456
in Brazil, 34
Apires, or miners, 34Q
Aplysia, 6
Apple-trees, 297
Aptenodytes demersa, 199
Areas of alternate movements in the
Pacific and Indian oceans, 480
Armadilloes, habits of, 95
, fossil animals allied to,
130, 155
Arrow-heads, ancient, 105, 357
Ascension, 491
Aspalax, blindness of, 52
Athene, 70, 125
Atolls, 465
Attagis, 94
Atwater, Mr., on the prairies, 118
Audubon, M., on smelling-powcr of
carrion-hawks, 184
Australia, 43 1
Australian barrier, 474
Azara on spiders, 36, 38
' on rain in La Plata, 47
Azara on range of carrion- hawks, 59
— — on habits of carrion-hawks, 57
on a thunder-stonn, 61
— on ostrich-eggs, 9 1
— on bows and arrows, 105
— on new plants
119
spnngmg np.
on great droughts, 1 33
on hydrophobia, 353
Bachman, Mr., on carrion-hawks, 185
Bahia Blanca, 76 to 105
Bahia, Brazil, 1 1
, scenery of, 495
Balbi on coral reefs, 470
Bald Head, Australia, 450
Ballenar, Chile, 349
Banda Oriental, 39, 142
Banks's Hill, 210
Barking-bird, 288
Basaltic platform of Santa Cruz, 180
Bathurst, Australia, 442
Bats, vampire, 22
Bay of Islands, New Zealand, 417
Beads', hill of, 149
Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego,
217
Beech-trees, 235, 281
Beetles alive in sea, 159
, dung-feeders, 490
at St. Julian, 170
in brackish water, 22
on a fungus, 32
Behring's Straits, fossils of, 132
Bell of Quillota, 255
Benchuca, 330
Berkeley Sound, 188
, Rev. J., on Conferva}, 14
, on Cyttaria, 236
Bibron, M., 381, 385
Bien-te-veo, 54
Birds of the Galapagos Archipelago,
378, 394
Birds, tameness of, 398
Birgos latro, 462
Bizcacha, habits of, 70, 124
508
INDEX.
Black wall, Mr., on spiders, 161
Blindness of tucutuco, 52
Body, frozen, 89, 249
Bolabola, 469, 473
Bolas, manner of using, 44, 111
Bombs, volcanic, 493
Bones of the guanaco collected in cer-
tain spots, 167
, fire made of, 1 94
, recent in Pampas, 134
-, fossil, 81, 127, 130, 155, 173
Bory St. Vincent on frogs, 381
Boulders, 187, 247
Bramador, El, 361
Brazil, great area of granite, 12
Breaches in coral reefs, 476
Breakwater of sea-weed, 240
Brewster, Sir D., on a calcareous de-
posit, 10
Bridge of hide, 262
of Incas, 334, 356
Buckland, Dr., on fossils, 132
Buenos Ay res, 121
BufFon on American animals, 173
Bug of Pampas, 330
Buildings, Indian, 356 to 359,
368
Bulimus on desert places, 347
Burchell, Mr., on food of quadrupeds,
87
, on ostrich-eggs, 91
, on perforated stones,
267
Butterflies, flocks of, 158
Butterfly producing clicking sound,
33
Button, Jemmy, 207
Byron's account of fox of Falklands,
194
on an Indian killing his child,
216
Cacti, 165,261,374
Cactornis, 379, 394
Calasoma on wing out at sea, 1 58
Calcareous casts of branches and roots
of trees at King George's Sound,
450
Calcareous incrustations on rocks of
Ascension, 9
Callao, 365
Calodei'a, 125
Calomys bizcacha, 124
Camarhynchus, 379, 394
Camelidse, fossil animal allied to, 172
Canis antarcticus, 193
Canis fulvipes, 280
Capybara, or carpincho, 49, 287
, fossil allied to, 82
Cape Horn, 211
Cape of Good Hope, 85
Caracara, or Carrancha, 5.5
Cardoon, beds of, 119, 148
Carmichael, Capt., 392
Carrion-hawks, 55, 120, 184
Casarita, 95
Castro, Chiloe, 278, 294
Casts of trees, 450
Casuchas, 335
Cathartes, 58, 184,284
Cats run wild, 120, 493
good to eat, 117
scratch trees, 135
, cruelty to mice, 199
Cattle, eftects of their grazing ou the
vegetation, 118
146
killed by great droughts, 134,
know each other, H'i
, curious breed of, \4b
, waste of, 149
wild at the Falkland Islands,
190, 192
Cauquenes, hot springs of, 263
Causes of extinction of species among
mammalia, 173
of discoloured sea, 14
Cavia Patagonica, 69
Cervus campestris, 48
Ceryle Americana, 138
Chacao, Chiloe, 274
Chagos atolls, 478
Chalk-like mud, 465
Chamisso on drifted seeds and trees,
454, 461
on coral reefs, 467
Changes in vegetation of Pampas,
120
in vegetation of St. Helena,
489
Charles Island, Galapagos Archipe-
lago, 375
Cheese, salt required for, 66
Cheucau, 278, 283
Chile, 252, 337
, features of country, 254
Chiloe, 273
, forests of, and climate, 248
INDEX.
509
Chiloe, roads of, 274, 292
, inhabitants of, 273, 276
Chionis, 94
Chonos Archipelago, 281
. , climate of, 243
• , ornithology of,
288
Chupat, Rio, 107
Cladonia, 364
Clearness of atmosphere within An-
des, in Chile, 256
Climate of Tierra del Fuego and
Falkland Islands, 242
Antarctic Islands, 248
Galapagos, 373, 377
, change of, in Chile, 357
Clouds of vapour after rain, 24
on Corcovado, 28
hanging low, 367
at sea, 402
Coleoptera in Tropics, 34
out at sea, 159
■ — — of St. Julian, 170
Colias edusa, flocks of, 158
Colnett, Capt., on spawn in sea, 17
, on a marine lizard, 386
, on transport of seeds,
392
Colonia del Sacramieuto, 144
Colorado Rio, 70
Compound animals, 201
Concepcion, Chile, 302
Condor, habits of, 182, 186, 269
Confervae, pelagic, 14
Conglomerate on the Ventana, 109
in Cordillera, 420
Conurus, 138
Convicts of Mauritius, 484
, condition of, in New South
Wales, 445
Cook, Capt., on Kelp, 239
Copiapd, river and valley of, 350
, town of, 354
Coquimbo, 342
Coral formations, 402, 452 to 482
, stinging species of, 464
, dead, 460, 478
Corallines, 201
Corcovado, clouds on, 28
, volcano, 291
Cordillera, appearance of, 258, 276,
318
• , different productions on
east and west side, 326
Cordillera, passage of. 314
, structure of valleys, 315
, geology of, 319, 332
, rivers of, 316
, of Copiapd, 360
Cormorant catching fish, 199
Corral, where animals are slaugt-
tered at Buenos Ay res, 121
Coseguina, eruption of, 291
Countries, unhealthy, 365
Couthouy, Mr., on coral-reefs, 475
Crabs, hermit species of, 457
at Keeling Island, 462
at St. Paul's, 10
Craters, number of at the Galapagos
Archipelago, 373
' of Elevation, 485
Crisia, 202
Cruelty to animals, 152
Crustacea, pelagic, 161
Ctenomys Braziliensis, 50
, fossil species of, 82
Cucao, Chiloe, 294
Cuckoo-like habits of Molothrus, 53
Cuentas, Sierra de, 149
Cumbre of Cordillera, 335
Cuming, Mr., on shells, 391, 490
Cuttle-fish, habits of, 7, 288
Cuvier on Diodon, 1 3
Cynara, 119
Cyttaria Darwinii, 236
Dacelo Jagoensis, 2
Dasypus, three species of, 95
Deer, 49, 133
Degradation of tertiary formations,
344
Deinornis, 427
Deserts, 349, 363
Desmodus, 22
Despoblado, valley of, 355
Dielfenbach on Auckland Island,244,
435
Diodon, habits of, 13
Discoloured sea, 14
Diseases from miasma, 365, 435
Distribution of mammalia in Ameri-
ca, 131
of animals on opposite
sides of Cordillera, 326
of frogs, 381
of Fauna of Galapagos,
393
Dobrizhoffer on ostriches, 93
510
INDEX.
Dobrizhoffer on a hail-storm, 116
Docks, imported, 428
Dogs, shepherd, 149
D'Orbigny, Travels in South Ameri-
ca, 78, 93, 120, 130, 149, 167
Doris, eggs of, 20!
Doubleday, Mr., on a noise made by
a butterfly, 33
Drigg, lightning tubes at, 59
Droughts, great, in Pampas, 133
Dryness of St. Jago, 4
of winds in Tierra del Fu-
ego, 231
of air in Cordillera, 325
Du Bois, 382, 399
Dung-feeding beetles, 490
Dust, falling from atmosphere, 5
Earthenware fossil, 370
Earthquake, accompanied by an ele-
vation of the coast, 310
accompanied by rain, 351
at Callao, 369
at Concepcion, 302
at Coquimbo, 342
at Keeling and Vani-
koro, and Society Islands, 475
at Valdivia, 301
, causes of, 311
, effect of, on springs, 264
on bottom of
sea, 306
303
304, 305
-, effects of, on rocks, 257,
-, effects of, on sea, 302,
-, effects of, on a river-bed,
•, line of vibration of, 307
on S. W. coast, 246
, tossing fragments from
the ground, 198
, twisting movement of,
358
308
Eggs of Doris, 201
Ehrenberg, Prof., on Atlantic dust, 5
. on infusoria in Pam-
pas, 82, 130
in the
in Pata-
in Fue-
open sea, 162
gonia, 171
Ehrenberg, Prof., on infusoria in
coral mud, 465
in tuff
at Ascension, 494
on phosphorescence
of the sea, 163
on noises from a hill,
361
Eimeo, view of, 406
Elater, springing powers of, 31
Electricity of atmosphere within
Andes, 326
Elephant, weight of, 87
Elevated shells, 85, 130, 171, 254,
297, 310, 344, 362, 369
Elevation of coasts of Chile, 254, 297,
307, 310, 338, 344, 357
B. Blanca, 83
Patagonia, 171, 371
Pampas, 130
• — mountain-chains, 312
Cordillera, 316, 321, 332
- — fringing-reefs, 476
Peru, 369
within human period, 371
Entomology of the Galapagos Archi-
pelago, 381, 392, 394
■ Brazil, 34
Patagonia, 170, 327
Tierra del Fuego, 238
- Keeling Island, 456
St. Helena, 400
Entre Rios, geology of, 129
Epeira, habits of, 36, 38
Erratic blocks, how transported, 247
absent in intertropical
countries, 248
on plains of Santa
Cruz, 187
gian paint, 221
of Tierra del Fuego, 247
Estancia, value of, 145
Extermination of species and races,
174,434,441,448
Extinction of shells at St. Helena, 488
of species, causes of, 1 74
of man in New South
Wales, 434, 448
Eyes of tucutuco and mole, 52
Falconer, Dr., on the Sivatherium,
146
, Jesuit, on the Indians, 10-J
, on rivors in Pam-
pas, 106
INDEX.
511
Falconer, Jesuit, on natural enclo-
sures, 116
Falkland Islands, 188
, birds tame at, 398
— — — , absence of trees at,
48
57
horses of, 190
carrion-hawks of,
-wild cattle and
-, climate of, 242
•, peat of, 287
Fat, quantity eaten, 117
Fear, an acquired instinct, 399
Februa, 33
Fennel, run wild, 119
Ferguson, Dr., on miasma, 366
Fern-trees, 244, 448
Fernando Noronha, 11, 374
Fields of dead coral, 460
Fire, art of making, 194, 409
Fish, eating coral, 464
of Galapagos, 390
< emitting harsh sound, 136
Flamingoes, 66
Fleas, 346
Floods after droughts, 134
clear after snow, 319
Flora of the Galapagos, 374, 392,
395
of Keeling island, 454
of St. Helena, 487
Flustraceaj, 201
Forests, absence of, in La Plata, 47
of Tierra del Fuego, 210,
243, 286
of Chiloe, 243, 280. 286, 293
of YaldiTia, 298, 301
of New Zealand, 427
of Australia, 433
Fossil Mammalia, 81, 127, 130, 155,
173
earthenware, 369
Fox of the Falkland Islands, 193
of Chiloe, 280
Friendly Archipelago, 481
Frogs, noises of, 29
, bladders of, 383
and toads, not found on oceanic
islands, 38 1
Frozen soil, 88, 248
Fruit-trees, southern limit of, 243
Fucus giganteus, 239
Fuegians, 204 to 234
Fulgurites, 59
Fungus, edible, 236
Furnarius, 95
Galapagos Archipelago, 372 ; natural
history of, 377
belongs to American Zoo-
logy, 377, 393
Gale of wind, 217,281
Gallegos Eiver, fossil bones at, 171
Gallinazo, 55
Gauchos, 42, 155
, character of, 156
live on meat, 117
Gay, M., on floating islands, 265
, on shells in brackish water
21
Geese at the Falkland Islands, 199
Geographical distribution of Ameri'
can animals, 131, 326
of frogs,
381
■ of fauna
of Galapagos, 393
Geology of Cordillera, 319, 332
of Patagonia, 170, 181
• of St. Jago, 6
• of St. Paul, 8
of B. Blanca, 81
of Pampas, 129
of Brazil, 12
Georgia, climate of, 248
Geospiza, 379, 395
Gill, Mr., on an upheaved river-bed,
358
Gillies, Dr., on the Cordillera, 323
Glaciers in Tierra del Fuego, 224,
245
in Cordillera, 324
in lat. 46° 40', 246
Glow-worms, 30
Goats, destructive to vegetation at St.
Helena, 489
, bones of, 168
Goitre, 314
Gold-washing, 266
Good Success Bay, 204
Gossamer spider, 159
Gould, Mr., on the Calodora, 125
, on birds of Galapagos,
379
Granite mountains, Tres Monies, 283
of Cordillera, 320
Graspus, 10
512
INDEX.
Gravel, how far transported, 108
— of Patagonia, 75, 171
Greenstone, fragments of, 257
Gryllus migratorius, 329
Guanaco, habits of, 1G6
, fossil allied genus, 1 72
Guantajaya, mines of, 363
Guardia del Monte, 118
Guasco, 348
Guasosof Chile, 258
Guava, imported into Tahiti, 403
Guinea-fowl, 5, 493
Gunnera scabra. 278
Gypsum, great beds of, 319
in salt-lake, 66
beds.
Patagonian
tertiary-
— m
171
— at Iquique with salt, 364
— at Lima with shells, 369
Hachette, M., on lightning-tubes, 60
Hailstorm, 115
Hall, Capt. Basil, on terraces of Co-
quimbo, 343
Hare, Varying, 45
Head, Capt., on thistle-beds, 119, 124
Height of snow-line on Cordillera,
244
Henslow, Prof., on potatoes, 285
, on plants of Keeling
Island, 454
Hermit crabs, 457
Hill, emitting a noise, 361
Himantopus, 114
Hogoleu barrier-reef, 469
Holes made by a bird, 95
Holman on drifted seeds, 454
Holuthurise feeding on coral, 465
Hooker, Sir J., on the Cardoon, 119
, Dr. J. D., on the Kelp, 239
— , on Galapageian
plants, 392, 395
Horn, Cape, 211
Horner, Mr., on a calcareous deposit,
10
Horse-fly, 170
Horses difficult to drive, 110
drop excrement on paths, 119
killed by great droughts, 134
multiplication of, 233
broken in, 151
Horse, powers of swimming of, 143
■ wild at the Falkland Islands,
131
Horse, fossil, 82, 130
Horsemanship of the Gauchos, 153
195
Hot springs of Cauquenes, 263
Huacas, 368, 370
Humboldt on burnished rocks, 12
on the atmosphere in
tropics, 32
■ on frozen soil, 88
on hybernation, 98
■ on potatoes, 285
on earthquakes and rain,
351
on miasma, 366, 435
Humming-birds of Rio de Janeiro, 32
of Chile, 271
Hybernation of animals, 98
Hydrochserus capybara, 49
Hydrophobia, 353
Hyla, 29
Hymenophallus, 32
Jackson, Col., on frozen snow, 325
Jaguar, habits of, 135
Jajuel, mines of, 259
James Island, Galapagos Archipe-
lago, 376
Juan Fernandez, volcano of, 310
, flora of; 392
Ibis melanops, 165
Ice, prismatic structure of, 325
Icebergs, 187, 224, 246 to 251
Incas' bridge, 334, 356
Incrustations on coast rocks, 9, 12
Indian fossil remains, 370
Indians, attacks of, 64, 77, 129
, Patagonians, 231
, Araucarians, 299
of the Pampas, 100
of Valdivia, 299
, perforated stones used by, 267
, powers of tracking, 328
, grave of, 169, 187
, ruins of houses of, in Cor-
dillera, 356, 368
•, antiquities of, in La Plata.
46, 105
decrease in numbers, 104
Infection, 435
Infusoria in dust in the Atlantic, 5
in the sea, 15, 162
in Pampas, 82, 130
in Patagonia, 170
INDEX.
51S
Infusoria in white paint, 221
in coral mud, 465
' — at Ascension, 494
Insects, first colonists of St. Paul's
rocks, 10
blown out to sea, 1 59
of Patagonia, 170, 327
of Tierra del Fuego, 238
of Galapagos, 381, 392, 394
' of Keeling Island, 456
of St. Helena, 490
Instincts of birds, 95, 398
Iodine with salt at Iquique, 365
Iquique, 362
Iron, oxide of on rocks, 12
Islands, oceanic, volcanic, 8
, floating, 265
, Antarctic, 248
, low, 402, 467
Kater's peak, 212
Kauri pine, 427
Keeling Island, 452
■ , subsidence of, 475
-, birds of, 456
-, entomology of, 456
-, flora of, 454
Kelp, or sea-weed, 239
Kendall, Lieut., on a frozen body,
249
Kingfishers, 2, 138
King George's Sound, 449
Labourers, condition of, in Chile,
267
Lagoon-islands, 402, 453, 465
Lagostomus, 124
Lake, brackish, near Rio, 21
with floating islands, 265
formed during earthquake, 371
Lamarck on acquired blindness, 52
Lampyris, 30
Lancaster, Capt., on a sea-tree, 100
Land-shells, 347, 488, 490
Lazo, 44, 153, 189
Leaves, fall of, 235
, fossil, 448
Leeks in New Zealand, imported,
428
Lepus Magellanicus, 193
Lesson, M., on the scissor-beak, 138
, on rabbit of the Fa Ik-
lands, 193
Lichen on loose sand, 364
Lichtenstein on ostriches, 92
Lightning storms, 62
• tubes, 59
Lima, 365, 368
, elevation of a river near, 358
Lime, changed by lava into crystal-
line rock, 6
Limna?a in brackish water, ^
Lion-ant, 442
Lizard, 97
, marine species of, 385
Lizards, transport of, 382
Llama or Guanaco, habits of, 16G
Locusts, 329
Longevity of species in Mollusca, 83
Lorenzo, San, island of, 369
Low archipelago, 402
Lund, M., on antiquity of man, 358
Lund and Clausen on fossils of Bra-
zil, 131, 173
Luxan, 329
Luxuriant vegetation not necessary
to support large animals, 85
Lycosa, 35
Lyell, Mr., on terraces of Coquimbo,
343
-, on longevity of Mollusca,
83
fie, 468
•, on subsidence in the Paci-
120
327
-, on change in vegetation,
-, on fossil horses' teeth, 130
-, on distribution of animals.
•, on frozen snow, 325
, on extinct mammals and
ice-period, 172
-, on flocks of butterflies,
, on stones twisted by earth-
158
quakes, 308
MacCulloch on infection, 435
Macquarie river, 442
Macrauchenia, 82, 173
Macrocystis, 239
Madrina, or godmother of a troop of
mules, 315
Magdalen channel, 241
Magellan, Strait of, 231
Malcolmson, Dr., on hail, 116
Maldiva atolls, 467, 476, 478
Maldonado, 39
M4
INDEX.
Mammalia, fossil, 81, 127, 130, 155,
173, 371
Man, antiquity of, 358
, fossil remains of, 370
, body frozen, 249
, fear of, an acquired instinct,
400
, extinction of races, 435, 448
Mares killed for their hides, 1 54
Mare's flesh eaten by troops, 101
Mastodon, 127, 130
Matter, granular, movements in, 100
Mauritius, 483
Maypu river, 316
Megalonyx, 81, 131
Megatherium, 81, 83, 131
Meudoza, climate of, 323
, 330
Mexico, elevation of, 132
Miasmata, 365, 435
Mice inhabit sterile places, 360
, number of, in America, 49
, how transported, 288, 378
different on opposite sides of
Andes, 326
of the Galapagos, 378
of Ascension, 492
Millepora, 464
Mills for grinding ores, 366
Mimosse, 25
Mimus, 54, 394, 399
Miners, condition of, 260, 265, 339,
346
Mines, 260, 340, 346
, how discovered, 317
Missionaries at New Zealand, 425
Mitchell, Sir T., on valleys of Aus-
tralia, 438
Mocking-bird, 54, 394, 399
Molina, omits description of certain
birds, 271
Molothrus, habits of, 52
Monkeys with prehensile tails, 28
Monte Video, 40, 142
Moresby, Capt., on a great crab,
463
on coral-reefs, 479
Mount Sarmiento, 233, 241
Tarn, 234
Mountains, elevation of, 312
Movements in granular matter, 100
Mud, chalk-like, 465
— — disturbed by earthquake. 306
Mules, 315
Muniz, Sig., on niata cattle, 145
Murray, Mr., on spiders, 161
Mylodon, 81, 131, 155
Myopotamus Coipus, 287
Negress with goitre, 314
Negro, Rio, 63, 149
lieutenant, 76
New Caledonia, reef of, 469, 471,
477
Zealand, 417
Niata cattle, 145
Noises from a hill, 361
Noses, ceremony of pressing, 423
Nothura, 45
Notopod, crustacean, 161
Nulliporffi, incrustations like, 9
protecting reefs, 498
Octopus, habits of, 7
Oily coating on sea, 17
Olfersia, 10
Opetiorhynchus, 289
Opuntia Galapageia, 374
Darwinii, 165
, 261
Orange-trees self-sown, 120
Ores, gold, 266
Omithorhynchus, 441
Ornithology of Galapagos, 378, 394
Osomo, volcano of, 273, 275, 291
Ostrich, habits of, 43, 89
Ostrich's eggs, 113
Otaheite, 403
Otter, 287
Ova in sea, 17
Oven-bird, 95
Owen, Capt., on a drought in Africa,
133
, Professor, on the Capybara, 50
fossil quadrupeds,
81 to 84, 130, 155
nostriis of the
Gallinazo, 185
Owl of Pampas, 70, 125
Oxyurus, 237, 289
Oysters, gigantic, 170
Paint, white, 221
Pallas on Siberia, 67
Palm-trees in La Plata, 46
in Chile, 256
, south limit of, 244
Palms absent at Galapagos, 375
INDEX.
Gl£
Pampas, number of embedded re-
mains in, 155
, S. limit of, 75
, changes in, 120
not quite level, 124, 127,
143
, geology of, 129, 155
, view of, from the Andes, 327
Papilio feronia, 33
Parana, Rio, 12R, 139, 147
, islands in, 134
Parish, Sir W., on the great drought,
133
Park, Mungo, on eating salt, 110
Parrots, 138, 244
Partridges, 45
Pas, fortresses of New Zealand, 418
Passes in Cordillera, 334
Pasture, altered from grazing of
cattle, 118
Patagones, 64
Patagonia, geology of, 1 70, 329
, zoology of, 165, 170,
179
Patagonlan Indians, 231
Peach-trees self-sown, 120
Peat, formation of, 286
Pebbles perforated, 149, 267
• . transported in roots of trees,
461
Pelagic animals in southern ocean,
161
Penas, Gulf of, 246
Penguin, habits of, 199
Pepsis, habits of; 35
Pernambuco, reef ot, 498
Pernety on hill of ruins, 196
on tame birds, 398
Peru, 362 to 371
, dry valleys of, 358, 362
Petrels, habits of, 289
Peuquenes, pass of, 319
Phonolite at F. Noronha, 11
Phosphorescence of the sea, 162
of a coralline, 202
of land insects and
sea animals, 30
Phryniscus, 97
Pine of New Zealand, 427
Plains at foot of Andes in Chile,
262,316
almost horizontal near St. Fe,
127
Planarise, terrestrial species of, 26
Plants of the Galapagos, 374, 392,
395
of Keeling island, 454
of St. Helena, 487
fossil in Australia, 448
Plata, E., 39
, thuuderstorms of, 62
Plover, long-legged, 114
Polished rocks, Brazil, 12
Polyborus chimango, 57
Novae Zelandise, 58
Braziliensis, 55
Ponsonby Sound, 221
Porpoises, 39
Port Desire, 164
-, river of, 107, 168
St. Julian, 170
Famine, 233
Portillo pass, 319, 325
Porto Pray a, 1
Potato, wild, 285
Potrero Seco, 350
Prairies, vegetation of, 118
Prevost, M., on cuckoos, 53
Priestley, Dr., on lightning-tubes,
59
Procellaria gigantea, habits of, 289
Proctotretus, 97
Proteus, blindness of, 52
Protococcus nivalis, 322
Pteroptochos, two species of, 270
, species of, 278, 288
Puente del Inca, 334, 356
PufEnus cinereus, 290
PuflBnuria Berardii, 291
Puma, habits of, 136, 183, 269
, flesh of, 117
Puna, or short respiration, 322
Puuta Alta, Bahia Blanca, 81
Gorda, 129, 356
Pyrophorus luminosus, 31
Quadrupeds, fossil, 81, 127, 130, 155,
173
, large, do not requira
luxuriant vegetation, 85
weight of, 87
Quartz of the Ventana, 109
of Tapalguen, 116
of Falkland Island, 196
Quedius, 10
Quillota, valley of, 254
Quintero, 254
Quiriquina Island, 302
iU
INDEX.
Quoy and Gaimard on stinging
corals, 464
— on coral reefs,
47G
Rabbit, wild, at the Falkland Islands,
193
Rain at Coquimbo, 338, 347, 348
at Rio, 29
and earthquakes, 351
in Peru, 3G4, 365
in Chile, formerly more abun-
dant, 357
, effects on vegetation,
338
!?aiia Mascariensis, 382
i?at, only aboriginal animal of New
Zealand, 427
Rats at Galapagos, 378
at Ascension, 492
at Keeling Island, 456
Rattle-snake, species with allied
habit, 97
Rod snow, 322
Reduvius, 330
Reef at Pernambnco of sandstone,
498
Reefs of coral, 465 to 482
, Barrier, 469, 476
, Fringing, 472
Reeks, Mr., analysis of salt, 66
bones, 155
salt and
shells, 370
Remains, human elevated, 370
h'emedies of the Gauchos, 128
kengger on the horse, 233
Reptiles absent in Tierra del Fuego,
237
at Galapagos, 381
Respiration difficult in Andes, 322
Retrospect, 50
Revolutions at Buenos Ay res, 140
Rhinoceroses live in desert coun-
tries, 86
, frozen, 89, 250
Rhynchops nigra, 137
Richardson, Dr., on mice of North
America, 378
, on polished rocks,
251
248
-, on frozen soil, 88,
- on eating fat, 1 1 7
Richardson, Dr., on geographical
distribution, 131
Rimsky atoll, 466
ITio de Janeiro, 19
Plata, 39
Negro, 63, 149
Colorado, 70
S. Cruz, 177
Sauce, 106
Salado, Il8
Rivers, power of, in wearing chan-
nels, 180, 320
River-bed, arched, 358
River-courses dry in America, 107
Rocks burnished with ferruginous
matter, 12
Rodents, number of in America, 49,
179
, fossil species of, 82
Rosas, General, 71, 103, 140
Ruins of Callao, 369
of Indian buildings in Cordil
lera, 356, 368
S. Cruz, 177
Salado, Rio, 118
Salinas at the Galapagos Archipe-
lago, 377
in Patagonia, 65, 170
Saline efflorescences, 78
Salt with vegetable food, 110
, superficial crust of, 364
, with elevated shells, 369
Salt-lakes, 65, 170, 377
Sandwich Archipelago, no frogs at,
382
Land, 248
San Pedro, forests of, 281
Sand-dunes, 75
Sand, hot from sun's rays, at Gala-
pagos Archipelago, 377
, noise from friction of, 361
Sandstone of New South Wales, 43?
, reef of, 498
Santa Cruz, river of, 177
Santiago, Chile, 262
Sarmiento, Mount, 233, 241
Sauce, Rio, 106
Saurophagus sulphureus, 54
Scarus eating corals, 464
Scelidotherium, 82
Scenery of Andes, 318
Scissor-tail, 138
Scissor-beak, habits of, 137
i
INDEX.
617
Scorpions, cannibals, 165
Scoresby, Mr., ou eflfects of snow
on rocks, 318
Scrope, Mr., on earthquakes, 352
Scytalopus fuscus, 237, 289
Sea, open, inhabitants of, 162
, phosphorescence of, 162
, distant noise of, 295
Sea-pen, habits of, 99, 202
Sea-weed, growth of, 239
Seals, number of, 284
Seeds transported by sea, 392, 454
Serpulae, protecting reef, 498
Shark killed by Diodon, 1 4
Shaw, Dr., on lion's flesh, 1 1 6
Sheep, infected, 436
Shelley, lines on Mont Blanc, 1 G8
Shells, laud, in great numbers, 347
, at St. Helena, 488
Shells, fossil, of Cordillera, 321
of Galapagos, 390
elevated, 83, 1.30, 171, 254,
344, 369
tropical forms of, far south.
243
, decomposition of, with salt, 369
Shepherd's dogs, 149
Shingle-bed of Patagonia, 75, 171
Siberia compared with Patagonia, 67
, zoology of, related to North
America, 132
Siberian animals, how preserved in
ice, 250
, food necessary dur-
ing their existence, 89
Silicified trees, 333, 353
Silurian formations at Falkland Is-
lands, 196
Silurus, habits of, 136
Skunks, 80
Slavery, 20, 24, 499
Smelling power of carrion- hawks,
184
Smith, Dr, Andrew, on the support
of large quadrupeds, 85
, on perforated
pebbles, 149
Snake, venomous, 96
Snow-line on Cordillera, 244, 322,
325
Snow, effects of on rocks, 3 1 8
, prismatic structure of, 325
, red, 322
Society, statp of in La Plata, 41, 157
Society, state of, in Australia, 443
' Archipelago, 402
, volcanic phe-
nomena at, 475, 481
Soda, nitrate of, 362
, sulphate of, 78
Soil, frozen, 88, 248
Spawn on surface of sea, 1 7
Species, distribution of, 131, 365
, extinction of, 17*
Spiders, habits of, 35 — 38
, gossamer, 159
killed by and killing wasps
35 to 37
on Keeling Island, 456
on St. Paul's, 10
Springs, hot, 263
Stevenson, Mr., ou growth ^f sea-
weed, 239
Stinging animals, 464
St. Helena, 486
, introdnction of spirifs
into, 412
— Fe, 129
— Jago, C. Verds, 1
, unheal thiness of, 366
— Jago, Chile, 262
— Maria, elevated, 307, 310
— Paul's rocks, 8
Stones perforated, 149, 267
transported in roots, 46}
Storm, 217,281
in Cordillera, 324, 360
Streams of stones at Falkland Islands,
197
Strongylus, 32
Struthio Pihea, 43, 89
Darwiuii, 92
Strzelecki, Count, 448
Suadiva atoll, 466
Subsidence of coral reefs, 467 to 4SJ
• of Keeling Island, 475
of Patagonia, 1 72
of coast of Peru, 3C9
of Cordillera, 321, 333
of Coasts of Chile, 34 1
of Vanikoro, 475
of coral reefs great in
amount, 479
, cause of distinctness in
Tertiary epochs, 344
Sulphate of lime, 66, 171, 369
soda incrusting the
ground, 78
518
INDEX.
Sulphate of soda with common
salt, 66, 369
Swainson, Mr., on cuckoos, 53
Sydney, 431
Tabanus, 170
Tahiti (Otaheite), 403
, three zones of fertility, 406
Talcahuano, 302
Tambillos, Ruinas de, 356
Tameness of birds, 398
Tapacolo and Turco, 270
Tapalguen, Sierra, flat hills of quartz,
116
Tarn, Mount, 234
Tasmania, 446
Tattooing, 404, 426
Temperance of the Tahitians, 41 1
Temperature of Tierra del Fuego and
Falkland Islands, 242
of Galapagos, 373, 377
Tercero, Rio, fossils in banks of, 127
Terraces in valleys of Cordillera, 315
of Coquimbo, 343
• of Patagonia, 172, 181
Tertiary formations of the Pampas,
81, 129, 155
of Patagonia, 170,
in Chile, epochs
of, 344
Teru-tero, habits of, 114
Testudo, habits of, 382, 394
Theory of lagoon-islands, 472
Theristicus, 165
Thistle beds, 119, 124, 148
Thunder-storms, 62
Tierra del Fuego, 204 to 251
, climate and vege-
tation of, 242
, zoology of, 236
-, entomology of, 238
Tinamus rufescens, 1 1 3
Tinochorus Eschscholtzii, 94
Toad, habits of, 97
not found in oceanic islands,
381
Torrents in Cordillera, 316, 321
Tortoise, habits of, 382, 394
Toxodon, 82, 127, 130, 155
Transparency of air in Andes, 325
' in St. Jago, 4
Transport of seeds, 392, 454
of boulders, 187, 24 7
Transport of stones in roots of treeS;
461
of fragments of rock on
banks of the St. Cruz river, 180
Travertin with leaves of trees, Van
Diemen's Land, 448
Tree-ferns, southern limits of, 244
, 448
Trees, absence of, in Pampas, 46
, floating, transport stones, 461
silicified, vertical, 332
, size of, 353
-, time required to rot, 301
Tres Montes, 282
Trichodesmium, 14
Trigonocephalus, 96
Tristan d'Acunha, 399, 456
Trochilus, 271
Tropical scenery, 495
Tschudi, M., on subsidence, 369
Tubes, siliceous, formed by lightning,
59
Tucutuco, habits of, 50
, fossil species of, 82
Tuff; craters of, 373
, Infusoria in, 494
Tupungato, volcano of, 324
Turco, El, 270
Turkey buzzard, 58, 184, 284
Turtle, manner of catching, 459
Type of organization in Galapagos
islands, American, 393
Types of organization in different
countries, constant, 173
Tyrannus, 138
Ulloa on hydrophobia, 353
on Indian buildings, 357
Unaniie, Dr., on hydrophobia, 353
Uruguay, Rio, 139, 147
, not crossed by the
Bizcacha, 124
Uspallata range and pass, 331
Vacas, Rio, 333
Valdivia, 297
, forests of, 298, 301
Valley of St. Cruz, how excavated,
181
, dry, at Copiapo, 355
Valleys, excavation of, in Chile, 315,
355
of Tahiti. 408, 412
in Cordillera, 315
INDEX,
519
Valleys of New South Wales, 437
Valparaiso, 252, 313
Vampire bat, 22
Vapour from forests, 24
Van Diemen's Land, 446
Vanellus Cayanus, 114
Vanessa, flocks of, \5S
Vanikoro, 469, 471, 475
Vegetation of St. Helena, changes of,
489 .^
on opposite sides of Cor-
dillera, 326
., luxuriant, not necessary
to support large animals, 85
Ventana, Sierra, 107
Verbena melindres, 40
Villa Vicencio, 331
Virgularia Patagonica, 99, 202
Volcanic bombs, 493
— islands, 8
phenomena, 31 1
Volcanos near Chiloe, 273, 275, 291,
, their presence determined
by elevation or subsidence, 480
Vulturaura, 58, 184,284
Waders, first colonists of distant is-
lands, 380
Waimate, New Zealand, 421
Walckenaer on spiders, 38
Walleechu tree, 68
Wasps preying on spiders and killed
by, 35—38
Water-hog, 49
Water, sold at Iquique, 362
. ., fresh, floating on salt, 39,
458
Waterhouse, Mr., on Eodents, 49, 378
. on the Niata ox,
146
, . on the insects of Ti-
erra del Fuego, 238
of Gala-
Waves, caused by fall of ice, 224.
246
from earthquakes, 305, 309
Weather, connection with earth-
quakes, 351
Weather-board, N.S.Wales, 437
Weeds in New Zealand, imported,
392,428 , ^ ^^
Weight of large quadrupeds, 87
Wellington, Mount, 448
Wells, ebbing and flowing, 458
at Iquique, 364
West Indies, banks of, 439
, coral reefs of, 472, 480
, zoology of, 132
Whales, oil from, 1 7
leaping out of water, 223
White, Mr., on spiders, 35
Wigwams of Fuegians, 212
Williams, Rev., on infectious disor-
ders, 435
Winds, dry, inTierra del Fuego, 231
. at the Cape Verds, 3
-, cold, on Cordillera, 360
- on Cordillera, 323
Winter's Bark, 235, 281
Wolf at the Falklands, 193
Wood, Capt., on the Agouti, 70
Woollya, 221
Yaquil, 265
Yeso, Valle del, 319
York Minster, 208
Zonotrichia, 52
Zoological provinces of N. and S.
America, 131
Zoology of Galapagos, 377
of Keeling Island, 456
of Tierra del Fuego, 236
. of Chonos Islands, 287
— of St Helena, 490
jagos, 381, 392
!!!!^\t'Falkland Islands 201
Zorillc, or skunk, 80
23
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