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Title: The Voyage of the Beagle

Author: Charles Darwin

Release date: June 1, 1997 [eBook #944]
Most recently updated: April 28, 2025

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VOYAGE
OF THE BEAGLE ***

THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE

By Charles Darwin

CONTENTS
PREFACE
THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
CHAPTER I — ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS
CHAPTER II — RIO DE JANEIRO
CHAPTER III — MALDONADO
CHAPTER IV — RIO NEGRO TO BAHIA BLANCA
CHAPTER V — BAHIA BLANCA
CHAPTER VI — BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES
CHAPTER VII — BUENOS AYRES AND ST. FE

CHAPTER VIII — BANDA ORIENTAL AND PATAGONIA
CHAPTER IX — SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA, AND THE
FALKLAND ISLANDS
CHAPTER X — TIERRA DEL FUEGO
CHAPTER XI — STRAIT OF MAGELLAN.—CLIMATE OF
THE SOUTHERN COASTS
CHAPTER XII — CENTRAL CHILE
CHAPTER XIII — CHILOE AND CHONOS ISLANDS
CHAPTER XIV — CHILOE AND CONCEPCION: GREAT
EARTHQUAKE
CHAPTER XV — PASSAGE OF THE CORDILLERA
CHAPTER XVI — NORTHERN CHILE AND PERU
CHAPTER XVII — GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO
CHAPTER XVIII — TAHITI AND NEW ZEALAND
CHAPTER XIX — AUSTRALIA
CHAPTER XX — KEELING ISLAND: CORAL
FORMATIONS
CHAPTER XXI — MAURITIUS TO ENGLAND
FOOTNOTES:

PREFACE
I have 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 offer from him of giving up part of his own
accommodations, that I volunteered my services, which received, through
the kindness of the hydrographer, Captain Beaufort, the sanction of the
Lords of the Admiralty. As I feel that the opportunities which I enjoyed of
studying the Natural History of the different countries we visited, have been
wholly due to Captain Fitz Roy, I hope I may here be permitted to repeat
my expression of gratitude to him; and to add that, during the five years we
were together, I received from him the most cordial friendship and steady
assistance. Both to Captain Fitz Roy and to all the Officers of the Beagle 10
I shall ever feel most thankful for the undeviating kindness with which 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.
Waterhouse; 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 habits and range. These works, which I owe to the
high talents and disinterested zeal of the above distinguished authors, could
not have been undertaken, had it not been for the liberality of the Lords
Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, who, through the representation
of the Right Honourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been
pleased to grant a sum of one thousand pounds towards defraying part of
the expenses 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 Transactions' contains two papers of mine on the
Erratic Boulders and Volcanic Phenomena of South America. Messrs.
Waterhouse, Walker, 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 described my
cryptogamic plants.
I shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the great assistance 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 undergraduate at
Cambridge, was 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 assistance which the kindest friend could
offer.
DOWN, BROMLEY, KENT, June 9, 1845

THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE

CHAPTER I — ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD
ISLANDS
Porto Praya—Ribeira Grande—Atmospheric Dust with Infusoria—
Habits of a Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish—St. Paul's Rocks, non-volcanic—
Singular Incrustations—Insects the first Colonists of Islands—Fernando
Noronha—Bahia—Burnished Rocks—Habits of a Diodon—Pelagic
Confervae and Infusoria—Causes of discoloured Sea.

A
FTER having been twice driven back by heavy southwestern gales,
Her Majesty's ship Beagle, a ten-gun brig, under the command of
Captain Fitz Roy, R. N., sailed from Devonport on the 27th of
December, 1831. The object of the expedition was to complete the survey
of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commenced under Captain King in 1826
to 1830,—to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and of some islands in the
Pacific—and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the
World. On the 6th of January we reached 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
illuminate 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 neighbourhood of Porto Praya, viewed from the sea, wears a desolate
aspect. The volcanic fires of a past age, and the scorching heat of a tropical
sun, have in most places rendered the soil unfit for vegetation. The country
rises in successive steps of table-land, interspersed with some truncate
conical hills, and the horizon is bounded by an irregular chain of more lofty
mountains. The scene, as beheld through the hazy atmosphere of this
climate, is one of great interest; if, indeed, a person, fresh from sea, and
who has just walked, for the first time, in a grove of cocoa-nut trees, can be
a judge of anything but his own happiness. The island would generally be
considered as very uninteresting, but to anyone 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 very seldom, but
during a short portion of the year heavy torrents fall, and immediately
afterwards a light vegetation springs out of every crevice. This soon
withers; and upon such naturally formed hay the animals live. It had not
now rained for an entire year. When the island was discovered, the
immediate neighbourhood of Porto Praya was clothed with trees, 11 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 water-
courses, are clothed with thickets of leafless bushes. Few living creatures
inhabit these valleys. The commonest bird is a kingfisher (Dacelo
Iagoensis), 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, manners, and place of
habitation, which is generally in the driest valley, there is also a wide
difference.
One day, two of the officers and myself rode to Ribeira Grande, a village
a few miles eastward of Porto Praya. Until we reached the valley of St.
Martin, the country presented its usual dull brown appearance; but here, a
very small rill of water produces a most refreshing margin of luxuriant
vegetation. In the course of an hour we arrived at Ribeira Grande, and were
surprised at the sight of a large ruined fort and cathedral. This little town,
before its harbour was filled up, was the principal place in the island: it now
presents a melancholy, but very picturesque appearance. Having procured a
black Padre for a guide, and a Spaniard who had served in the Peninsular
war as an interpreter, we visited a collection of buildings, of which an
ancient church formed the principal part. It is here the governors and
captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some of the tombstones
recorded dates of the sixteenth century. 12
The heraldic ornaments were the only things in this retired place that
reminded us of Europe. The church or chapel formed one side of a
quadrangle, in the middle of which a large clump of bananas were growing.
On another side was a hospital, containing about a dozen miserable-looking
inmates.

We returned to the Venda to eat our dinners. A considerable number of
men, women, and children, all as black as jet, collected to watch us. Our
companions were extremely merry; and everything we said or did was
followed by their hearty laughter. Before leaving the town we visited the
cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the smaller church, but boasts of a
little organ, which sent forth singularly inharmonious cries. We presented
the black priest with a few shillings, and the Spaniard, patting him on the
head, said, with much candour, he thought his colour made no great
difference. We then returned, as fast as the ponies would go, to Porto Praya.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo, 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 steady 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—its
inhabitants. The black children, completely naked, and looking very
wretched, were carrying bundles of firewood half as big as their own
bodies.
Near Fuentes we saw a large flock of guinea-fowl—probably fifty or
sixty in number. They were extremely wary, and could not be 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 unexpected, from
the prevalent gloomy character of the rest of the island. The village is
situated at the bottom of a valley, bounded by lofty and jagged walls of
stratified lava. The black rocks afford a most striking contrast with the
bright green vegetation, which follows the banks of a little stream of clear
water. It happened to be a grand feast-day, and the village was full of
people. On our return we 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 shawls. As soon as we

approached near, they suddenly all turned round, and covering the path with
their shawls, sung with great energy a wild song, beating time with their
hands upon their legs. We threw them some vintems, which were received
with screams of laughter, and we left them redoubling the noise of their
song.
One morning the view was singularly clear; the distant mountains being
projected with the sharpest outline on a heavy bank of dark blue clouds.
Judging from the appearance, and from similar cases in England, I supposed
that the air was saturated with moisture. The fact, however, turned out quite
the contrary. The hygrometer gave a difference of 29.6 degs., between the
temperature of the air, and the point at which dew was precipitated. This
difference was nearly double that which I had observed on the previous
mornings. This unusual degree of atmospheric dryness was accompanied by
continual flashes of lightning. Is it not an uncommon case, thus to find a
remarkable degree of aerial transparency with such a state of weather?
Generally the atmosphere is hazy; and this is caused by the falling of
impalpably fine dust, which was found to have slightly injured the
astronomical instruments. The morning before we anchored at Porto Praya,
I collected a little packet of this brown-coloured fine dust, which appeared
to have been filtered from the wind by the gauze of the vane at the mast-
head. Mr. Lyell has also given me four packets of dust which fell on a
vessel a few hundred miles northward of these islands. Professor Ehrenberg
13 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 having fallen on vessels when far out in the Atlantic. From
the direction of the wind whenever it has fallen, and from its having always
fallen during those months when the harmattan is known to raise clouds of
dust high into the atmosphere, we may feel sure that it all comes from
Africa. It is, however, a very singular fact, that, although Professor
Ehrenberg knows many species of infusoria peculiar to Africa, he finds
none of these in the dust which I sent him. On the other hand, he finds in it
two species which hitherto he knows as living only in South America. The
dust falls in such quantities as to dirty everything 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 thousand 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 the 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 some miles along the coast,
and at the height of about forty-five feet above the water. Upon examination
this white stratum is found to consist of calcareous matter with numerous
shells embedded, 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 crystalline limestone, and in other parts into a compact
spotted stone. Where the lime has been caught up by the scoriaceous
fragments of the lower surface of the stream, it is converted into groups of
beautifully radiated fibres resembling arragonite. The beds of lava rise in
successive gently-sloping plains, towards the interior, whence the deluges
of melted stone have originally proceeded. Within historical times, no signs
of volcanic activity have, I believe, been manifested in any part of St. Jago.
Even the form of a crater can but rarely be discovered on the summits of the
many red cindery hills; yet the more recent streams can be distinguished on
the coast, forming lines of cliffs of less height, but stretching out in advance
of those belonging to an older series: the height of the cliffs thus affording a
rude measure of the age of the streams.
During our stay, I observed the habits of some marine animals. A large
Aplysia is very 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 causing a current of water to flow over the dorsal
branchiae or lungs. It feeds on the delicate sea-weeds which grow among
the stones in muddy and shallow water; and I found in its stomach several
small pebbles, as in the gizzard of a bird. This slug, when disturbed, emits a

very fine purplish-red fluid, which stains the water for the space of a foot
around. Besides this means of defence, an acrid secretion, which is spread
over its body, causes a sharp, stinging sensation, similar to that produced by
the Physalia, or Portuguese man-of-war.
I was much interested, on several occasions, by watching the habits of an
Octopus, or cuttle-fish. Although common in the pools of water left by the
retiring tide, these animals were not easily caught. By means of their long
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 according to the nature of the 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 carefully, 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, 14 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. 15
This cuttle-fish displayed its chameleon-like power both during the act of
swimming and whilst remaining stationary at the bottom. I was much
amused by the various arts to escape detection used by one individual,
which seemed fully aware that I was watching it. Remaining for a time
motionless, it would then stealthily advance an inch or two, like a cat after a
mouse; sometimes changing its colour: it thus proceeded, till having gained
a deeper part, it darted away, leaving a dusky train of ink to hide the hole
into which it had crawled.
While looking for marine animals, with my head about two feet above
the rocky shore, I was more than once saluted by a jet of water,

accompanied by a slight grating noise. At first I could not think what it was,
but afterwards I found out that it was this cuttle-fish, which, though
concealed in a hole, 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 certainly 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 hove-to during the
morning of February 16th, close to the island of St. Paul's. This cluster of
rocks is situated in 0 degs. 58' north latitude, and 29 degs. 15' west
longitude. It is 540 miles distant from the coast of America, and 350 from
the island of Fernando Noronha. The highest point is only fifty feet above
the level of the sea, and the entire circumference is under three-quarters of a
mile. This small point 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 multitude of seafowl, and partly to
a coating of a hard glossy substance with a pearly lustre, which is intimately
united to the surface 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 stalactitic branching bodies, formed apparently in the same
manner as 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 globular extremities of the branches are of
a pearly texture, like the enamel of teeth, but so hard as just to scratch plate-
glass. I may here mention, that on a part of the coast of Ascension, where
there is a vast accumulation of shelly sand, an incrustation is deposited on
the tidal rocks by the water of the sea, resembling, as represented in the
woodcut, certain cryptogamic plants (Marchantiae) often seen on damp
walls. The surface of the fronds is beautifully glossy; and those parts
formed where fully exposed to the light are of a jet black colour, but those
shaded under ledges are only grey. I have shown specimens of this
incrustation 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 exposed 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
composition of the hard parts, such as bones and shells, of all living
animals, it is an interesting physiological fact 16 to find substances harder
than the enamel of teeth, and coloured surfaces as well polished as those of
a fresh shell, reformed 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 very simple nest
with sea-weed. 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
terrestrial fauna: a fly (Olfersia) living on the booby, and a tick which must
have come here as a parasite on the birds; a small brown moth, belonging to
a genus that 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 water-fowl. 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 correct; I fear it destroys the poetry of this story,
that feather and dirt-feeding and parasitic insects and spiders should be the
first inhabitants of newly formed oceanic land.
The smallest rock in the tropical seas, by giving a foundation for the
growth of innumerable kinds of sea-weed 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 fishing-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 constitution of the
island is volcanic, but probably not of a recent date. The most remarkable
feature is a conical hill, about one thousand feet high, the upper part of
which is exceedingly steep, and on one side overhangs its base. The rock is
phonolite, and is divided into irregular columns. On viewing one of these
isolated masses, at first one is inclined to believe that it has been suddenly

pushed up in a semi-fluid state. At St. Helena, however, 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 covered 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
passed delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the
feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a
Brazilian forest. The elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical
plants, the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but above
all the general luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with admiration. A
most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the 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 history, 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, I
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 climate, 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 circumstance of this enormous area
being constituted of materials which most geologists believe to have been
crystallized 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. 17 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 washed by the floods, and in those parts
alone where the stream is rapid; or, as the Indians say, "the rocks are black
where the waters are white." Here the coating is of a rich brown instead of a
black colour, and seems to be composed of ferruginous matter alone. Hand
specimens fail to give a just idea of these brown burnished stones which
glitter in the sun's rays. They occur only within the limits of the tidal waves;
and as the rivulet slowly trickles down, the surf must supply the polishing
power of the 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 which is externally visible: but the water enters in a gentle
stream through the mouth, which is kept wide open and motionless; this
latter action must, therefore, depend on suction. The skin about the
abdomen is much looser than that on the back; hence, during the inflation,
the lower surface 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 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 regulating 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 carmine-red fibrous matter, which stains ivory and paper in
so permanent a manner that the tint is retained with all its brightness to the
present day: I am quite ignorant of the nature and use of this secretion. I
have heard from Dr. Allan of Forres, that he has frequently found a Diodon,
floating alive and distended, in the stomach of the shark, and that on several
occasions he has known it eat its way, not only through the coats of the
stomach, but through the sides of the monster, which has thus been killed.
Who would ever have imagined that a little soft fish could have destroyed
the great and savage shark?
March 18th.—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 confervae, in bundles or rafts of from
twenty to sixty in each. Mr. Berkeley informs me that they are the same
species (Trichodesmium erythraeum) with that found over large spaces in
the Red Sea, and whence its name of Red Sea is derived. 18 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 confervae. They appear especially common

in the sea near Australia; and off Cape Leeuwin I found an 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.
Near Keeling Atoll, in the Indian Ocean, I observed many little masses of
confervae a few inches square, consisting of long cylindrical threads of
excessive thinness, so as to be barely visible to the naked eye, mingled with
other rather larger bodies, finely conical at both ends. Two of these are
shown in the woodcut united together. They vary in length from .04 to .06,
and even to .08 of an inch in length; and in diameter from .006 to .008 of an
inch. Near one extremity of the cylindrical part, a green septum, formed of
granular matter, and thickest in the middle, may generally be seen. This, I
believe, is the bottom of a most delicate, colourless sac, composed of a
pulpy substance, which lines the exterior case, but does not extend within
the extreme conical points. In some specimens, small but perfect spheres of
brownish granular matter supplied the places of the septa; and I observed
the curious process by which they were produced. The pulpy matter of the
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 formation 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 add here 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
Valparaiso, 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 often exploding. Their shape is oval, and
contracted in the middle by a ring of vibrating curved ciliae. It was,
however, very difficult to examine them with care, for almost the instant
motion ceased, even while crossing the field of vision, their bodies burst.
Sometimes both ends burst at once, sometimes only one, and a quantity of
coarse, brownish, granular matter was ejected. The 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 were 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 remove
contained very many. In one day we passed through two spaces of water
thus stained, one of which alone must have extended over several square
miles. What incalculable numbers of these microscopical animals! The
colour of the water, as seen at some distance, was 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 weather for some days previously had
been calm, and the ocean abounded, to an unusual degree, with living
creatures. 19
In the sea around Tierra del Fuego, and at no great 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 form large prawns. The
sealers call them whale-food. Whether whales feed on them I do not know;
but terns, cormorants, and immense herds of great unwieldy seals derive, on
some parts of the coast, their chief sustenance from these swimming crabs.
Seamen invariably attribute the discoloration of the water to spawn; but I
found this to be the case only on one occasion. At the distance of several
leagues from the Archipelago of the Galapagos, the ship sailed through
three strips of a dark yellowish, or mud-like water; these strips were some
miles long, but only a few yards wide, and they were separated from the
surrounding 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 imbedded: they were of two
distinct kinds, one being of a reddish colour and of a different shape from
the other. I 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 directions of the bands indicate
that 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 the water which displays iridescent colours. I saw a considerable
tract of the ocean thus covered on the coast of Brazil; the seamen attributed
it to the putrefying carcase of some whale, which probably was floating at
no great distance. I do not here mention the minute gelatinous particles,
hereafter to be referred to, which are frequently dispersed throughout the
water, for they are not sufficiently abundant to create any change of colour.
There are two circumstances in the above 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 co-instantaneous as in a regiment of soldiers; but this
cannot happen from anything like voluntary action with the ovules, or the
confervae, nor is it probable among the infusoria. Secondly, what causes the
length and narrowness of the bands? The appearance so much resembles
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 effect to a
similar action either of the currents of the air or sea. Under this supposition
we must believe that the various organized bodies are produced in certain
favourable places, and are thence removed by the set of either wind or
water. I confess, however, there is a very great difficulty in imagining any
one spot to be the birthplace of the millions of millions of animalcula and
confervae: for whence come the germs at such points?—the parent bodies
having been distributed by the winds and waves over the immense ocean.
But on no other hypothesis can I understand their linear grouping. I may
add that Scoresby remarks that green water abounding with pelagic animals
is invariably found in a certain part of the Arctic Sea.

CHAPTER II — RIO DE JANEIRO
Rio de Janeiro—Excursion north of Cape Frio—Great Evaporation—
Slavery—Botofogo Bay—Terrestrial Planariae—Clouds on the Corcovado
—Heavy Rain—Musical Frogs—Phosphorescent Insects—Elater, springing
powers of—Blue Haze—Noise made by a Butterfly—Entomology—Ants—
Wasp killing a Spider—Parasitical Spider—Artifices of an Epeira—
Gregarious Spider—Spider with an unsymmetrical Web.

A
PRIL 4th to July 5th, 1832.—A few days after our arrival 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 8th.—Our party amounted to seven. The first stage was very
interesting. The day was powerfully hot, and as we passed through the
woods, everything was motionless, excepting the large and brilliant
butterflies, which lazily fluttered about. The view seen when crossing the
hills behind Praia Grande was most beautiful; the colours were intense, and
the prevailing tint a dark blue; the sky and the calm waters of the bay vied
with each other in splendour. After passing through some cultivated
country, we entered a forest, which in the grandeur of all its parts could not
be exceeded. We arrived by midday at Ithacaia; 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, contrived 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 herself to pieces from the
summit of the mountain. 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 sunrise. 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 succulent 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 degs. The beautiful view
of the distant wooded hills, reflected in the perfectly calm water of an
extensive lagoon, quite refreshed us. As the venda 21 here was a very good
one, and I have the pleasant, but rare remembrance, of an excellent dinner, I
will be grateful and presently describe it, as the type of its class. These
houses are often large, and are built of thick upright posts, with 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 he 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 to unsaddle the horses and give them their Indian
corn; then, with a low bow, to ask the senhor to do us the favour to give up
something to eat. "Anything 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 proceeding, the case universally became
deplorable. "Any fish can you do us the favour of giving ?"—"Oh! no,
sir."—"Any soup?"—"No, sir."—"Any bread?"—"Oh! no, sir."—"Any
dried meat?"—"Oh! no, 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
unsatisfactory 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
disagreeable in their manners; their houses and their persons are often
filthily dirty; the want of the accommodation of forks, knives, and spoons is
common; and I am sure no cottage or hovel in England could be found in a
state so utterly destitute of every comfort. At Campos Novos, however, we
fared 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 anything of a whip which one of the party
had lost, gruffly 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 kinds, I found a Limnaea 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. Gay 22 has stated
that he found in the neighbourhood of Rio, shells 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 hydrophilus, 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. Travelling onwards we passed through tracts of pasturage,
much injured by the enormous conical ants' nests, which were nearly twelve
feet high. They gave to the plain exactly the appearance of the mud
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 Vampire 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. We were bivouacking late one evening 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 effects.
April 13th.—After three days' travelling we arrived at Socego, the estate
of Senhor Manuel Figuireda, a relation of one of our party. The house was
simple, and, though like a barn in form, was well suited to the climate. In
the sitting-room gilded chairs and sofas were oddly contrasted with the
whitewashed walls, thatched roof, and windows without glass. The house,
together with the granaries, the stables, and workshops for the blacks, who
had been taught various trades, formed a rude kind of quadrangle; in the
centre of which a large pile of coffee was drying. These buildings stand on a
little hill, overlooking the cultivated 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.
Senhor 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 hundred and twenty fold. The pasturage supports a fine stock
of cattle, and the woods are so full of game that a deer had been killed on

each of the three previous days. This profusion of food showed itself at
dinner, where, if the tables did not groan, the guests 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. During the
meals, it was the employment of a man to drive out of the room sundry old
hounds, and dozens of little black children, which crawled in together, at
every opportunity. As long as the idea of slavery could be banished, there
was something exceedingly 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 daylight to admire the solemn stillness of the scene; at last, the
silence was broken by the morning hymn, raised on high by the whole body
of the blacks; and in this manner their daily work is generally begun. On
such fazendas as these, I have no doubt the slaves pass happy and contented
lives. On Saturday and Sunday they work for themselves, and in this fertile
climate the labour of two days is sufficient to support a man and his family
for the whole week.
April 14th.—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 cultivated
ground can scarcely be considered as anything, compared to that which is
left in the state of nature: at some future age, how vast a population it will
support! During the second day's journey we found the road so shut up, that
it was necessary that a man should go ahead with a sword to cut away the
creepers. The forest abounded with beautiful objects; among which the tree
ferns, though not large, were, from their 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 degs., I felt
very cold. As soon as the rain ceased, it was curious to observe the
extraordinary 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 the 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 lawsuit, the owner was on the point of taking all
the women and children from the male slaves, and selling them separately
at the public auction at Rio. Interest, and not any feeling of compassion,
prevented this act. Indeed, I do not believe the inhumanity of separating
thirty families, who had lived together for many years, even occurred to the
owner. Yet I will pledge myself, that in humanity and good feeling he was
superior to the common run of men. It may be said there exists no limit to
the blindness of interest and selfish habit. I may mention one very trifling
anecdote, which at the time struck me more forcibly than any story of
cruelty. I was crossing a ferry with a negro, who was uncommonly stupid.
In endeavouring to make him understand, I talked loud, and made signs, in
doing which I passed my hand near his face. He, I suppose, thought I was in
a passion, and was going to strike him; for 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 degradation lower than the slavery of the most helpless animal.
April 18th.—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 dimensions. 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, growing 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 beautiful of its family. With a stem so
narrow that it might be clasped with the two hands, it waves its elegant head
at the height of forty or fifty feet above the ground. The woody creepers,
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 mimosae. The latter, in
some parts, covered the surface with a brushwood only a few inches high.
In walking across these thick beds of mimosae, a broad track was marked
by the change of shade, produced by the drooping of their sensitive petioles.
It is easy to specify the individual objects of admiration in these grand
scenes; but it is not possible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings
of wonder, astonishment, and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind.
April 19th.—Leaving Socego, during the two first days, we retraced our
steps. It was very wearisome work, as the road generally ran across a
glaring hot sandy plain, not far from the 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 was in so bad a state that no wheeled vehicle, excepting the
clumsy bullock-wagon, could pass along. In our whole journey we did not
cross a single bridge built of stone; and those made of logs of wood were
frequently so much out of 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 the evening of the 23rd we arrived at Rio, having finished
our pleasant little excursion.
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 was 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, beneath logs
of rotten wood, on which I believe they feed. In general form they resemble
little slugs, but are very much narrower in proportion, and several of the
species are beautifully coloured with longitudinal stripes. Their structure is
very simple: near the middle of the under or crawling surface there are two
small transverse slits, from the anterior one of which a funnel-shaped and
highly irritable mouth can be protruded. For some time after the rest of the
animal was completely dead from the effects of salt water or any other
cause, this organ still retained its vitality.
I found no less than twelve different species of terrestrial Planariae in
different parts of the southern hemisphere. 23 Some specimens which I
obtained at Van Dieman'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
contained 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 towards its posterior end, a clear space was
formed in the parenchymatous 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 heat of the weather, as we
approached the equator, had not destroyed all the individuals, there can be
no doubt that this last step would have completed its structure. Although so
well-known an experiment, 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 Planariae; as soon as the
cessation of life allows the ordinary laws of change to act, their entire
bodies become soft and fluid, with a rapidity which I have never seen
equalled.
I first visited the forest in which these Planariae were found, in company
with an old Portuguese priest who took me out to hunt with him. The sport
consisted in turning into the cover a few dogs, and then patiently waiting to
fire at any animal 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 large 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 dexterous with the knife,
that they can throw it to some distance with precision, and with sufficient
force to cause a fatal wound. I have seen a number of little boys practising
this art as a game of play and from their skill in hitting an upright stick, they
promised well for more earnest attempts. My companion, the day before,
had shot two large bearded monkeys. These animals have prehensile tails,
the extremity of which, even after death, can support the whole weight of
the body. One of them thus remained fast to a branch, and it was necessary
to cut down a large tree to procure it. This was soon effected, and down
came tree and monkey with an awful crash. Our day's sport, besides the
monkey, was confined to sundry small green parrots and a few toucans. I
profited, however, by my acquaintance with the Portuguese padre, for on
another occasion he gave me a fine specimen of the Yagouaroundi cat.
Every one has heard of the beauty of the scenery near Botofogo. The
house in which I lived was seated close beneath the well-known mountain
of the Corcovado. It has been remarked, with much truth, that abruptly
conical hills are characteristic of the formation which Humboldt designates
as gneiss-granite. Nothing can be more striking than the effect of these huge
rounded masses of naked rock rising out of the most luxuriant vegetation.
I was often interested by watching the clouds, which, rolling in from
seaward, formed a bank just beneath the highest point of the Corcovado.
This mountain, like most others, when thus partly veiled, appeared to rise to
a far prouder elevation than its real height of 2300 feet. Mr. Daniell has
observed, in his meteorological essays, that a cloud sometimes appears
fixed on a mountain summit, while the wind continues to blow over it. The
same phenomenon here presented a slightly different appearance. 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 re-dissolved.

The climate, during the months of May and June, or the beginning of
winter, was delightful. The mean temperature, from observations taken at
nine o'clock, both morning and evening, was only 72 degs. 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 multitude of leaves was
very remarkable, it could be heard at the distance of a quarter of a mile, and
was like the rushing of a great body of water. After the hotter days, it was
delicious to sit quietly 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 together they sing in harmony on different notes. I
had some difficulty in catching a specimen of this frog. The genus Hyla has
its toes terminated by small suckers; and I found this animal could crawl up
a pane of glass, when placed absolutely perpendicular. Various cicidae and
crickets, at the same time, keep up a ceaseless shrill cry, but which, softened
by the distance, is not unpleasant. Every evening after dark this great
concert commenced; and often have I sat listening to it, until my attention
has been drawn away by some curious passing insect.
At these times the fireflies are seen flitting about from hedge to hedge.
On a dark night the light can be seen at about two hundred paces distant. It
is remarkable that in all the different kinds of glowworms, shining elaters,
and various marine animals (such as the crustacea, medusae, nereidae, a
coralline of the genus Clytia, and Pyrosma), which I have observed, the
light has been of a well-marked green colour. All the fireflies, which I
caught here, belonged to the Lampyridae (in which family the English
glowworm is included), and the greater number of specimens were of
Lampyris occidentalis. 24 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
adhesive: little spots, where the skin had been torn, continued bright with a
slight scintillation, whilst the uninjured parts were obscured. When the
insect was decapitated the rings remained uninterruptedly bright, but not so
brilliant as before: local irritation with a needle always increased the

vividness 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 intervals, 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
slightest touch they 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 repeatedly 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 so much practice, does not
seem to be able to find its way to the mouth; at least the neck was always
touched first, and apparently as a guide.
When we were at Bahia, an elater or beetle (Pyrophorus luminosus, 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. 25 The elater, when placed on its back and
preparing to spring, moved its head and thorax backwards, so that the
pectoral spine was drawn out, and rested on the edge of its sheath. The same
backward 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 flew up, and in consequence, the base of the wing-cases
struck the supporting surface with such force, that the insect by the reaction
was jerked upwards to the height of one or two inches. The projecting
points of the thorax, and the sheath of the spine, served to steady the whole
body during the spring. In the descriptions which I have read, sufficient
stress does not appear to have been laid on the elasticity of the spine: so
sudden a spring could not be the result of simple muscular contraction,
without the aid of some mechanical contrivance.

On several occasions I enjoyed some short but most pleasant excursions
in the neighbouring country. One day I went to the Botanic Garden, where
many plants, well known for their great utility, might be seen growing. The
leaves of the camphor, pepper, cinnamon, and clove trees were delightfully
aromatic; and the bread-fruit, the jaca, and the mango, vied with each other
in the magnificence of their foliage. The landscape in the neighbourhood of
Bahia almost takes its character from 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 within the
tropics are surrounded by the most beautiful forms of vegetation, because
many of them are at the same time most useful to man. Who can doubt that
these qualities are united in the banana, the cocoa-nut, the many kinds of
palm, the orange, and the bread-fruit tree?
During this day I was particularly struck with a remark of Humboldt's,
who often alludes to "the thin vapour which, without changing the
transparency of the air, renders its tints more harmonious, and softens its
effects." This is an appearance which I have never observed in the
temperate zones. The atmosphere, seen through a short space of half or
three-quarters of a mile, was perfectly lucid, but at a greater distance all
colours were blended into a most beautiful haze, of a pale French grey,
mingled with a little blue. The condition of the atmosphere between the
morning and about noon, when the effect was most evident, had undergone
little change, excepting in its dryness. In the interval, the difference between
the dew point and temperature had increased from 7.5 to 17 degs.
On another occasion I started early and walked to the Gavia, or topsail
mountain. The air was delightfully cool and fragrant; and the drops of dew
still glittered on the leaves of the large liliaceous plants, which shaded the
streamlets of clear water. Sitting down on a block of granite, it was
delightful to watch the various insects and birds as they flew past. The
humming-bird seems particularly fond of such shady retired spots.
Whenever I saw these little creatures buzzing round a flower, with their
wings vibrating so rapidly as to be scarcely visible, I was reminded of the
sphinx moths: their movements and habits are indeed in many respects very
similar.

Following a pathway, I entered a noble forest, and from a height of five
or six hundred feet, one of those splendid views was presented, which are
so common on every side of Rio. At this 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 excursions empty-handed. This day I
found a specimen of a curious fungus, called Hymenophallus. Most people
know the English Phallus, which in autumn taints the air with its odious
smell: this, however, as the entomologist is aware, is, to some of our beetles
a delightful fragrance. So was it here; for a Strongylus, attracted by the
odour, alighted on the fungus as I carried it in my hand. We here see in two
distant countries a similar relation between plants and insects of the same
families, though the species of both are different. When man is the agent in
introducing into a country a new species, this 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 entomologist. The large and brilliantly
coloured Lepidoptera bespeak the zone they inhabit, far more plainly than
any other race of animals. I allude only to the butterflies; for the moths,
contrary 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 these occasions its head is invariably placed downwards; and its wings
are expanded in a horizontal plane, instead of being folded vertically, as is
commonly the case. This is the only butterfly which I have ever seen, that
uses its legs for running. Not being aware of this fact, the insect, more than
once, as I cautiously approached with my forceps, shuffled on one side just
as the instrument was on the point of closing, and thus escaped. But a far
more singular fact is the power which this species possesses of making a
noise. 26 Several times when a pair, probably male 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 wheel passing under a spring catch. The noise was continued 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 exceedingly great. 27 The
cabinets of Europe can, as yet, 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 supply the place of the carnivorous beetles? The carrion-
feeders and Brachelytra are very uncommon; on the other hand, the
Rhyncophora and Chrysomelidae, all of which depend on the vegetable
world for subsistence, are present in astonishing numbers. 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 depends. The orders Orthoptera and Hemiptera are
particularly numerous; as likewise is the stinging division of the
Hymenoptera 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, 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 observing 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. When the

ants came to the road they changed their course, and in narrow files
reascended the wall. Having placed a small stone so as to intercept one of
the lines, the whole body attacked it, and then 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 28 as curious and pleasing! I was
much interested one day by watching a deadly contest between a Pepsis and
a large spider of the genus Lycosa. The wasp made a sudden dash at its
prey, and then flew away: the spider was evidently wounded, for, trying to
escape, it rolled down a little slope, but had still strength sufficient to crawl
into a thick tuft of grass. The wasp soon returned, and seemed surprised at
not immediately finding its victim. It then commenced as regular a hunt as
ever hound did after fox; making short semicircular casts, and all the time
rapidly vibrating its wings and antennae. The spider, though well concealed,
was soon discovered, 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. 29
The number of spiders, in proportion to other insects, is here compared
with England very much larger; perhaps more so than with any other
division of the articulate animals. The variety of species among the jumping
spiders appears almost infinite. The genus, or rather family, of Epeira, is
here characterized by many singular forms; some species have pointed
coriaceous shells, others 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 Fabricius, which was formerly said by
Sloane to make, in the West Indies, webs so strong as to catch birds. A small

and pretty kind of spider, with very long fore-legs, and which appears to
belong to an undescribed genus, lives as a parasite on almost every one of
these webs. I suppose it is too insignificant to be noticed by the great
Epeira, and is therefore allowed to prey on the minute insects, which,
adhering to the lines, would otherwise be wasted. When frightened, this
little spider either feigns death by extending its front legs, or suddenly drops
from the web. A large Epeira of the same division with Epeira tuberculata
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 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, it suddenly falls down; and I have
distinctly seen the thread from the spinners lengthened by the animal while
yet stationary, as preparatory to its fall. If the ground is clear beneath, the
Epeira seldom falls, but moves quickly through a central passage from one
to the other side. When still further disturbed, it practises a most curious
manoeuvre: standing in the middle, it violently jerks the web, which it
attached to elastic twigs, till at last the whole acquires such a rapid
vibratory movement, that even the outline of the spider's body becomes
indistinct.
It is well known that most of the British spiders, when a large insect is
caught in their webs, endeavour to cut the lines and liberate their prey, to
save their nets from being entirely spoiled. I once, however, saw in a
hothouse 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 continued to entangle the body, and especially the wings, of
its prey. The wasp at first aimed in vain repeated thrusts with its sting at its
little antagonist. Pitying the wasp, after allowing it to struggle for more than

an hour, I killed it and put it back into the web. The spider soon returned;
and an hour afterwards I was much surprised to find it with its jaws buried
in the orifice, through which the sting is protruded by the living wasp. I
drove the spider away two or three times, but for the next twenty-four hours
I always found it again sucking at the same place. The spider became much
distended by the juices of its prey, which was many times larger than itself.
I may here just mention, that I found, near St. Fe Bajada, many large
black spiders, with ruby-coloured marks on their backs, having gregarious
habits. The webs were placed vertically, 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 210 has
described a gregarious spider in Paraguay, which Walckanaer 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 gregarious habit, in so typical a
genus as Epeira, among insects, which are so bloodthirsty and solitary that
even the two sexes attack 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
segment. All the webs were similarly constructed.

CHAPTER III — MALDONADO
Monte Video—Excursion to R. Polanco—Lazo and Bolas—Partridges—
Absence of Trees—Deer—Capybara, or River Hog—Tucutuco—Molothrus,
cuckoo-like habits—Tyrant-flycatcher—Mocking-bird—Carrion Hawks—
Tubes formed by Lightning—House struck.

J
ULY 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 nothing 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 of ease, and then
dash away right ahead. As soon as we entered the estuary of the Plata, the
weather was very unsettled. One dark night we were surrounded by
numerous seals and penguins, which made such strange noises, that the
officer on watch reported he could hear the cattle bellowing on shore. On a
second night we witnessed a splendid scene of natural fireworks; the mast-
head and yard-arm-ends shone with St. Elmo's light; and the form of the
vane could almost be traced, as if it had been rubbed with phosphorus. The
sea was so highly luminous, 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 was interested by observing 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 curiously exhibited in the wake of the vessel, where a line
of blue water was seen mingling in little eddies, with the adjoining fluid.
July 26th.—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 attending to the order in which we visited them.

MALDONADO is situated on the northern bank of the Plata, and not
very far from the mouth of the estuary. It is a most quiet, forlorn, little
town; built, as is universally the case in these countries, with the streets
running at right angles to each other, and having in the middle a large plaza
or square, which, from its size, renders the scantiness of the population
more evident. It possesses scarcely any trade; the exports being confined to
a few hides and living cattle. The inhabitants are chiefly landowners,
together with a few shopkeepers and the necessary 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 which 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.
The features of the country are very similar along the whole northern bank
of the Plata. The only difference is, that here the granitic hills are a little
bolder. The scenery is very uninteresting; there is scarcely a house, an
enclosed piece of 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 stayed ten weeks at Maldonado, in which time a nearly perfect
collection of the animals, birds, and reptiles, was procured. Before making
any observations 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 riding-horses. My companions
were well armed with pistols and sabres; a precaution which I thought
rather unnecessary but the first piece of news we heard was, that, the day

before, a traveller from Monte Video had been found dead on the road, with
his throat cut. This happened close to a cross, the record of a former murder.
On the first night we slept at a retired little country-house; and there I
soon found out that I possessed two or three articles, especially a pocket
compass, which created unbounded astonishment. In every house I was
asked to show the compass, and by its aid, together with a map, to point out
the direction of various places. It excited the liveliest admiration that I, a
perfect stranger, should know the road (for direction and road are
synonymous in this open country) to places where I had never been. At one
house a young woman, who was ill in bed, sent to entreat me to come and
show her the compass. If their surprise was great, mine was greater, to find
such ignorance among people who 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; whether it was hotter or colder to the
north; where Spain was, and many other such questions. The greater
number of the inhabitants had an indistinct idea that England, London, and
North America, were different names for the same place; but the better
informed well knew that London and North America were separate
countries close together, and that England was a large town in London! I
carried with me some promethean matches, which I ignited by biting; it was
thought so wonderful that a man should strike fire with his teeth, that it was
usual to collect the whole family to see it: I was once offered a dollar for a
single one. Washing my face in the morning caused much speculation at the
village 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 he 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 at the first convenient house. The
astonishment at the compass, and my other feats of 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, etc., I repaid them for their hospitality. I am writing as if
I had been among the inhabitants of central Africa: Banda Oriental would
not be flattered by the comparison; but such were my feelings at the time.

The next day we rode to the village of Las 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
inhabited, that during the whole day we scarcely met a single person. Las
Minas is much smaller even than Maldonado. It is seated on a little plain,
and is surrounded by low rocky mountains. It is of the usual symmetrical
form, and with its whitewashed church standing in the centre, had rather a
pretty appearance. The 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 pulperia, or drinking-shop.
During the evening a great number of Gauchos came in to drink spirits and
smoke cigars: their appearance is very striking; they are generally tall and
handsome, but with a proud and dissolute expression of countenance. They
frequently wear their moustaches and long black hair curling down their
backs. With their brightly coloured garments, great spurs clanking about
their heels, and knives stuck as daggers (and often so used) at their waists,
they look a very different race of men from what might be expected from
their name of Gauchos, or simple countrymen. Their politeness is excessive;
they never drink their spirits without expecting you to taste it; but whilst
making their exceedingly graceful bow, they seem quite as ready, if
occasion offered, to cut your throat.
On the third day we pursued rather an irregular course, as I was
employed in examining some beds of marble. On the fine plains of turf we
saw many ostriches (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 pecado 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 there. 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 the Pampas) he makes his bed. It is curious how similar circumstances
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 boer 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 largest herds of cattle
was driven in towards the house, and three beasts were picked out to be
slaughtered for the supply of the establishment. These half-wild cattle are
very active; and knowing full well the fatal lazo, they led the horses a long
and laborious chase. After witnessing the rude wealth displayed in the
number of cattle, men, and horses, Don Juan's miserable house was quite
curious. The floor consisted of hardened mud, and the windows were
without glass; the 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
vegetable, and not even a morsel of bread. For drinking, a large earthenware
jug of water served the whole party. Yet this man was the owner of several
square miles of land, of which nearly every acre would produce corn, and,
with a little trouble, all the common vegetables. The evening was spent in
smoking, with a little impromptu singing, accompanied by the guitar. The
signoritas all sat together in one corner of the room, and did not sup with
the men.
So many works have been written about these countries, that it is almost
superfluous to describe either the lazo or the bolas. The lazo consists of a
very strong, but thin, well-plaited rope, made of raw hide. One end is
attached to the broad 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 movement 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 balls no sooner strike any object, than, winding round
it, they cross each other, and become firmly hitched. The size and weight of
the balls vary, according to the purpose for which they are made: when of
stone, although not larger than an apple, they are sent with such force as
sometimes to break the leg even of a horse. I have seen the balls made of
wood, and as large as a turnip, for the sake of catching these animals
without injuring them. The balls are sometimes made of iron, and these can
be hurled to the greatest distance. The main difficulty in using either lazo or
bolas is to ride so well as to be able at full speed, and while suddenly
turning about, to whirl them so steadily round the head, as to take aim: on
foot any person would soon learn the art. One day, as I was amusing myself
by galloping and whirling the balls round my head, by accident the free one
struck a bush, and its revolving motion being thus destroyed, it immediately
fell to the ground, and, like magic, caught one hind leg of my horse; the
other ball was then jerked out of my hand, and the horse fairly secured.
Luckily he was an old practised animal, and knew what it meant; otherwise
he would probably have kicked till he had thrown himself down. The
Gauchos roared with laughter; they cried out that they had seen every sort
of animal caught, but had never before seen a man caught by himself.
During the two succeeding days, 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. We
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 frequently thus catch thirty or forty in a day. In Arctic North
America 31 the Indians catch the Varying Hare by walking spirally round
and round it, when on its form: the middle of the day is reckoned the best
time, when the sun is high, and the shadow of the hunter not very long.
On our return to Maldonado, we followed rather a different 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 rising 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 mammillated country of Maldonado. On the
summit of the mountain there were several small heaps of stones, which
evidently had lain there for many years. My companion assured me that
they were the work of the Indians in the old time. The heaps were 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 passion 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 covered by thickets, and on
the banks of the larger streams, especially 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 degs. 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. Extremely level countries, such as the Pampas,
seldom appear favourable to the growth of trees. This may possibly be
attributed either to the force of the winds, or the kind of drainage. In the

nature of the land, however, around Maldonado, no such reason is apparent;
the rocky mountains afford protected situations; 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. It has
been inferred with much probability, that the presence of woodland is
generally determined 32 by the annual amount of moisture; yet in this
province abundant and heavy rain falls during the winter; and the summer,
though dry, is not so in any excessive degree. 33 We see nearly the whole of
Australia covered by lofty trees, yet that country possesses a far more arid
climate. Hence we must look to some other and unknown cause.
Confining our view to South America, we should certainly be tempted to
believe that trees flourished only under a very humid climate; for the limit
of the forest-land follows, in a most remarkable 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 degs. 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
degs. S. to lat. 32 degs. S., may be described as a desert; on this western
coast, northward of lat. 4 degs. 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 Panama. Hence in the southern and northern
parts of the continent, the forest and desert lands occupy reversed positions
with respect to the Cordillera, and these positions are apparently determined
by the direction of the prevalent winds. In the middle of the continent there
is a broad intermediate band, including 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 the
same kind of peaty soil, yet can boast of few plants deserving even the title
of bushes; whilst in Tierra del Fuego it is impossible to find an acre of land
not covered by the densest forest. In this case, both the direction of the
heavy gales of wind and of the currents of the sea are favourable to the
transport of seeds from Tierra del Fuego, as is shown by the canoes and
trunks of trees drifted from that country, and frequently thrown on the
shores of the Western Falkland. Hence perhaps it is, that there are many
plants in common to the two countries but with respect to the trees of Tierra
del Fuego, even attempts made to transplant them have failed.
During our stay at Maldonado I collected several quadrupeds, eighty
kinds of birds, and many reptiles, including nine species of snakes. Of the
indigenous mammalia, the only one now left of any size, which is common,
is the Cervus campestris. This deer is exceedingly abundant, often in small
herds, throughout the countries bordering the Plata and in Northern
Patagonia. If a person crawling close along the ground, slowly advances
towards a herd, the deer frequently, out of curiosity, approach to reconnoitre
him. I have by this means, killed from one spot, three out of the same herd.
Although so tame and inquisitive, yet when approached on horseback, they
are exceedingly wary. In this country nobody goes on foot, and the deer
knows man as its enemy only when he is mounted and armed with the
bolas. At Bahia Blanca, a recent establishment in Northern Patagonia, I was
surprised to find how little the deer cared for the noise of a gun: one day I
fired ten times from within eighty yards at one animal; and it was much
more startled at the ball cutting up the ground than at the report of the rifle.
My powder being exhausted, 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 overpoweringly
strong and offensive odour which proceeds from the buck. It is quite
indescribable: several times whilst skinning the specimen which is now
mounted at the Zoological Museum, I was almost overcome by nausea. I
tied up the skin in a silk pocket-handkerchief, and so 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, when first unfolded, I distinctly perceived the odour. This
appears an astonishing instance of the permanence of some matter, which
nevertheless in its nature must be most subtile and volatile. Frequently,
when passing at the distance of half a mile to leeward of a herd, I have
perceived the whole air tainted with the effluvium. I believe the smell from
the buck is most powerful at the period when its horns are perfect, or free
from the hairy skin. When in this state the meat is, of course, quite
uneatable; but the Gauchos assert, that if buried for some time in fresh
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 very numerous in species: of mice alone I
obtained no less than eight kinds. 34 The largest gnawing animal in the
world, the Hydrochaerus capybara (the water-hog), is here also common.
One which I shot at Monte Video weighed ninety-eight pounds: its length
from the end of the snout to the stump-like tail, was three feet two inches;
and its girth three feet eight. These great 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 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. 35 When
viewed at a distance, from their manner of walking and colour they
resemble pigs: but when seated on their haunches, and attentively watching
any object with one eye, they reassume the appearance of their congeners,
cavies and rabbits. Both the front and side view of their head has quite a
ludicrous aspect, from the great depth of their jaw. These animals, at
Maldonado, were very tame; by cautiously walking, 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 the sudden expulsion of
air: the only noise I know at all like it, is the first hoarse bark of a large dog.
Having watched the four from almost within arm's length (and they me) for
several minutes, 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 showed the upper part

of their heads. When the female is swimming in the water, and has young
ones, they are said to sit on her back. These animals are easily killed in
numbers; but their skins are of trifling value, and the meat is very
indifferent. On the islands in the Rio Parana they are exceedingly abundant,
and afford the ordinary prey to the Jaguar.
The Tucutuco (Ctenomys Brasiliensis) is a curious small animal, which
may be briefly described as a Gnawer, with the habits of a mole. It is
extremely numerous in some parts of the country, but it is difficult to be
procured, and never, I believe, comes out of the ground. It throws up at the
mouth of its burrows hillocks of earth like those of the mole, but smaller.
Considerable tracts of country are so completely undermined by these
animals, that horses in passing over, sink above their fetlocks. The
tucutucos appear, to a certain degree, to be gregarious: 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: 36 the name Tucutuco is given in imitation
of the sound. Where this animal is abundant, it may be heard at all times of
the day, and sometimes directly beneath one's feet. When kept in a room,
the tucutucos move both slowly and clumsily, which 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 utter the tucutuco. Of those I kept
alive several, even the first day, became quite tame, not attempting to bite or
to run away; others were a little wilder.
The man who caught them asserted that very many are invariably found
blind. A specimen which I preserved in spirits was in this state; Mr. Reid
considers it to be the effect of inflammation in the nictitating membrane.
When the animal was alive I placed my finger within half an inch of its
head, and not the slightest notice was taken: it made its way, however, about
the room nearly as well as the others. Considering the strictly subterranean

habits of the tucutuco, the blindness, though so common, cannot be a very
serious evil; yet it 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 37 (probably with more truth
than usual with him) on the gradually acquired blindness of the Asphalax, 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 without apparently causing any inconvenience to the
animal; no doubt Lamarck would have said that the tucutuco is now passing
into the state of the Asphalax and Proteus.
Birds of many kinds are extremely abundant on the undulating, grassy
plains around Maldonado. There are several species of a family allied in
structure and manners to our Starling: one of these (Molothrus niger) is
remarkable from its habits. Several may often be seen standing together on
the back of a cow or horse; and while perched on a hedge, pluming
themselves in the sun, they sometimes attempt to sing, or rather to hiss; the
noise being very peculiar, resembling that of bubbles of air passing rapidly
from a small orifice under water, so as to produce an acute sound.
According to Azara, this bird, like the 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 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, 38 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 propagation, 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 feeds on fruit and caterpillars. In structure also these
two genera are widely removed from each other. Many theories, even
phrenological theories, have been advanced to explain the origin of the
cuckoo laying its eggs in other birds' nests. M. Prevost alone, I think, has
thrown light by his observations 39 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 eggs.
Now, if the cuckoo was obliged to sit on her own eggs, she would either
have to sit on all together, and therefore leave those first laid so long, that
they probably would become addled; or she would have to hatch separately
each egg, or two eggs, as soon as laid: but as the cuckoo stays a shorter time
in this country than any other migratory bird, she certainly would not have
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 her eggs in other birds' nests, and leaving them to
the care of foster-parents. I am strongly inclined to believe that this view is
correct, 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 undertaking 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 Saurophagus 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 Rapacious 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 amusing from their cunning odd
manners, which were described to me as being similar to those of the
common magpie. Their flight is undulatory, for the weight of the head and
bill appears too great for the body. In the evening the Saurophagus takes its
stand on a bush, often by the roadside, and continually repeats without a
change a shrill and rather agreeable cry, which somewhat resembles
articulate words: the Spaniards say it is like the words "Bien te veo" (I see
you well), and accordingly have given it this name.
A mocking-bird (Mimus orpheus), called by the inhabitants 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 stand for the purpose of singing. The song may be
compared to that of the Sedge warbler, but is more powerful; some harsh
notes and some very high ones, being mingled with a pleasant warbling. It
is heard only during the spring. At other times 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 Calandria soon chased it away. On the wide uninhabited plains of
Patagonia another closely allied species, O. Patagonica of d'Orbigny, which
frequents the valleys clothed with spiny bushes, is a wilder bird, and has a
slightly different tone of voice. It appears to me a curious circumstance, as
showing the fine shades of difference in habits, that judging from this latter
respect alone, when I first saw this second species, I thought it was different
from the Maldonado kind. Having afterwards procured a specimen, and
comparing the two without particular care, they appeared so very similar,
that I changed my opinion; but now Mr. Gould says that they are certainly
distinct; a conclusion in conformity with the trifling difference of habit, of
which, of course, he was not aware.

The number, tameness, and disgusting habits of the carrion-feeding
hawks of South America make them pre-eminently striking to any one
accustomed only to the birds of Northern Europe. In this list may be
included four species of the Caracara or Polyborus, 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 with 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
Patagonia. In the desert between the rivers Negro and Colorado, numbers
constantly attend the line of road to devour the carcasses of the exhausted
animals which chance to perish from fatigue and thirst. Although thus
common in these dry and open countries, and likewise on the arid shores of
the Pacific, it is nevertheless found inhabiting the damp impervious forests
of West Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The Carranchas, together with the
Chimango, 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 of Polyborus pick the bones clean. These birds,
although thus commonly feeding together, are far from being friends. When
the Carrancha is quietly seated on the branch of a tree or on the ground, the
Chimango often continues for a long time flying backwards and forwards,
up and down, in a semicircle, trying each time at the bottom of the curve to
strike its larger relative. The Carrancha takes little notice, except by
bobbing its head. Although the Carranchas frequently assemble in numbers,
they are not gregarious; for in desert places they may be seen solitary, or
more commonly by pairs.
The Carranchas are said to be very crafty, and to steal great numbers of
eggs. They attempt, also, together with the Chimango, to pick off the scabs
from the sore backs of horses and mules. The poor animal, on the one hand,
with its ears down and its back arched; and, on the other, the hovering bird,
eyeing at the distance of a yard the disgusting morsel, form a picture, which
has been described by Captain Head with his own peculiar spirit and
accuracy. These false eagles most rarely kill any living bird or animal; and
their vulture-like, necrophagous habits are very evident to any one who has

fallen asleep on the desolate plains of Patagonia, for when he wakes, he will
see, on each surrounding hillock, one of these birds patiently watching him
with an evil eye: it is a feature in the landscape of these 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 Carrancha is
noisy, but is not generally so: its cry is loud, very harsh and peculiar, and
may be likened to the sound of the Spanish guttural g, followed by a rough
double r r; when uttering 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 the carrion it may have
recently gorged. Lastly, Azara states that several Carranchas, five or six
together, will unite in chase of large birds, even such as herons. All these
facts show that it is a bird of very versatile habits and considerable
ingenuity.
The Polyborus Chimango is considerably 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
the 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
extraordinarily tame and fearless, and haunt the neighborhood of houses for
offal. 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 protruded, 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 that several 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 anything 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,
which 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 are congregated on the rocks, there the vultures
may be seen. The Gallinazo (Cathartes atratus) has a different range from
the last species, as it never occurs southward of lat. 41 degs. Azara states
that there exists a tradition that these birds, at the time of the conquest, were
not found near Monte Video, but that they subsequently followed the
inhabitants from more northern districts. At the present day they are
numerous in the valley of the Colorado, which is three hundred miles due
south of Monte Video. It seems probable that this 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 Northern Patagonia, excepting near some stream. These birds
frequent the whole Pampas to the foot of the Cordillera, but I never saw or
heard of one in Chile; in Peru they are preserved as scavengers. These
vultures certainly may be called gregarious, for they seem to have pleasure
in society, and are not solely brought together by the attraction of a
common prey. On a fine day a flock may often be observed at a great
height, each bird wheeling 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 matrimonial alliances.
I have now mentioned all the carrion-feeders, excepting the condor, an
account of which will be more appropriately introduced when we visit a
country more congenial to its habits than the plains of La Plata.
In a broad band of sand-hillocks which separate the Laguna del Potrero
from the shores of the Plata, at the distance of a few miles from Maldonado,
I found a group of those vitrified, siliceous tubes, which are formed by
lightning entering loose sand. These tubes resemble in every particular
those from Drigg in Cumberland, described in the Geological Transactions.
310 The sand-hillocks of Maldonado not being protected by vegetation, are
constantly changing their position. From this cause the tubes projected
above the surface, and numerous fragments lying near, showed that they
had formerly been buried to a greater depth. Four sets entered the sand
perpendicularly: by working with my hands I traced one of them two feet
deep; and some fragments which evidently had belonged to the same tube,

when added to the other part, measured five feet three inches. The diameter
of the whole tube was nearly equal, and therefore we must suppose that
originally it extended to a much greater depth. These dimensions are
however small, compared to those of the tubes from Drigg, one of which
was traced to a depth of not less than thirty feet.
The internal surface is completely vitrified, glossy, and smooth. A small
fragment examined under the microscope appeared, from the number 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: I
could not distinguish any signs of crystallization. In a similar manner to that
described in the Geological Transactions, the tubes are generally
compressed, 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 surrounding loose sand, acting while the tube was
still softened from the effects of the intense heat, has evidently caused the
creases or furrows. Judging from the uncompressed fragments, the measure
or bore of the lightning (if such a term may be used) must have been about
one inch and a quarter. At Paris, M. Hachette and M. Beudant 311 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
dimension. They failed both with powdered felspar and quartz. One tube,
formed with pounded glass, was very nearly an inch long, namely .982, and
had an internal 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
fusibility as glass was to form tubes so diminutive, we must feel greatly
astonished at the force of a shock of lightning, which, striking the sand in
several places, has formed cylinders, in one instance of at least thirty feet
long, and having an internal bore, where not compressed, of full an inch and
a half; and this in a material so extraordinarily refractory as quartz!

The tubes, as I have already remarked, enter the sand nearly in a vertical
direction. One, however, which was less regular than the others, deviated
from a right line, at the most considerable bend, to the amount of thirty-
three degrees. From this same tube, two small branches, about a foot apart,
were sent off; one pointed downwards, and the other upwards. This latter
case is remarkable, as the electric fluid must have turned back at the acute
angle of 26 degs., to the line of its main course. Besides the four tubes
which I found vertical, and traced beneath the surface, there were several
other groups of fragments, the original sites of which without doubt were
near. All occurred in a level area of shifting sand, sixty yards by twenty,
situated among some high sand-hillocks, and at the distance of about half a
mile from a chain of hills four or five hundred feet in height. The most
remarkable circumstance, as it appears to me, in this case as well as in that
of Drigg, and in one described by M. Ribbentrop in Germany, is the number
of tubes found within such limited spaces. At Drigg, within an area of
fifteen yards, three were observed, and the same number 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, 312 one of the most destructive thunderstorms
perhaps on record happened at Buenos Ayres: thirty-seven places within the
city were struck by lightning, and nineteen people killed. From facts stated
in several books of travels, I am inclined to suspect that thunderstorms are
very common near the mouths of great rivers. Is it not possible that the
mixture of large bodies of fresh and salt water may disturb the electrical
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 where 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 wall was
shattered, as if by gunpowder, and the fragments had been blown off with

force sufficient to dent the wall on the opposite side of the room. The frame
of a looking-glass was blackened, and the gilding must have been
volatilized, for a smelling-bottle, which stood on the chimney-piece, was
coated with bright metallic particles, which adhered as firmly as if they had
been enamelled.

CHAPTER IV — RIO NEGRO TO BAHIA
BLANCA
Rio 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
Lieutenant— Bahia Blanca—Saline Incrustations—Punta Alta—Zorillo.

J
ULY 24th, 1833.—The Beagle sailed from Maldonado, and on August
the 3rd she arrived off the mouth of the Rio Negro. This is the
principal river on the whole line of coast between the Strait of
Magellan and the Plata. It enters the sea about three hundred miles south of
the estuary of the Plata. About fifty years ago, under the old Spanish
government, a small colony was established here; and it is still the most
southern position (lat. 41 degs.) on this eastern coast of America inhabited
by civilized man.
The country near the mouth of the river is wretched in the extreme: on
the south side a long line of perpendicular cliffs commences, which exposes
a section of the geological nature of the country. The strata are of sandstone,
and one layer was remarkable from being composed of a firmly-cemented
conglomerate of pumice pebbles, which must have travelled more than four
hundred miles, from the Andes. The surface is everywhere covered up by a
thick bed of gravel, which extends far and wide over the open plain. Water
is extremely scarce, and, where found, is almost invariably brackish. The
vegetation is scanty; and although there are bushes of many kinds, all are
armed with formidable thorns, which seem to warn the stranger not to enter
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 northern boundary of the great
valley, in which the Rio Negro flows. On the way we passed the ruins of
some fine "estancias," which a few years since had been destroyed by the
Indians. They withstood several attacks. A man present at one gave me a
very lively description of what took place. The inhabitants had sufficient
notice to drive all the cattle and horses into the "corral" 41 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 dismounted, and taken off their fur mantles, they advanced
naked to the charge. The only weapon of an Indian is a very long bamboo or
chuzo, ornamented with ostrich feathers, and pointed by a sharp spearhead.
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 besieged 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 answer 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 together 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 carried away by their companions, and at last, one of the under
caciques being wounded, the bugle sounded a retreat. They retired to their
horses, and seemed to hold a council of war. This was an awful pause for
the Spaniards, as all their ammunition, with the exception of a few
cartridges, was expended. In an instant the Indians mounted their horses,
and galloped out of sight. Another attack was still more quickly repulsed. A
cool Frenchman managed the gun; he stopped till the Indians approached
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 the
face of a cliff which fronts the river, and many of the houses are excavated
even in the sandstone. The river is about two or three hundred yards wide,
and is deep and rapid. The many islands, with their willow-trees, and the
flat headlands, seen one behind the other on the northern boundary of the
broad green valley, form, by the aid of a bright sun, a view almost
picturesque. The number of inhabitants does not exceed a few hundreds.
These Spanish colonies do not, like our British ones, carry within
themselves the elements of growth. Many Indians of pure blood reside here:
the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee constantly have their Toldos 42 on the
outskirts of the town. The local government partly supplies them with
provisions, by giving them all the old worn-out horses, and they earn a little

by making horse-rugs and other articles of riding-gear. These Indians are
considered civilized; but what their character may have gained by a lesser
degree of ferocity, is almost counterbalanced by their 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
being 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 its thickness increases. This lake was two and a half miles long, and
one broad. Others occur in the neighbourhood many times larger, and with a
floor of salt, two and three feet in thickness, even when under water during
the winter. One of these brilliantly white and level expanses in the midst of
the brown and desolate plain, offers an extraordinary spectacle. A large
quantity of salt is annually drawn from the salina: and great piles, some
hundred tons in weight, were lying ready for exportation. The season for
working 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 in drawing out the salt in bullock-
waggons. This salt is crystallized 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 gypsum and 0.22 of earthy matter. It is a singular fact, that it
does not serve so well for preserving meat as sea-salt from the Cape de Verd
islands; and a merchant at Buenos Ayres told me that he considered it as
fifty per cent. less valuable. Hence the Cape de Verd salt is constantly
imported, and is mixed with that from these salinas. The purity of the
Patagonian salt, or absence from it of those other saline bodies found in all
sea-water, is the only assignable cause for this inferiority: a conclusion
which no one, I think, would have suspected, but which is supported by the
fact lately ascertained, 43 that those salts answer best for preserving cheese
which contain most of the deliquescent chlorides.

The border of this lake is formed of mud: and in this numerous large
crystals of gypsum, some of which are three inches long, lie embedded;
whilst on the surface others of sulphate of soda lie 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 confervae; 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, throughout 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 mud; and these latter probably feed on infusoria or confervae.
Thus we have a little living world within itself adapted to these inland lakes
of brine. A minute crustaceous animal (Cancer salinus) is said 44 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 Negro, between it and the inhabited country
near Buenos Ayres, the Spaniards have only one small settlement, recently
established at Bahia Blanca. The distance in a straight line to Buenos Ayres
is very nearly five hundred British miles. The wandering tribes of horse
Indians, which have always occupied the greater part of this country, having
of late much harassed the outlying estancias, the government at Buenos

Ayres equipped some time since an army under the command of General
Rosas for the purpose of exterminating them. The troops were now
encamped on the banks of the Colorado; a river lying about eighty miles
northward of the Rio Negro. When 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 intervals, a
small party of soldiers with a troop of horses (a posta), so as to be enabled
to keep up a communication with the capital. As the Beagle intended to call
at Bahia Blanca, I determined to proceed there by land; and ultimately I
extended my plan to travel the whole way by the postas to Buenos Ayres.
August 11th.—Mr. Harris, an Englishman residing at Patagones, a guide,
and five Gauchos who were proceeding to the army on business, were my
companions on the journey. The Colorado, as I have already said, is nearly
eighty miles distant: and as we travelled slowly, we were two days and a
half on the road. The whole line of country 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 excavated out of the sandstone plain; for immediately above the bank
on which the town stands, a level country commences, which is interrupted
only by a few trifling valleys and depressions. 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 Walleechu. It is situated on a
high part of the plain; and hence is a landmark visible at a great distance. As
soon as a tribe of Indians come in sight of it, they offer their adorations by
loud shouts. The 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, etc., had been
suspended. Poor Indians, not having anything better, only pull a thread out
of their ponchos, and fasten it to the tree. Richer 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 bones of horses which
had been slaughtered as sacrifices. All Indians of every age and sex make
their offerings; they then think that their horses will not tire, and that they
themselves shall be prosperous. The 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 Walleechu
the offerings.
The Gauchos think 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 Ventana 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
night: at this instant an unfortunate cow was spied by the lynx-eyed
Gauchos, who set off in full chase, and in a few minutes dragged her in with
their lazos, and slaughtered her. We here had the four necessaries of life "en
el campo,"—pasture for the horses, water (only a muddy puddle), meat and
firewood. The Gauchos were in high spirits at finding all these luxuries; and
we soon set to work at the poor cow. This was the first night which I passed
under the open sky, with the gear of the recado for my bed. There is high
enjoyment in the independence of the Gaucho life—to be able at any
moment to pull up your horse, and say, "Here we will 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 described. 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. This animal here represents our hares. It differs,
however, from 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 the desert; it is

a common feature of 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 degs. 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), which has so often been described
as standing like a sentinel at the mouth of the burrows; for in Banda
Oriental, owing to the absence of the Bizcacha, it is obliged to hollow out
its own habitation.
The next morning, as we approached the Rio Colorado, the appearance of
the country changed; we soon came on a plain covered with turf, which,
from its flowers, tall clover, and little owls, resembled the Pampas. We
passed also a muddy swamp of considerable extent, which in summer dries,
and becomes incrusted with various salts; and hence is called a salitral. It
was 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 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
water 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 surprising: 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, etc. The soldiers were
nearly all cavalry; and I should think such a villainous, banditti-like army
was never before collected together. The greater number of men were of a
mixed breed, between Negro, Indian, and Spaniard. I know not the reason,
but men of such origin seldom have a good expression of countenance. 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 45 to the
commandant of Patagones. This was taken to General Rosas, who sent me a
very obliging message; and the Secretary returned all smiles and
graciousness. We took up our residence in the rancho, 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 over-flowed 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 the Fuegian savage the same countenance rendered hideous by cold,
want of food, and less civilization. Some authors, in defining the primary
races of mankind, have separated these Indians into two classes; but this is
certainly incorrect. 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 wrists, were
ornamented 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.
They 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 night; in short to be, like the wives of all savages,

useful slaves. The men fight, hunt, take care of the horses, and make the
riding gear. One of their chief indoor occupations is to knock two stones
together till they become 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 Rosas intimated a wish to see me; a circumstance which I was
afterwards very glad of. He is a man of an extraordinary character, and has
a most predominant influence in the country, which it seems he will use to
its prosperity and advancement. 46 He is said to be the owner of seventy-
four square leagues of land, and to have about three hundred thousand 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 estancias, and by disciplining several hundred men, so as to resist with
success the attacks of the Indians. There are many stories current about the
rigid manner in which his laws were enforced. One of these was, that no
man, on penalty of being put into the stocks, should carry his knife on a
Sunday: this being the principal day for gambling and 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
estancia a visit, and General Rosas, in his hurry, walked out to receive him
with his knife, as usual, stuck in his belt. The steward touched his arm, and
reminded him of the law; upon which turning to the Governor, he said he
was 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 from the bar on one of these wild animals,
as it rushed out, and should be able, without saddle or bridle, not only to
ride it, but also to bring it back to the door of the 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 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 doubtless
was the act of the general's party, and not of the general himself.
In conversation he is enthusiastic, sensible, and very grave. His 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 business, for I am engaged.' I
went a second time; he said, 'If you come again I will punish you.' A third
time I asked, and he laughed. I rushed out of the tent, but it was too late—
he ordered two soldiers to catch and stake me. I begged by all the saints in
heaven he would let me off; but it would not do,—when the general laughs
he spares neither mad man nor sound." The poor flighty gentleman looked
quite dolorous, at the very recollection 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 belong 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 well adapted to the growth of corn. Turning northward from
the river, we soon entered on a country, differing from the plains south of
the river. The land still continued dry and sterile: but it supported many
different kinds of plants, and the grass, though brown and withered, was
more abundant, as the thorny bushes were less so. These latter in a short
space entirely disappeared, and the plains were left without a thicket to
cover their nakedness. This change in the vegetation marks the
commencement of the grand calcareo argillaceous deposit, which forms the
wide extent of the Pampas, and covers the granitic rocks of Banda Oriental.
From the Strait of Magellan to the Colorado, a distance of about eight
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 characteristic vegetation of
Patagonia ceases.
Having ridden about twenty-five miles, we came to a broad belt of sand-
dunes, which stretches, as far as the eye can reach, to the east and west. The
sand-hillocks resting on the clay, allow small pools of water to collect, and
thus afford in this dry country an invaluable supply of fresh water. The great
advantage arising from depressions and elevations of the soil, is not often
brought home to the mind. The two miserable springs in the long passage
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 belt
of sand-dunes is about eight miles wide; at some former period, it probably
formed the margin of a grand estuary, 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 the
fresh horses were grazing at a distance we determined to pass the night
there.
The house was situated at the base of a ridge between one and two
hundred feet high—a most remarkable feature in this country. This posta
was commanded by a negro lieutenant, born in Africa: to his credit be it
said, there was not a ranche between the Colorado and Buenos Ayres 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 his 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 night; if they had been
aware of the posta, our black friend and his four soldiers would assuredly
have been slaughtered. I did not anywhere meet a more civil and obliging
man than this negro; it was therefore the more painful to see that he would
not sit down and eat with us.
In the morning we sent for the horses very early, and started for another
exhilarating gallop. We passed the Cabeza del Buey, an old name given to
the head of a large marsh, which extends from Bahia Blanca. Here we
changed horses, and passed through some leagues of swamps and saline
marshes. Changing horses for the last time, we again began wading through
the mud. My animal fell and I was well soused in black mire—a very
disagreeable accident when one does not possess a change of clothes. Some
miles from the fort we met a man, who told us that a great gun had been
fired, which is a signal that Indians are near. We immediately left the road,
and followed the edge of a marsh, which when chased offers the best mode
of escape. We were glad to arrive within the walls, when we found all the
alarm was about nothing, for the Indians turned 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 standing (since 1828); and its growth has
been one of trouble. The government of Buenos Ayres unjustly occupied it
by force, instead of following the wise example of the Spanish Viceroys,

who purchased the land near the older settlement of the Rio 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 of the Indians beyond the boundaries of the plain, on which
the fortress stands.
The part of the harbour where the Beagle intended to anchor being
distant twenty-five miles, I obtained from the Commandant a guide and
horses, to take me to see whether she had arrived. Leaving the plain of
green turf, which extended along the course of a little brook, we soon
entered on a wide level waste consisting either of sand, saline marshes, or
bare mud. Some parts were clothed by low thickets, and others with those
succulent plants, which luxuriate only where salt abounds. Bad as the
country was, ostriches, deer, agoutis, and armadilloes, were abundant. My
guide told me, that two months before he had a most narrow escape of his
life: he was out hunting with two other men, at no great distance from this
part of the country, when they were suddenly met by a party of Indians,
who giving chase, soon overtook and killed his two friends. His own horse's
legs were also caught by the bolas, but he jumped off, and with his knife cut
them free: while doing this he was obliged to dodge round his horse, and
received two severe wounds from their chuzos. Springing on the saddle, he
managed, by a most wonderful exertion, just to keep ahead of the long
spears of his pursuers, who followed him to within sight of the fort. From
that time there was an order that no one should stray far from the
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 obliged to bivouac on the plain.
In the morning we had caught an armadillo, which although a most
excellent dish when roasted in its shell, did not make a very substantial
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 they were soon exhausted from not having had anything
to drink, so that we were obliged to walk. About noon the dogs killed a kid,

which we roasted. I ate some of it, but it made me intolerably thirsty. This
was the more distressing as the road, from some recent rain, was full of
little puddles of clear water, yet not a drop was drinkable. I had 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 three days
under such circumstances, I cannot imagine: at the same time, I must
confess that my guide did not suffer at all, and was astonished that one day's
deprivation should be so troublesome to me.
I have several times alluded to the surface of the ground being incrusted
with salt. This 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 the salitrales (as the Spaniards
improperly call them, mistaking this substance for saltpeter), nothing 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 the 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 the moisture, round blades of
dead grass, stumps of wood, and pieces of broken earth, instead of being
crystallized at the bottoms of the puddles of water. The salitrales occur
either on level tracts elevated only a few feet above the level of the sea, or
on alluvial land bordering rivers. M. Parchappe 47 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 surface during the
slow and recent elevation of this dry country. The whole phenomenon is
well worthy the attention of naturalists. 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 with
organic matter, yield the 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 dismounted, and watching them
intently, said, "They don't ride like Christians, and nobody can leave the
fort." The three hunters 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 horses: 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
distant horizon. I thought his uncommon 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." When any
little inequality concealed us, we galloped; but when in sight, continued
walking. At last we reached a valley, and turning to the left, galloped
quickly to the foot of a hill; he gave me his horse to hold, made the dogs lie
down, and then crawled on his hands and knees to 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
me a hundred reasons why they could not have been Indians; but all these
were forgotten at the time. We then rode on in peace and quietness to a low
point called Punta Alta, whence we could see nearly the whole of the great
harbour of Bahia Blanca.
The wide expanse of water is choked up by numerous great mud-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
with long rushes, the tops of which alone are visible at high water. On one
occasion, 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 high." The only object within our view which
was not level was the horizon; rushes looked like bushes unsupported in the
air, and water like mud-banks, and 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 checked by a few drops of the
fetid oil, which brings on violent sickness and running at the nose.
Whatever is once polluted by it, is for ever useless. Azara says the smell can
be perceived at a league distant; more than once, when entering the harbour
of Monte Video, the wind being off shore, we have perceived the odour on
board the Beagle. Certain it is, that every animal most willingly makes
room for the Zorillo.

CHAPTER V — BAHIA BLANCA
Bahia Blanca—Geology—Numerous gigantic Quadrupeds—Recent
Extinction—Longevity of species—Large Animals do not require a luxuriant
vegetation—Southern Africa—Siberian Fossils—Two Species of Ostrich—
Habits of Oven-bird—Armadilloes—Venomous Snake, Toad, Lizard—
Hybernation of Animal—Habits of Sea-Pen—Indian Wars and Massacres—
Arrow-head, antiquarian Relic.

T
HE Beagle arrived here on the 24th of August, and a week
afterwards sailed for the Plata. With Captain Fitz Roy's consent I
was left behind, to travel by land to Buenos Ayres. I will here add
some observations, which were made during this visit and on a previous
occasion, when the Beagle was employed in surveying the harbour.
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
elevation 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 extraordinary character of the remains of
gigantic land-animals embedded in it. These have been fully described by
Professor Owen, in the Zoology of the voyage of the Beagle, and are
deposited in the College of Surgeons. I will here give only a brief outline of
their nature.
First, parts of three heads and other bones of the Megatherium, the huge
dimensions of which are expressed by its name. Secondly, the Megalonyx, a
great allied animal. Thirdly, the Scelidotherium, also an allied animal, of
which I obtained a nearly perfect skeleton. It must have been as large as a
rhinoceros: in the structure of its head it comes according to Mr. Owen,
nearest to the Cape Anteater, but in some other respects it approaches to the
armadilloes. Fourthly, the Mylodon Darwinii, a closely related genus of
little inferior size. Fifthly, another gigantic 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
Pachydermata: 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!
The remains of these nine great quadrupeds, and many detached bones,
were found embedded on the beach, within the space of about 200 yards
square. It is a remarkable circumstance that so many different species
should be found together; and it proves how numerous in kind the ancient
inhabitants of this country must have been. At the distance of about thirty
miles from Punta Alta, in a cliff of red earth, I found several fragments 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,
according to Professor Ehrenberg, eight fresh-water and one salt-water
infusorial animalcule; therefore, probably, it was an estuary deposit.
The remains at Punta Alta were embedded in stratified gravel and reddish
mud, just such as the sea might now wash 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. 51 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. 52 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 quadrupeds 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." 53
The great size of the bones of the Megatheroid animals, including the
Megatherium, Megalonyx, Scelidotherium, and Mylodon, is truly
wonderful. The habits of life of these animals were a complete puzzle to
naturalists, until Professor Owen 54 solved the problem with remarkable
ingenuity. The teeth indicate, by their simple structure, that these
Megatheroid animals lived on vegetable food, and probably on the leaves
and small twigs of trees; their ponderous forms and 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, not to say preposterous, idea to conceive even
antediluvian trees, with branches strong enough to bear animals as large as
elephants. 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 fed 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 elephant, according to Bruce, when it cannot
reach with its proboscis the branches, deeply scores with its tusks the trunk
of the tree, up and down and all 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 surrounding plains; and the external features of the
country must then have been very nearly the same as now. What, it may
naturally be asked, was 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 living in the bay, I was at first
inclined to think that the former vegetation was probably similar to the
existing one; but this would have been an 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 those
on the land. Nevertheless, from the following considerations, I do not
believe that the simple fact of many gigantic quadrupeds having lived on
the plains round Bahia Blanca, is any sure guide that they formerly were
clothed with a luxuriant vegetation: 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
history 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 southern parts of
Africa, we shall find allusions in almost every page either to the desert
character of the country, or to the numbers of large animals inhabiting it.
The same thing is 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
intelligible.
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 that the amount of vegetation
supported at any one time 55 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 notion of the
scantiness of the vegetation. Now, if we look to the animals inhabiting these
wide plains, we shall find their numbers extraordinarily great, and their bulk
immense. We must enumerate the elephant, three species of rhinoceros, and
probably, according to 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, and several antelopes even larger
than these latter animals. It may be supposed that although the species are
numerous, the individuals of each kind are few. By the kindness of Dr.
Smith, I am enabled to show that the case is very different. He informs me,
that in lat. 24 degs., in one day's march with the bullock-waggons, 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 he saw several herds of giraffes, amounting together
to nearly a hundred; and that although no elephant was observed, yet they
are found in this district. At the distance of a little more than one hour's
march from their place of encampment on the previous night, his party
actually killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses, and saw many more. In
this same river there were likewise crocodiles. 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 hyaena, 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 surprising how such a number of
animals can find support in a country producing so little food. The larger
quadrupeds no doubt roam over wide 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 has a rapid
growth; no sooner is a part consumed, than its place is supplied by a fresh
stock. There can be no doubt, however, that our ideas respecting the
apparent amount of food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are
much exaggerated: it should have been remembered that the camel, an
animal of no mean bulk, has always been 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 South American
vegetation contrasted with that of South Africa, together with the absence of
all large quadrupeds. In his Travels, 56 he has suggested that the comparison
of the respective weights (if there were sufficient data) of an equal number
of the largest herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would be extremely
curious. If we take on the one side, the elephant, 57 hippopotamus, giraffe,
bos caffer, elan, certainly three, and probably five 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 alongside each
other, it is not easy to conceive ranks more disproportionate in size. After
the above facts, we are compelled to conclude, against anterior probability,
58 that among the mammalia there exists no close relation between the bulk
of the species, and the quantity of the vegetation, in the countries which
they inhabit.
With regard to the number of large quadrupeds, there certainly exists no
quarter of the globe which will bear comparison with 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 epochs, which we are apt to consider as
abounding to an astonishing degree with large animals, because we find the

remains of many ages accumulated 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 these epochs we are at least bound
so far to consider existing analogies, as not to urge as absolutely necessary a
luxuriant vegetation, when we see a state of things so totally different at the
Cape of Good Hope.
We know 59 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 510 (64 degs.) where the mean temperature of the air
falls below the freezing point, and where the earth is so completely frozen,
that the carcass of an animal embedded in it is perfectly preserved. With
these facts we must grant, as far as quantity alone of vegetation is
concerned, that the great quadrupeds of the later tertiary epochs might, in
most parts of Northern Europe and Asia, have lived on the spots 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 conviction of the necessity of a
vegetation possessing a character of tropical luxuriance, to support such
large animals, and the impossibility of reconciling this with the proximity of
perpetual congelation, was one chief cause of the several theories of sudden
revolutions of climate, and of overwhelming catastrophes, which were
invented to account for their 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 Northern 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 difficulty by the Indian or Gaucho armed with the bolas.
When several horsemen appear in a semicircle, it becomes confounded, and
does not know which way to escape. They generally prefer running against
the wind; yet at the first start they expand their wings, and like a vessel
make all sail. On one fine hot day I saw several ostriches enter a bed of tall
rushes, where they squatted concealed, till quite closely approached. It is
not generally known that ostriches readily take to the water. Mr. King
informs me that at the Bay of San Blas, and at Port Valdes in Patagonia, he
saw these birds swimming several times from island to island. They ran into
the water both when driven down to a point, and likewise of their own
accord when not frightened: the distance crossed was about two hundred
yards. When swimming, very little of their bodies appear above water; 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, 511 when descending the Murrumbidgee, in Australia, saw
two emus in the act of swimming.
The inhabitants of the country readily distinguish, even at a distance, the
cock bird from the hen. The former is larger and darker-coloured, 512 and
has a bigger head. The ostrich, I believe the cock, emits a singular, deep-
toned, hissing note: when first I heard it, standing in the midst of some
sand-hillocks, I thought it was made by some wild beast, for it is a sound
that one cannot tell whence it comes, or from how far distant. When we
were at Bahia Blanca in the months of September and October, the eggs, in
extraordinary numbers, were 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 each, and the fourth twenty-seven. In one day's
hunting on horseback sixty-four eggs were found; forty-four of these were
in two nests, and the remaining twenty, scattered huachos. The Gauchos
unanimously affirm, and there is no reason to doubt their statement, that the

male bird alone hatches the eggs, and for some time afterwards
accompanies the young. The cock when on the nest lies very close; I have
myself almost ridden over one. It is asserted that at such times they are
occasionally fierce, and even dangerous, and that they have been known to
attack a man on horseback, trying to kick and leap on him. My informer
pointed out to me an old man, whom he had seen much terrified by one
chasing him. I observe in Burchell's travels in South Africa, that he remarks,
"Having killed a male ostrich, and the feathers being dirty, it was said by
the Hottentots to be a nest bird." I understand that the male emu in the
Zoological Gardens takes charge of the nest: this habit, therefore, is
common to the family.
The Gauchos unanimously affirm that several females lay in one nest. I
have been positively told that four or five hen birds have been watched to
go in the middle of the day, one after the other, to the same nest. I may add,
also, that it is believed in Africa, that two or more females lay in one nest.
513 Although this habit at first appears very strange, I think the cause may
be explained in a simple manner. The number of eggs in the nest varies
from twenty to forty, and even to fifty; and according to Azara, some times
to seventy or eighty. Now, although it is most probable, from the number of
eggs found in one district being so extraordinarily great in proportion to the
parent birds, and likewise from the state of the ovarium of the hen, that she
may in the course of the season lay a large number, yet the time required
must be very long. Azara states, 514 that a female in a state of domestication
laid seventeen eggs, each at the interval of three days one from another. If
the hen was obliged to hatch her own eggs, before the last was laid the first
probably would be addled; but if each laid a few eggs at successive periods,
in different nests, and several hens, as is stated to be the case, combined
together, then the eggs in one collection would be nearly of the same age. If
the number of eggs in one of these nests is, as I believe, not 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 of
the labour of incubation; and that during a period when the females
probably could not sit, from not having finished laying. 515 I have before
mentioned the great numbers of huachos, or deserted 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 together, and finding a male ready to undertake the office of

incubation? 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 plain, at distances far too great to allow of the male
collecting them into one nest: some authors have believed that the scattered
eggs were deposited for the young birds to feed on. This can hardly be the
case in America, because the huachos, although often found addled and
putrid, are generally whole.
When at the Rio Negro in Northern Patagonia, I repeatedly heard the
Gauchos talking of a very rare bird which they called Avestruz Petise. They
described it as being less than the common 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
Rhea, but of a slightly different form, and with a tinge of pale blue. This
species occurs most rarely on the plains bordering the Rio Negro; but about
a degree and a half further south they are tolerably abundant. When at Port
Desire, in Patagonia (lat. 48 degs.), 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 common sort. It was cooked and eaten before my memory returned.
Fortunately the head, neck, legs, wings, many of the larger feathers, and a
large part of the skin, had been preserved; and from these a very nearly
perfect specimen has been put together, and is now exhibited in the museum
of the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, in describing this new species, has
done me the honour of calling it after my name.
Among the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of Magellan, we found a half
Indian, who had lived some years with the tribe, but had been born in the
northern provinces. I asked him if he had ever heard of the Avestruz Petise?
He answered by saying, "Why, there are none others in these 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 Struthio rhea inhabits the country of La Plata as far as a
little south of the Rio Negro in lat. 41 degs., and that the Struthio Darwinii
takes its place in Southern Patagonia; the part about the Rio Negro being
neutral territory. M. A. d'Orbigny, 516 when at the Rio Negro, made great
exertions to procure this bird, but never had the good fortune to succeed.
Dobrizhoffer 517 long ago was aware of there being two kinds of ostriches,
he says, "You must know, moreover, that Emus differ in size and habits in
different tracts of land; for those that inhabit the plains of Buenos Ayres and
Tucuman are larger, and have black, white and grey feathers; those near to
the Strait of Magellan are smaller and more beautiful, for their white
feathers are tipped with black at the extremity, and their black ones in like
manner terminate in white."
A very singular little bird, Tinochorus rumicivorus, is here common: 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 slowly, 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 appearance changes; the
long pointed wings, so different from those in the gallinaceous order, the
irregular manner of flight, and plaintive cry uttered at the moment of rising,
recall 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 American 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 inhabitant
of the antarctic regions; it feeds on sea-weed and shells on the tidal rocks.
Although not web footed, from some unaccountable habit, it is frequently
met with far out at sea. This small family of birds is one of those which,
from its varied relations to other families, although at present offering only
difficulties to the systematic naturalist, ultimately may assist in revealing
the grand scheme, common to the present and past ages, on which
organized beings have been created.
The genus Furnarius contains several species, all small birds, living on
the ground, and inhabiting open dry countries. In structure they cannot be
compared to any European form. Ornithologists have generally included
them among the creepers, although opposed to that family in every habit.
The best known species is the common oven-bird of La Plata, the Casara or
housemaker of the 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 thick walls:
in shape it precisely resembles an oven, or depressed beehive. The opening
is large and arched, and directly in front, within the nest, there 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 plumage, in a peculiar shrill
reiterated cry, and in an odd manner of running by starts. From its affinity,
the Spaniards call it Casarita (or little housebuilder), although its
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
acquiring any notion of thickness, for although they were constantly flitting
over the low wall, they continued vainly to bore through it, thinking it an
excellent bank for their nests. I do not doubt that each bird, as often as it
came to daylight on the opposite side, was greatly surprised at the
marvellous fact.
I have already mentioned nearly all the mammalia common in this
country. Of armadilloes three species occur namely, the Dasypus minutus or
pichy, the D. villosus or peludo, and the apar. The first extends ten degrees
further south than any other kind; a fourth species, the Mulita, does not
come as far south as Bahia Blanca. The four species have nearly similar
habits; the peludo, however, is nocturnal, while the others wander by day
over the open plains, feeding on beetles, larvae, roots, and even small
snakes. The apar, commonly called mataco, 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 English woodlouse. In this state it is safe from the attack of dogs;
for the dog not being able to take the whole in its mouth, 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 pichy 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 Trigonocephalus, or
Cophias 518), 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 intermediate between it and the viper. In
confirmation of this opinion, I observed a fact, which appears to me very
curious and instructive, as showing how every character, even though it
may be 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, produces a rattling noise, which can be distinctly heard at
the distance of six feet. As often as the animal was irritated or surprised, its
tail was shaken; and the vibrations were extremely rapid. Even as long as
the body retained its irritability, a tendency to this habitual movement was
evident. This Trigonocephalus 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 snake's 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 anything more ugly,
excepting, perhaps, some of the vampire bats. I imagine this repulsive
aspect originates from the features being placed in positions, with respect to
each other, somewhat proportional to those of the human face; and thus we
obtain a scale of 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 of 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 Diabolicus, for it is a fit toad to preach in the ear
of Eve. Instead of being nocturnal in its habits, as 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 Maldonado, I 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 the little animal unable to
swim, but I think without help it would soon have been drowned. Of lizards
there were many kinds, but only one (Proctotretus multimaculatus)
remarkable from its habits. It lives on the bare sand near the sea coast, and
from its mottled colour, the brownish scales being speckled with white,
yellowish red, and dirty blue, can hardly be distinguished from the

surrounding 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 quickness 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 15th, a few
animals began to appear, and by the 18th (three days from the equinox),
everything announced the commencement of spring. The plains were
ornamented by the flowers of a pink wood-sorrel, wild peas, cenotherae,
and geraniums; and the birds began to lay their eggs. Numerous
Lamellicorn and Heteromerous insects, the latter remarkable for their
deeply sculptured bodies, were slowly crawling about; while the lizard
tribe, the constant inhabitants of a sandy soil, darted about in every
direction. During the first eleven days, whilst nature was dormant, the mean
temperature taken from observations made every two hours on board the
Beagle, was 51 degs.; and in the middle of the day the thermometer seldom
ranged above 55 degs. On the eleven succeeding days, in which all living
things became so animated, the mean was 58 degs., and the range in the
middle of the day between 60 and 70 degs. Here, then, an increase of seven
degrees in mean temperature, but a greater one of extreme heat, was
sufficient to awake the functions of life. At Monte Video, from which we
had just before sailed, in the twenty-three days included between the 26th of
July and the 19th of August, the mean temperature from 276 observations
was 58.4 degs.; the mean hottest day being 65.5 degs., and the coldest 46
degs. The lowest point to which the thermometer fell was 41.5 degs., and
occasionally in the middle of the day it rose to 69 or 70 degs. Yet with this
high temperature, almost every beetle, several genera of spiders, snails, and
land-shells, toads and lizards were all lying torpid beneath stones. But we
have seen that at Bahia Blanca, which is four degrees southward and
therefore with a climate only a very little colder, this same temperature with
a rather less extreme heat, was sufficient to awake all orders of animated
beings. This shows how nicely the stimulus required to arouse hybernating
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
observe, that, a few days after some little depressions had been filled with
water, they were peopled by numerous full-grown shells and beetles, which
must have been lying dormant. Humboldt has related the strange accident of
a hovel having 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 lethargic state. To
reanimate them, they must be irritated or wetted with water."
I will only mention one other animal, a zoophyte (I believe Virgularia
Patagonica), a kind of sea-pen. It consists of a thin, straight, fleshy stem,
with 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 the other is terminated by a vermiform fleshy
appendage. The stony axis which gives strength to the stem may be traced
at this extremity into a mere vessel filled with granular matter. At low water
hundreds of these zoophytes might be seen, projecting like stubble, with the
truncate end upwards, a few inches above the surface of the muddy sand.
When touched or pulled they suddenly drew themselves in with force, so as
nearly or quite to disappear. By this action, the highly elastic axis must be
bent at the lower extremity, where it is naturally slightly curved; and I
imagine it is by this elasticity alone that the zoophyte is enabled to rise
again through the mud. Each polypus, though closely united to its brethren,
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. 519 Well may one be allowed to ask, what is an
individual? It is always interesting to discover the foundation of the strange
tales of the old voyagers; and I have no doubt but that the habits of this
Virgularia explain one such case. Captain Lancaster, in his voyage 520 in
1601, narrates 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 ground, and sinks, unless held very
hard. On being plucked up, a great worm is found to be its root, and as the
tree groweth in greatness, so doth the worm diminish, and as soon as the
worm is entirely turned into a tree it rooteth in the earth, and so becomes

great. This transformation is one of the strangest wonders that I saw in all
my travels: for if this tree is plucked up, while young, and the leaves and
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,
between 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
the Colorado, under the command of Commandant Miranda. A large portion
of these men were Indians (mansos, or tame), belonging to the tribe of the
Cacique Bernantio. They passed the night here; and it was impossible to
conceive anything more wild and savage than the scene of their bivouac.
Some drank till they were intoxicated; others swallowed the steaming blood
of the cattle slaughtered for their suppers, and then, being sick from
drunkenness, they cast it up again, and were besmeared with filth and gore.
Nam simul expletus dapibus, vinoque sepultus Cervicem 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. We 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 has 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. We 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 Rio Negro. This is a distance of between
two and three hundred miles, through a country completely unknown. What
other troops in the world are so independent? With the sun for their guide,

mare's flesh for food, their saddle-cloths for beds,—as long as there is a
little water, these men would penetrate to the end of the world.
A few days afterwards I saw another troop of these banditti-like soldiers
start on an 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 engagement at which he was present. Some Indians, who
had been taken prisoners, gave information of a tribe living north of the
Colorado. Two hundred soldiers were sent; and they first discovered the
Indians by a cloud of dust from their horses' feet, as they chanced to be
travelling. The country was mountainous and wild, and it must have been
far in the interior, for the Cordillera were in sight. The Indians, men,
women, and children, were about one hundred and ten in number, and they
were nearly all taken or killed, for the soldiers sabre every man. The Indians
are now so terrified that they offer no resistance in a body, but each flies,
neglecting even his wife and children; but when overtaken, like wild
animals, they fight against any number to the 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 out
for mercy, at the same time that he was covertly loosing the bolas from his
waist, meaning to whirl it round his head and so strike his pursuer. "I
however struck him with my sabre to the ground, and then got off my horse,
and cut his throat with my knife." This is a dark picture; but how much
more shocking is the 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 the owners can make them believe themselves slaves; but I
believe in their treatment there is little to complain of.

In the battle four men ran away together. They were pursued, one was
killed, and the other three were taken alive. They turned out to be
messengers or ambassadors from a large body of Indians, united in the
common cause of defence, near the Cordillera. The tribe to which they had
been sent was on the point of holding a grand council, the feast of 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 men,
very fair, above six feet high, 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 different; he saved his life by betraying
the intended plan of warfare, and the point of union in the Andes. It was
believed that there were already six or seven hundred Indians together, and
that in summer their numbers would be doubled. Ambassadors were to have
been sent to the Indians at the small Salinas, near Bahia Blanca, whom I
have mentioned that this same cacique had betrayed. The communication,
therefore, between the Indians, extends from the Cordillera to the coast of
the Atlantic.
General Rosas's plan is to kill all stragglers, and having driven the
remainder to a common point, to attack them in a body, in the summer, with
the 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. The general, however,
like Lord Chesterfield, thinking that his friends may in a future day become
his enemies, always places them in the front ranks, so that their numbers
may be thinned. Since leaving South America we have heard that this war
of extermination completely failed.

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 the Indian tongue. From their account
they must have come from Salta, a distance in a straight line of nearly one
thousand miles. This gives one a grand idea of the immense territory over
which the Indians roam: yet, great as it is, I think there will not, in another
half-century, be a wild Indian northward of the Rio 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 521 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 as far as Luxan, Areco, and Arrecife, but now they are driven
beyond the Salado. Not only have whole tribes been exterminated, but the
remaining Indians have become more barbarous: instead of living in large
villages, and being employed in the arts of fishing, as well as of the chase,
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.
When the troops 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 cacique sprung, taking with him his little son. The
horse had neither saddle nor bridle. To avoid the shots, the Indian rode in
the peculiar method of his nation namely, with an 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 pursuers urged every effort
in the chase; the Commandant three times changed his horse, but all in vain.
The old Indian father and his son escaped, and were free. What a fine
picture one can form in one's mind,—the naked, bronze-like figure of the
old man with his little boy, riding like a Mazeppa on the white horse, thus
leaving far behind him the host of his pursuers!
I saw one day a soldier striking fire with a piece of flint, which I
immediately recognised as having been a part of the head of an arrow. He

told me it was found near the island of Cholechel, and that they are
frequently picked up there. It was between two and three inches long, and
therefore twice as large as those now used in Tierra del Fuego: it was made
of opaque 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 close on those tribes that inhabit the forest, and live on foot. It
appears, therefore, that these arrow-heads are antiquarian 522 relics of the
Indians, before the great change in habits consequent on the introduction of
the horse into South America.

CHAPTER VI — BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS
AYRES
Set out for Buenos Ayres—Rio Sauce—Sierra 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.

S
EPTEMBER 18th.—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, who seemed willing, was
described to me as so fearful, that I was afraid to take him, for I was told
that even if he saw an ostrich at a distance, he would mistake it for an
Indian, and would fly like the wind away. The distance to Buenos Ayres is
about four hundred miles, and nearly the whole way through an 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 the dry nature of the climate, supports only scattered tufts of withered
grass, without a single bush or tree to break the monotonous uniformity.
The weather was fine, but the atmosphere remarkably hazy; I thought the
appearance foreboded a gale, but the Gauchos said it was owing to the
plain, at some great distance in the interior, being on fire. After a long
gallop, having changed horses twice, we reached the 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, where the water does not reach to the horses' belly; but from that
point, in its course to the sea, it is quite impassable, and hence makes a
most useful barrier against the Indians.
Insignificant as this stream is, the Jesuit Falconer, whose information is
generally so very correct, figures it as a considerable river, rising at the foot
of the Cordillera. With respect to its source, I do not doubt that this is the

case for the Gauchos assured 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 Chupat, on the banks of
which masses of highly cellular scoriae were found by the officers
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 the 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 it. The distance from the posta was about six leagues
over a level plain of the same character as before. The ride was, however,
interesting, as the mountain began to show its true form. When we reached
the foot of the main ridge, we had much difficulty in finding any water, and
we thought we should have been obliged to have passed the night without
any. At last we discovered some by looking close to the mountain, for at the
distance even of a few hundred yards the streamlets were buried and
entirely lost in the friable calcareous stone and loose detritus. I do not think
Nature ever made a more solitary, desolate pile of rock;—it well deserves
its name of Hurtado, or separated. The mountain is steep, extremely 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. 61 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 whitish 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 mountain, a broken country strewed over with huge
fragments. Here nature shows that the last movement before the bed of the
sea is changed into dry land may sometimes be one of tranquillity. Under
these circumstances I was curious to 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; the sides were so indented, that what was gained in one five
minutes was often lost in the next. At last, when I reached the ridge, my
disappointment was extreme in finding a precipitous valley as deep as the
plain, which cut the chain transversely 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: I immediately hid myself in the long grass, and began
to reconnoitre; but as I could see no signs of Indians I proceeded cautiously
on my second ascent. It was late in the day, and this part of the mountain,
like the other, was steep and rugged. I was on the top of the second peak by
two o'clock, but got there with extreme difficulty; every twenty yards I had
the cramp in the upper part of both thighs, so that I was afraid I should not
have been able to have got down again. It was also necessary to return by
another road, as it was out of the question to pass over the saddle-back. I
was therefore obliged to give up the two higher peaks. Their altitude was
but little greater, and every purpose of geology had been answered; so that
the attempt was not worth the hazard of any further exertion. I presume the
cause of the cramp was the 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 conglomerate adhered in several places to
the solid rock. They resembled in hardness, and in the nature of the cement,
the masses which may be seen daily forming on some coasts. I do not doubt
these pebbles were in a similar manner aggregated, at a period when the
great calcareous formation was depositing beneath the surrounding sea. We
may believe that the jagged and battered forms of the hard quartz yet show
the effects of the 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, was novel, and a little danger, like salt
to meat, gave it a relish. That the danger was very little was certain, for my
two companions made a good fire—a thing which is never done when it is
suspected that 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 10th.—In the morning, having fairly scudded before the gale,
we arrived by the middle of the day at the Sauce posta. In the road we saw
great numbers of deer, and near the mountain a guanaco. The plain, which
abuts against the Sierra, is traversed by some curious gullies, of which one
was about twenty feet wide, and at least thirty deep; we were obliged in
consequence to make a considerable circuit before we could find a pass. We
stayed the night at the posta, the conversation, as was generally the case,
being about the Indians. The Sierra Ventana was formerly a great place of
resort; and three or four years ago there was much fighting there. My guide
had been present when many Indians were killed: the women escaped to the
top of the ridge, and fought most desperately with great stones; many thus
saving themselves.
September 11th.—Proceeded to the third posta in company with the
lieutenant who commanded it. The distance is called fifteen leagues; but it
is only guess-work, and is generally overstated. The road was uninteresting,
over a dry grassy plain; and on our left hand at a greater or less distance
there were some low hills; a continuation of which we crossed close to the
posta. Before our arrival we met a large herd of cattle and horses, guarded

by fifteen soldiers; but we were told many had been 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 Ayres with five hundred horses, and when he arrived at the army he
had under twenty.
Soon afterwards we perceived by the cloud of dust, that a party of
horsemen were coming towards us; when far distant my companions knew
them to be Indians, by their long hair streaming behind their backs. The
Indians generally have a fillet round their heads, but never any covering;
and their black hair blowing across their swarthy faces, heightens to an
uncommon degree the wildness of their appearance. They turned out to be a
party 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, who, leading the same kind of life, eat
scarcely any; according to Mungo Park, 62 it is people who live on
vegetable food who have an unconquerable desire for salt. The Indians gave
us good-humoured nods as they passed at full gallop, driving before them a
troop of horses, and followed by a train of lanky dogs.
September 12th and 13th.—I stayed at this posta two days, waiting for a
troop of soldiers, which General Rosas had the kindness to send to inform
me, would shortly travel to Buenos Ayres; and he advised me to take the
opportunity of the escort. In the morning we rode to some neighbouring
hills to view the country, and to examine the geology. After dinner the
soldiers divided themselves into two parties for a trial of skill with the
bolas. Two spears were stuck in the ground twenty-five yards apart, but they
were struck and entangled only once in four or five times. The balls can be
thrown fifty or sixty yards, but with little certainty. This, however, does not
apply to a man on horseback; for when the speed of the horse is added to
the force of the arm, it is said, that they can be whirled with effect to the
distance of eighty yards. As a proof of their force, I may mention, that at the
Falkland Islands, when the Spaniards murdered some of their own
countrymen and all the 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
him. Just as the Spaniard was on the point of reaching the boat, Luciano
threw the balls: they struck him on the legs with such a jerk, as to throw

him down and to render him for some time insensible. The man, after
Luciano had had his talk, was allowed to escape. He told us that his legs
were marked by 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 non-
descripts; namely, an old Chilian miner, the colour of mahogany, and
another partly a mulatto; but two such mongrels with such detestable
expressions, I never saw before. At night, when they were sitting round the
fire, and playing at cards, I retired to view such a Salvator Rosa scene. They
were seated under a low cliff, so that I could look 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 the conversation, and every head, for a moment, a little inclined.
What a life of misery these men appear to us to lead! They were at least
ten leagues from the Sauce posta, and since the murder committed by the
Indians, twenty from another. The Indians are supposed to have made their
attack in the 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 with the troop of horses; each one taking a
line for himself, and driving with him as many animals as he was able to
manage.
The little hovel, built of thistle-stalks, in which they slept, neither kept
out the wind nor rain; indeed in the latter case the only effect the roof had,
was to condense it into larger drops. They had nothing to eat excepting what
they could catch, such as ostriches, deer, armadilloes, etc., 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 all sallied forth to hunt, and although we had not much
success, there were some animated chases. Soon after starting the party
separated, and so arranged their plans, that at a certain time of the day (in
guessing which they show much skill) they should all meet from different
points of the compass on a plain piece of ground, and thus drive together
the wild animals. One day I went out hunting at Bahia Blanca, but the men
there merely rode in a crescent, each being about a quarter of a mile apart
from the other. A fine male ostrich being turned by the headmost riders,
tried to escape on one side. The Gauchos pursued at a reckless pace,
twisting their horses about with the most admirable command, and each
man whirling the balls round his head. At length the foremost threw them,
revolving through the air: in an instant the ostrich rolled over and over, its
legs fairly lashed together by the thong. The plains abound with three kinds
of partridge, 63 two of which are as large as hen pheasants. Their destroyer,
a small and pretty fox, was also singularly numerous; in the course of the
day we could not have seen less than forty or fifty. They were generally
near their earths, but the dogs killed one. When we returned to the posta, we
found two of the party returned who had been hunting by 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 hen's eggs; so that we
obtained from this one nest as much food as 297 hen's eggs would have
given.
September 14th.—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 much to stop. As he had been very obliging—not only providing
me with food, but lending me his private horses—I wanted to make him
some remuneration. I asked my guide whether I might do so, but he told me
certainly not; that the only answer I should receive, probably 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 high
sense of hospitality, which every traveller is bound to acknowledge 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 were also many extensive but shallow lakes, and large beds of
reeds. The country on the whole resembled the better parts of the
Cambridgeshire fens. At night we had some difficulty in finding amidst the
swamps, a dry place for our bivouac.
September 15th.—Rose very early in the morning and shortly after
passed the posta where the Indians had murdered the five soldiers. The
officer had eighteen chuzo wounds in his body. By the middle of the day,
after a hard gallop, we reached the fifth posta: on account of some 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 conflagrations. 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 necessary 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 of 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, which appears as if mounted on stilts (Himantopus
nigricollis), is here common in flocks of considerable 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 chase: waking in the night, I have more than once been for a moment
startled at the distant sound. The teru-tero (Vanellus cayanus) is another
bird, which often disturbs the stillness of the night. In appearance and habits
it resembles in many respects our peewits; its wings, however, are armed
with sharp spurs, like those on the legs of the common cock. As our peewit
takes its name from the sound of its voice, so does the teru-tero. While

riding over the grassy plains, one is constantly pursued by these birds,
which appear to hate mankind, and I am sure deserve to be hated for their
never-ceasing, unvaried, harsh screams. To the sportsman they are most
annoying, by telling every other bird and animal of his approach: to the
traveller in the country, they may possibly, as Molina says, do good, by
warning him of the midnight robber. During the breeding season, they
attempt, like our peewits, by feigning to be wounded, to draw away from
their nests dogs and other enemies. The eggs of this bird are esteemed a
great delicacy.
September 16th.—To the seventh posta at the foot of the Sierra
Tapalguen. The country was quite level, with a coarse herbage and a soft
peaty soil. The hovel was here remarkably neat, the posts and 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, which I would not have
credited, if I had not had partly ocular proof of it; namely, that, during the
previous night hail as large as small apples, and extremely hard, had fallen
with such violence, as to kill the greater 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 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
with a paving-stone. A fence of thistle-stalks round the hovel was nearly
broken down, and my informer, putting his head out to see what was the
matter, received a severe cut, and now wore a bandage. The storm was said
to have been of limited extent: we certainly saw from our last night's
bivouac a dense cloud and lightning in this direction. It is marvellous how
such strong animals as deer could thus have been killed; but I have no
doubt, from the evidence I have given, that the story is not in the least
exaggerated. I am glad, however, to have its credibility supported by the
Jesuit Dobrizhoffen, 64 who, speaking of a country much to the northward,
says, hail fell of an enormous size and killed vast numbers of cattle: the
Indians hence called the place Lalegraicavalca, meaning "the little white

things." Dr. Malcolmson, also, informs me that he witnessed in 1831 in
India, a hail-storm, which killed numbers of large birds and much injured
the cattle. These hailstones were flat, and one was ten inches in
circumference, 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 feet in height, which
commences at Cape Corrientes. The rock in this part is pure quartz; further
eastward I understand it is granitic. The hills are of a remarkable form; they
consist of flat patches of table-land, surrounded by low perpendicular cliffs,
like the outliers of a 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 diameter, and encompassed by perpendicular cliffs,
between thirty and forty feet high, excepting at one spot, where the entrance
lies. Falconer 65 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 Rio 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 the favourite dishes of the country
namely, a half-formed calf, long before its proper time of birth. It turned out
to be Puma; the meat is very white and remarkably like veal in taste. Dr.
Shaw was laughed at for stating that "the flesh of the lion is in great esteem
having no small affinity with veal, both in colour, taste, and flavour." Such
certainly is the case with the Puma. The Gauchos differ in their opinion,
whether the Jaguar is good eating, but are unanimous in saying that cat is
excellent.
September 17th.—We followed the course of the Rio Tapalguen, through
a very fertile country, to the ninth posta. Tapalguen, itself, or the town of
Tapalguen, if it may be so called, consists of a 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 Rosas, resided here. We met and passed many young Indian women,
riding by two or three together on the same horse: they, as well as many of
the young men, were strikingly handsome,—their fine ruddy complexions
being the picture of health. Besides the toldos, there were three ranchos;
one inhabited 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 anything besides meat: I did not at all dislike this new
regimen; but I felt as if it would only have agreed with me with hard
exercise. I have heard that patients in England, when desired to confine
themselves exclusively 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 66 also, has remarked, "that when people have fed for a long
time solely upon lean animal food, the desire for fat becomes so insatiable,
that they can consume a large quantity of 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, and garters,
woven 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 18th.—We had a very long ride this day. At the twelfth posta,
which is seven leagues south of the Rio 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
contrived 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. We slept at one of the great estancias of General
Rosas. It was fortified, and of such an extent, that arriving in the dark I
thought it was a town and fortress. In the morning 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
they defied all the attacks of the Indians.
September 19th.—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 difference between the country round
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 67 of North America, where coarse
grass, between five and six feet high, when grazed by cattle, changes into
common pasture land. I am not botanist enough to say whether the change
here is owing to the introduction of new species, to the altered growth of the
same, or to a difference in their proportional numbers. Azara has also
observed with astonishment this change: he is likewise much perplexed by
the immediate appearance of plants not occurring in the neighbourhood, on
the borders of any track that leads to a newly-constructed hovel. In another
part he says, 68 "ces chevaux (sauvages) ont la manie de preferer les
chemins, et le bord des routes pour deposer leurs excremens, dont on trouve
des monceaux dans ces endroits." Does this not partly explain the
circumstance? We thus have lines of richly manured land serving as
channels of communication across wide districts.
Near the Guardia we find the southern limit of two European plants, now
become extraordinarily common. The fennel in great profusion covers the
ditch-banks in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, and other
towns. But the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) has a far wider range: 69 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 prickly plants, and are
impenetrable by man or beast. Over the undulating plains, where these great
beds occur, nothing else can now live. Before their introduction, however,
the surface must have supported, as in other parts, a rank herbage. I doubt
whether any case is on record of an invasion on so grand a scale of one
plant over the aborigines. As I have already said, I nowhere saw the cardoon
south of the Salado; but it is probable that in proportion as that country
becomes inhabited, the cardoon will extend its limits. The case is different
with the giant thistle (with variegated leaves) of the Pampas, for I met with
it in the valley of the Sauce. According to the principles so well laid down
by Mr. Lyell, few countries have undergone more remarkable changes,
since the year 1535, when the first colonist of La Plata landed with seventy-
two horses. The countless herds of horses, cattle, and sheep, not only have
altered the whole aspect of the vegetation, but they have almost banished
the guanaco, deer and ostrich. Numberless other changes must likewise
have taken place; the wild pig in some parts probably replaces the peccari;
packs of wild dogs may be heard howling on the wooded banks of the less-
frequented streams; and the common cat, altered into a large and fierce
animal, inhabits rocky hills. 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. No 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 waters of the river.
While changing horses at the Guardia several people questioned us much
about the army,—I never saw anything like the enthusiasm for Rosas, and
for the success of the "most just of all wars, 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. We had a
long day's ride over the same rich green plain, abounding with various
flocks, and with here and there a solitary estancia, and its one ombu tree. In
the evening it rained heavily: on arriving at a posthouse we were told by the
owner, that if we had not a regular passport we must pass on, for there were
so many robbers he would trust no one. When he read, however, my
passport, which began with "El Naturalista Don Carlos," his respect and
civility were as unbounded as his suspicions had been before. What a

naturalist might be, neither he nor his countrymen, I suspect, had any idea;
but probably my title lost nothing of its value from that cause.
September 20th.—We arrived by the middle of the day at Buenos Ayres.
The outskirts of the city looked quite pretty, with the agave hedges, and
groves of olive, peach and willow trees, all just throwing out their fresh
green leaves. I rode to the house of Mr. Lumb, an English merchant, to
whose kindness and hospitality, during my stay in the country, I was greatly
indebted.
The city of Buenos Ayres is large; 610 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, the 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 flat roofs,
which are fitted with seats and are much frequented by the inhabitants in
summer. In the centre of the town is the Plaza, where the public offices,
fortress, cathedral, etc., stand. Here also, the old viceroys, before the
revolution, had their palaces. The general assemblage of buildings
possesses considerable architectural beauty, although none individually can
boast of any.
The great corral, where the animals are kept for slaughter to supply food
to this beef-eating population, is one of the spectacles best worth seeing.
The strength of the horse as compared to that of the bullock is quite
astonishing: a man on horseback having thrown his lazo round the horns of
a beast, can drag it anywhere he chooses. The animal ploughing up the
ground with outstretched legs, in vain efforts to resist the force, generally
dashes at full speed to one side; but the horse immediately turning to
receive the shock, stands so firmly that the bullock is almost thrown 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, the matador with
great caution cuts the hamstrings. Then is given 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.

CHAPTER VII — BUENOS AYRES AND ST. FE
Excursion to St. Fe—Thistle Beds—Habits of the Bizcacha—Little Owl—
Saline Streams—Level Plain—Mastodon—St. Fe—Change in Landscape—
Geology—Tooth of extinct Horse—Relation of the Fossil and recent
Quadrupeds of North and South America—Effects of a great Drought—
Parana—Habits of the Jaguar—Scissor-beak—Kingfisher, Parrot, and
Scissor-tail—Revolution—Buenos Ayres State of Government.

S
EPTEMBER 27th.—In the evening I set out on an excursion to St.
Fe, which is situated nearly three hundred English miles from
Buenos Ayres, on the banks of the Parana. The roads in the
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 ahead, 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 Mendoza. The distance is about 580
geographical miles, and the journey is generally performed in fifty days.
These waggons 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.
September 28th.—We passed the small town of Luxan where there is a
wooden bridge over the river—a most unusual convenience in this country.
We passed also Areco. The plains 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 some parts they were as high as the horse's back,
but in others they had not yet sprung up, and the ground was bare and dusty
as on a turnpike-road. The clumps were of the most brilliant green, and they
made a pleasing miniature-likeness of broken forest land. When the thistles
are full grown, the great beds are impenetrable, except by a few tracts, as
intricate as those in a labyrinth. These are only known to the robbers, who
at this season inhabit them, and sally forth at night to rob and cut throats
with impunity. Upon asking at a house whether robbers were numerous, I
was answered, "The thistles are not up yet;"—the meaning of which reply
was not at first very obvious. There is little interest in passing over these
tracts, for they are inhabited by few animals or birds, excepting the
bizcacha and its friend the little owl.
The bizcacha 71 is well known to form a prominent feature in the zoology
of the Pampas. It is found as far south as the Rio Negro, in lat. 41 degs., but
not beyond. It cannot, like the agouti, subsist on the gravelly and desert
plains of Patagonia, but prefers a clayey or sandy soil, which produces a
different and more abundant vegetation. Near Mendoza, at the foot of the
Cordillera, it occurs in close neighbourhood with the allied alpine species. It
is a very curious circumstance in its geographical distribution, that it has
never been seen, fortunately for the inhabitants of Banda Oriental, to the
eastward of the river Uruguay: yet in this province there are plains which
appear admirably adapted to its habits. The Uruguay has formed an
insuperable obstacle to its migration: although the broader barrier of the
Parana has been passed, and the bizcacha is common in Entre Rios, the
province between these two great rivers. Near Buenos Ayres these animals
are exceedingly common. Their most favourite resort appears to be those
parts of the plain which during one-half of the year are covered with giant
thistles, to the exclusion of other plants. The Gauchos affirm that it lives on
roots; which, from the great strength of its gnawing teeth, and the kind of
places frequented by it, seems probable. In the evening the bizcachas come
out in numbers, and quietly sit at the mouths of their burrows on their
haunches. At such times they are very tame, and a man on 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, etc., 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 watch; 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. This habit of picking up whatever
may be lying on the ground anywhere near its habitation, must cost much
trouble. For what purpose it is done, I am quite unable to form even the
most remote 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. The only fact which I
know analogous to it, is the habit of that extraordinary Australian bird, the
Calodera 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 coloured ones. Mr. Gould, who has
described these facts, informs me, that the natives, when they lose any hard
object, search the playing passages, and he has known a tobacco-pipe thus
recovered.
The little owl (Athene cunicularia), which has been so often mentioned,
on the plains of Buenos Ayres exclusively 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 frequently by pairs on the hillock near their burrows. If
disturbed they either enter the hole, or, uttering a shrill harsh cry, move with
a remarkably undulatory flight to a short distance, and then turning round,
steadily gaze at their pursuer. Occasionally in the evening they may be
heard hooting. I found in the stomachs of two which I opened the remains
of mice, and I one day saw a small snake killed and carried away. It is said
that snakes are their common prey during the daytime. I may here mention,
as showing on what various kinds of food owls subsist, that a species killed
among the islets of the Chonos Archipelago, had its stomach full of good-
sized crabs. In India 72 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 was 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.
29th 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
water, but too saline to drink. Rozario is a large town built on a dead level
plain, which forms a cliff about sixty feet high over the Parana. The river
here is very broad, with many islands, which are low and wooded, as is also
the opposite shore. The view would resemble that of a 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 absolutely
perpendicular, and of a red colour; at other times in large broken masses,
covered with cacti and mimosa-trees. The real grandeur, however, of an
immense river like this, is derived from reflecting how important a means
of communication and commerce it forms between one nation and another;
to what a distance it travels, and from how vast a territory it drains the great
body of fresh water which flows past your feet.
For many leagues north and south of San Nicolas and Rozario, the
country is really level. Scarcely anything which travellers have written
about its extreme flatness, can be considered as 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 distant. 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 Rio Tercero by
sunrise. The 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, I found two immense skeletons near each other, projecting in bold
relief from the perpendicular cliff of the Parana. They were, however, so
completely decayed, that I could only bring away small fragments of one of
the great molar teeth; but these are sufficient to show that the remains
belonged to a Mastodon, probably to the same species with that, which
formerly must have inhabited the Cordillera in Upper Peru in such great
numbers. The men who took me in the 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 the washings of the Pampas.
October 2nd.—We passed through Corunda, which, from the luxuriance
of its gardens, was one of the prettiest villages I saw. From this point to St.
Fe the road is not very safe. The western side of the Parana northward,
ceases to be inhabited; and hence the Indians sometimes come down thus
far, and waylay travellers. The nature of the country also favours this, for
instead of a grassy plain, there is an open woodland, composed of low
prickly 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—
the 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 3rd and 4th.—I was confined for these two days to my bed by a
headache. 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 headache the day
before yesterday." Many of the remedies used by the people of the country
are ludicrously strange, but too disgusting to be mentioned. One of the least
nasty is to kill and cut open two puppies and bind them on each side of a
broken limb. Little hairless dogs are in great request to sleep at the feet of
invalids.
St. Fe is a quiet little town, and is kept clean and in good order. The
governor, Lopez, was a common soldier at the time of the revolution; but
has now been seventeen years in power. 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
hunting Indians: a short time since he slaughtered forty-eight, and sold the
children 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 old 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 representatives, 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 examining the
geology of the surrounding country, which was very interesting. We here
see at the bottom of the cliffs, beds containing sharks' teeth and sea-shells
of extinct species, passing above into an indurated marl, and from that into

the red clayey earth of the Pampas, with its calcareous concretions and the
bones of terrestrial quadrupeds. This vertical section clearly tells us of a
large bay of pure salt-water, gradually encroached on, and at last converted
into the bed of a muddy estuary, into which floating carcasses were swept.
At Punta Gorda, in Banda Oriental, I found an alternation of the Pampaean
estuary deposit, with a limestone containing some of the same extinct sea-
shells; and this shows either a change in the former currents, or more
probably an oscillation of level in the bottom of the ancient estuary. Until
lately, my reasons for considering the Pampaean formation to be an estuary
deposit were, its general appearance, its position at the mouth of the
existing great river the Plata, and the presence of so many bones of
terrestrial quadrupeds: but now Professor Ehrenberg has had the kindness to
examine for me a little of the red earth, taken from low down in the deposit,
close to the skeletons of the mastodon, and he finds in it many infusoria,
partly salt-water and partly fresh-water forms, with the latter rather
preponderating; and therefore, as he remarks, the water must have been
brackish. M. A. d'Orbigny found on the banks of the Parana, at the height of
a hundred feet, great beds of an estuary shell, now living a hundred miles
lower down nearer the sea; and I found similar shells at a less height on the
banks of the Uruguay; this shows that just before the Pampas was slowly
elevated into dry land, the water covering it was brackish. Below Buenos
Ayres there are upraised beds of sea-shells of existing species, which also
proves that the period of 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, 73 and I took scrupulous care in
ascertaining that 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 then
known with certainty that the remains of horses are common in North
America. Mr. Lyell has lately brought from the United States a tooth of a
horse; and it is an interesting fact, that Professor Owen could find in no
species, either fossil or recent, a slight but peculiar curvature characterizing
it, until he thought of comparing it with my specimen found here: he has

named this American horse Equus curvidens. Certainly it is a marvellous
fact in the history of the Mammalia, that in South America a native horse
should have lived and disappeared, to be succeeded in after-ages by the
countless herds descended from the few introduced with the Spanish
colonists!
The existence in South America of a fossil horse, of the mastodon,
possibly of an elephant, 74 and of a hollow-horned ruminant, discovered by
MM. Lund and Clausen in the caves of Brazil, are highly interesting facts
with respect to the geographical distribution of animals. At the present time,
if we divide America, not by the Isthmus of Panama, but by the southern
part of Mexico 75 in lat. 20 degs., 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 then have the two zoological provinces
of North and South America strongly contrasted with each other. Some few
species alone have passed the barrier, and may be considered as wanderers
from the south, such as the puma, opossum, kinkajou, and peccari. 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 includes the sloths, ant-eaters, and
armadilloes. North America, on the other hand, is characterized (putting on
one side a few wandering species) by numerous peculiar gnawers, and by
four genera (the ox, sheep, goat, and antelope) of hollow-horned ruminants,
of which great division South America is not 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 elephant, mastodon, horse, and three genera of Edentata,
namely, the Megatherium, Megalonyx, and Mylodon. Within nearly this
same period (as proved by the shells at Bahia Blanca) South America
possessed, as we have just seen, a mastodon, horse, hollow-horned
ruminant, and the same three genera (as well as several 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. The more I reflect on this case, the more interesting it appears: I
know of no other instance where we can almost mark 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 which have affected the earth's crust within late
periods, will not fear to speculate on the recent elevation of the Mexican
platform, or, more probably, on the recent submergence of land in the West
Indian Archipelago, as the cause of the present zoological separation of
North and South America. The South American character of the West Indian
mammals 76 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 Straits 77 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 inhabit and have inhabited the Old
World, it seems most probable that the North American elephants,
mastodons, horse, and hollow-horned ruminants migrated, on land since
submerged near Behring's Straits, from Siberia into North America, and
thence, on land since submerged in the West Indies, into South America,
where for a time they mingled with the forms characteristic of that southern
continent, and have since become extinct.
While travelling through the country, I received several vivid
descriptions of the effects of a late great drought; and the account of this
may throw some light on the cases where vast 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 whole 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 78 used to come into his
courtyard to the well, which he had been obliged to dig to supply his own
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 previously to these years 20,000 cattle; at the end not one
remained. 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
commission 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 the landmarks became obliterated,
and people could not tell the limits of their estates.
I was informed by an eye-witness that the cattle in herds of thousands
rushed into the Parana, and being exhausted by hunger they were unable to
crawl up the muddy banks, and thus were drowned. The arm of the river
which runs by San Pedro was so full of putrid carcasses, that the master of a
vessel told me that the smell rendered it quite impassable. Without doubt
several hundred thousand animals thus perished in the river: their bodies
when putrid were seen floating down the stream; and many in all
probability were deposited in the estuary of the Plata. All the small rivers
became highly saline, and this caused the death of vast numbers in
particular spots; for when an animal drinks of such water it does not
recover. Azara describes 79 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 1832,
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 in one thick earthy mass? Would he not attribute it to a flood
having swept over the surface of the land, rather than to the common order
of things? 710

October 12th.—I had intended to push my excursion further, but not
being quite well, I was compelled to return by a balandra, or one-masted
vessel of about a hundred tons' burden, which was bound to Buenos Ayres.
As the weather was not fair, we 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
constant 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. They are composed of muddy sand, without even
the smallest pebble, and were then about four feet above the level of the
river; but during the periodical floods they are inundated. They all present
one character; numerous willows and a few other trees are bound together
by a great variety of creeping plants, thus forming a thick jungle. These
thickets afford a retreat for capybaras and jaguars. The fear of the latter
animal quite destroyed all pleasure in scrambling through the woods. This
evening I had not proceeded a hundred yards, before finding indubitable
signs of the recent presence of the tiger, I was obliged to come back. On
every island there were tracks; and as on the former excursion "el rastro de
los 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 noisy animal, roaring much by night, and especially
before bad weather.
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 the Gauchos think, to sharpen them. The jaguar is
killed, without much difficulty, by the aid of dogs baying and driving him
up a tree, where he is despatched with bullets.
Owing to bad weather we remained two days 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 beneath 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, with the strong spine both of its pectoral and
dorsal fin. In the evening the weather was quite tropical, the thermometer
standing at 79 degs. 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 15th.—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 sunset, from a silly fear of bad weather,
we brought-to in a narrow arm of the river. I took the boat and rowed some
distance 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, gave
to the canal a singularly gloomy appearance. I here saw a very
extraordinary bird, called the Scissor- beak (Rhynchops nigra). It has short
legs, web feet, extremely long- pointed wings, and is of about the size of a
tern. The beak 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, differing 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 their
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 the mirror-like surface. In their flight they
frequently twist about with extreme quickness, and dexterously manage
with their projecting lower mandible to plough up small fish, which are
secured by the upper and shorter half of their scissor-like bills. This fact I
repeatedly saw, as, like swallows, they continued to fly 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.

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 flocks on the grassy plains at some
distance from the water. Being at anchor, as I have said, in one of the deep
creeks between the islands of the Parana, as the evening drew to a close,
one of these scissor-beaks suddenly appeared. The water was quite still, and
many little fish were rising. The bird continued for a long time to skim the
surface, flying in its wild and irregular manner up and down the narrow
canal, now dark with the growing night and the shadows of the overhanging
trees. At Monte Video, I observed that some large flocks during the day
remained on the mud-banks at the head of the harbour, in the same manner
as on the grassy plains near the Parana; and every evening they took flight
seaward. From these facts I suspect that the Rhynchops generally fishes by
night, at which time many of the lower animals come most abundantly to
the surface. M. Lesson states that he has seen these birds opening the shells
of the mactrae buried in the sand-banks on the coast of Chile: from their
weak bills, with the lower mandible so much projecting, their short legs and
long wings, it is very improbable that this can be a general habit.
In our course down the Parana, I observed only three other birds, whose
habits are worth mentioning. One is a small kingfisher (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 undulatory, as among the soft-billed
birds. It utters a low note, like the 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
(Tyrannus savana), and named by the Spaniards scissor-tail, is very
common near Buenos Ayres: it commonly sits on a branch of the ombu tree,
near a house, and thence takes a short flight in pursuit of insects, and
returns to the same spot. When on the wing it presents in its manner of
flight and general appearance a caricature-likeness of the common swallow.
It has the power of turning very shortly in the air, and in so doing opens and

shuts its tail, sometimes in a horizontal or lateral and sometimes in a
vertical direction, just like a pair of scissors.
October 16th.—Some leagues below Rozario, the western shore of the
Parana is bounded by perpendicular cliffs, which 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, rather than unskilful or cowardly.
18th and 19th.—We continued slowly to sail 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
destitute of others, to another 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 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 unnatural calm. That
country will have to learn, like every other South American state, that a

republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men imbued with
the principles of justice and honour.
October 20th.—Being arrived at the mouth of the Parana, and as I was
very anxious to reach Buenos Ayres, I went on shore at Las Conchas, with
the intention of riding there. Upon landing, I found 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 permission 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
sentinels. I 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 bridge. The road for the
space of a league was quite deserted. I met one party of soldiers, who were
satisfied by gravely looking at an old passport: and at length I was not a
little pleased to find myself within the city.
This revolution was supported by scarcely any pretext of grievances: but
in a state which, in the course of nine months (from February to October,
1820), underwent fifteen changes in its government—each governor,
according to the constitution, being elected for three years—it would be
very unreasonable to ask for pretexts. In this case, a party of men—who,
being attached to Rosas, 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 then blockaded, no provisions, cattle or horses,
were allowed to enter; besides this, there was only a little skirmishing, and a
few men daily killed. The outside party well knew that by stopping the
supply of meat they would certainly be victorious. General Rosas could not
have known of this rising; but it appears to be quite consonant with the
plans of his party. A year ago he was elected governor, but he refused it,
unless the Sala would also confer on him extraordinary powers. This was
refused, and since then his party have shown that no other governor can
keep his place. The warfare on both sides was avowedly protracted till it
was possible to hear from Rosas. A note arrived a few days after I left
Buenos Ayres, which stated that the General disapproved of peace having
been broken, but that he thought the outside party had justice on their side.
On the bare reception of this, the Governor, ministers, and part of the
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.

CHAPTER VIII — BANDA ORIENTAL AND
PATAGONIA
Excursion to Colonia del Sacramiento—Value of an Estancia—Cattle,
how counted—Singular Breed of Oxen—Perforated Pebbles—Shepherd
Dogs—Horses broken-in, Gauchos riding—Character of Inhabitants—Rio
Plata—Flocks of Butterflies—Aeronaut Spiders—Phosphorescence of the
Sea—Port Desire—Guanaco—Port St. Julian—Geology of Patagonia—
Fossil gigantic Animal—Types of Organization constant—Change in the
Zoology of America—Causes of Extinction.

H
AVING been delayed for nearly a fortnight in the city, I was glad to
escape on board a packet bound for Monte Video. A town in a state
of blockade must always be a disagreeable place of residence; in
this case moreover there were constant apprehensions 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 Monte 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 14th.—We left Monte Video in the afternoon. I intended to
proceed to Colonia del Sacramiento, situated on the northern bank of the
Plata and opposite to Buenos Ayres, and thence, following up the Uruguay,
to the village of Mercedes on the Rio Negro (one of the many rivers of this

name in South America), and from this point to return direct to Monte
Video. We slept at the house of my guide at Canelones. In the morning we
rose early, in the hopes of being able to ride a good distance; but it was a
vain attempt, for all the rivers were flooded. We passed in boats the streams
of Canelones, St. Lucia, and San Jose, and thus lost much time. On a former
excursion I crossed the Lucia near its mouth, and I was surprised to observe
how easily our horses, although not used to swim, passed over a width of at
least six hundred yards. On mentioning this at Monte Video, I was told that
a vessel containing some mountebanks and their 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 dexterity with which a Gaucho forced a restive horse
to swim a river. He stripped off his clothes, and jumping on its back, rode
into the water till it was out of its depth; then slipping off over the 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, the 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
the Rio Rozario 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 was pleasing; an undulating green surface, with distant
glimpses of the Plata. I find that I look at this province with very different
eyes from what I did upon my first arrival. I recollect I then thought it
singularly level; but now, after galloping over the Pampas, my only surprise
is, what could have induced me ever to call 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 17th.—We crossed the Rozario, which was deep and rapid,
and passing the village of Colla, arrived at midday 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 estancia, where there were some limestone rocks. The town is built on a
stony promontory something in the same manner as at Monte Video. It is
strongly fortified, but both fortifications and town suffered much in the
Brazilian war. It is very ancient; and the irregularity of the streets, and the
surrounding groves of old orange and peach trees, gave it a pretty
appearance. The church is a curious ruin; it was used as a powder-
magazine, and was struck by lightning in one of the ten thousand
thunderstorms of the Rio Plata. Two-thirds of the building were blown away
to the very foundation; and the rest stands a shattered and curious
monument of the united powers of lightning and gunpowder. In the evening
I wandered about the half-demolished walls of the town. It was the chief
seat of the Brazilian war;—a war most injurious to this country, not so
much in its immediate effects, as in being the origin of a multitude 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 staple foundation. I noticed, however, 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 all sign their names:"
with this they seemed to think every reasonable man ought to be satisfied.
18th.—Rode with my host to his estancia, at the Arroyo de San Juan. In
the evening we took a ride round the estate: it contained two square leagues
and a half, and was situated in what is called a rincon; that is, one side was
fronted by the Plata, and the two others guarded by impassable brooks.
There was an excellent port for little vessels, and an abundance of small
wood, which is valuable as supplying fuel to Buenos Ayres. I was curious to
know the value of so complete an estancia. Of cattle there were 3000, and it

would well support three or four times that number; of mares 800, together
with 150 broken-in horses, and 600 sheep. There was plenty of water and
limestone, a rough house, excellent corrals, and a peach orchard. For all this
he had been offered 2000 Pounds, and he only wanted 500 Pounds
additional, and probably would sell it for less. The chief trouble with an
estancia is driving the cattle twice a week to a central spot, in order to make
them tame, and to count them. This latter operation would be thought
difficult, where there are ten or fifteen thousand head together. It is
managed on the principle that the cattle invariably divide themselves into
little troops of from forty to one hundred. Each troop is recognized 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 externally 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 heads low, on a short neck; and
their hinder legs are rather longer compared with the front legs than is
usual. Their bare teeth, their short heads, and 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. 81 Don F. Muniz, of Luxan, has kindly collected for me all the
information which he could respecting this breed. From his account it
seems that about eighty or ninety years ago, they were rare and kept as
curiosities at Buenos Ayres. The breed is universally believed to have
originated amongst the Indians southward of the Plata; and that it was with
them the commonest kind. Even to this day, those reared in the provinces
near the Plata show their less civilized origin, in being fiercer than common
cattle, and in the cow easily deserting her first calf, if visited too often or
molested. It is a singular fact that an almost similar structure to the

abnormal 82 one of the niata breed, characterizes, as I am informed by Dr.
Falconer, that great extinct ruminant of India, the Sivatherium. The breed is
very true; and a niata bull and cow invariably produce niata calves. A niata
bull with a common cow, or the reverse cross, produces offspring having an
intermediate character, but with the niata characters strongly displayed:
according to Senor Muniz, there is the clearest evidence, contrary 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. When the pasture is
tolerably long, the niata cattle feed with the tongue and palate as well as
common cattle; but during the great droughts, when so many animals
perish, the niata breed is under a great disadvantage, and would be
exterminated if not attended to; for the common cattle, like horses, are able
just to keep alive, by browsing with their lips on twigs of trees and reeds;
this the niatas cannot so well do, as their lips do not join, and hence they are
found to perish before the common cattle. This strikes me as a good
illustration of how little we are able to judge from the ordinary habits of
life, on what circumstances, occurring only at long intervals, the rarity or
extinction of a species may be determined.
November 19th.—Passing the valley of Las Vacas, 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 protecting headland on the banks of the river,
called Punta Gorda. On the way we tried to find a jaguar. There were plenty
of fresh tracks, and we visited the trees, on which they are said to sharpen
their claws; but we did not succeed in disturbing one. From this point the
Rio Uruguay presented to our view a noble volume of water. From the
clearness and rapidity of the stream, its appearance was far superior to that
of its neighbour the Parana. 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 of light and six of darkness,
and where the inhabitants were very tall and thin! They were curious about
the price and condition of horses and cattle in England. Upon finding out
we did not catch our animals with the lazo, they cried out, "Ah, then, you
use nothing but the bolas:" the idea of an enclosed country was quite new to
them. The captain at last said, he had one question to ask me, which he
should be very much obliged if I would answer with all truth. I trembled to
think how deeply scientific it would be: it was, "Whether the ladies of
Buenos Ayres were not the handsomest in the world." 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
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 always thought so, but now we know it." My excellent judgment
in combs and beauty procured me a most hospitable reception; the captain
forced me to take his bed, and he would sleep on his recado.
21st.—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 Pampas. In consequence, there 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
separate, 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
completely lost. Hence it is very hazardous to attempt to drive cattle at this
season of the year; for when jaded enough to face the thistles, they rush
among them, and are seen no more. In these districts there are very few
estancias, and these few are situated in the neighbourhood of damp valleys,
where fortunately neither of these overwhelming plants can exist. As night
came on before we arrived at our journey's end, we slept at a miserable little
hovel inhabited by the poorest people. The extreme 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 belonging 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, from waste, is very considerable. An "estanciero" told me that
he often had to send large herds of cattle a long journey to a salting
establishment, 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 northward. The name signifies hill
of beads. I was assured that vast numbers of little round stones, of various
colours, each with a small cylindrical hole, are found there. Formerly the
Indians used to collect them, for the purpose of making necklaces and
bracelets—a taste, I may observe, which is common to all savage nations,
as well as to the most polished. I did not know what 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 half in length. Many of them had a small
canal extending from one extremity to the other, perfectly cylindrical, and
of a size that readily admitted a coarse thread or a piece of fine catgut. Their
colour was red or dull white. The natives were acquainted with this
structure in crystals. I have mentioned these circumstances 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 was amused with what I saw and heard of
the shepherd-dogs of the country. 83 When riding, it is a common thing to
meet a large flock of sheep guarded by one or two dogs, at the distance of
some miles from any house or man. I often wondered how so firm a
friendship had been established. The method of education consists in
separating the puppy, while very young, from the bitch, and in accustoming
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 it is given him, he skulks away as if ashamed of himself. On these
occasions the house-dogs are very tyrannical, and the least of them will
attack and pursue the stranger. The minute, however, the latter has reached
the flock, he turns round and begins to bark, and then all the house-dogs
take very quickly to their heels. In a similar manner a whole pack of the
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 appears to me a curious instance of the pliability of the affections in
the dog; and yet, whether wild or however educated, he has a feeling of
respect or fear for those that are fulfilling their instinct 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 member of their 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 the purpose of
breaking-in some colts. I will describe the preparatory steps, for I believe
they have not been mentioned by other travellers. A troop of wild young
horses is driven into the corral, or large enclosure of stakes, and the door is
shut. We will suppose that one man alone has to catch and mount a horse,
which as yet had never felt bridle or saddle. I conceive, except by a Gaucho,
such a feat would be utterly impracticable. The Gaucho picks out a full-
grown colt; and as the beast rushes round the circus he throws his lazo so as
to catch both the front legs. Instantly the horse rolls over with a heavy
shock, and whilst struggling on the ground, the Gaucho, holding the lazo
tight, makes a circle, so as to catch one of the hind legs just beneath the
fetlock, and draws it close to the two front legs: he then hitches the lazo, so
that the three are bound together. Then sitting on the horse's neck, he fixes a
strong bridle, without a bit, to the lower jaw: this he does by passing a
narrow thong through the eye-holes at the end of the reins, and several
times round both jaw and tongue. The two front legs are now tied closely
together with a strong leathern thong, 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 the
trouble is much greater) he holds the animal's head, whilst the first puts on
the horsecloths and saddle, and girths the whole together. During this
operation, the horse, from dread and astonishment 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 moment that he throws his leg
over the animal's back, he pulls the slip-knot binding the front legs, and the
beast is free. Some "domidors" pull the 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. Those animals which will not gallop away, but obstinately throw
themselves on the ground, are by far the most troublesome. This process is
tremendously severe, but in two or three trials the horse is tamed. It is not,
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. The 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 had then some difficulty in making him comprehend that it was for
the horse's sake, and not on his account, that I did not choose to use my
spurs. He exclaimed, with a look of great 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 seeing a
Gaucho riding a very stubborn horse, which three times successively 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 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 myself, "Surely
if the horse starts, you appear so careless on your seat, you must fall." At
this moment, a male ostrich sprang from its nest right beneath the horse's
nose: the young colt bounded on one side like a stag; but as for the man, all
that could be said was, that he started and took fright with his horse.
In Chile and Peru more pains are taken with the 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 standing, 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 courtyard, and then made to wheel round the
post of a veranda with great speed, but at so equal a distance, that the rider,
with outstretched arm, all the while kept one finger rubbing the post. Then
making a demi-volte in the air, with the other arm outstretched in a like
manner, he wheeled round, with astonishing force, in an 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 which is daily necessary into
perfection. When a bullock is checked and caught by the lazo, it will
sometimes gallop round and round in a circle, and the horse being alarmed
at the great 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 instantly, from the power of the two
opposed animals, almost cut him in twain. On the same principle the races
are managed; the course is only two or three hundred yards long, the wish
being to have horses that can make a rapid dash. The race-horses are trained
not only to stand with their hoofs touching a line, but to draw all four feet
together, so as at the first spring to bring into play the full action of the
hind-quarters. In Chile I was told an anecdote, which I believe was true; and
it offers a good illustration of the use of a well-broken animal. A respectable
man riding one day met two others, one of whom was mounted on a horse,
which he knew to have been stolen from himself. He challenged them; they
answered him by drawing their sabres and giving chase. The man, on his
good and fleet beast, kept just ahead: as he passed a thick bush he wheeled
round it, and brought up his horse to a dead check. The pursuers were
obliged to shoot on one side and ahead. Then instantly dashing on, right
behind them, he buried his knife in the back of one, wounded the other,
recovered his horse from the dying robber, and rode home. For these feats
of horsemanship two things are necessary: a most severe bit, like the
Mameluke, the power of which, though seldom used, the horse knows full
well; and large blunt spurs, that can be applied either as a mere touch, or as
an instrument of extreme pain. I conceive that with English spurs, the
slightest touch of which pricks the skin, it would be impossible to break in a
horse after the South American fashion.

At an estancia near Las Vacas large numbers of mares are weekly
slaughtered for the sake of their hides, although worth only five paper
dollars, or about half a crown apiece. It seems at first strange that it can
answer to kill mares for such a trifle; but as it is thought ridiculous in this
country ever to break in or ride a mare, they are of no value except for
breeding. The only thing for which I ever saw mares used, was to tread out
wheat from the ear, for which purpose they were driven round a circular
enclosure, where the wheat-sheaves were strewed. The man employed for
slaughtering the mares happened to be celebrated for his dexterity with the
lazo. Standing at the distance of twelve yards from the mouth of the corral,
he has laid a wager that he would catch by the legs every animal, without
missing one, as it rushed past him. There was another man who said he
would enter the corral on foot, catch a mare, fasten her front legs together,
drive her out, throw her down, kill, skin, and stake the hide for drying
(which latter is a tedious job); and he engaged that he would perform this
whole operation on twenty-two animals in one day. Or he would kill and
take the skin off fifty in the same time. This would have been a prodigious
task, for it is considered a good day's work to skin and stake the hides of
fifteen or sixteen animals.
November 26th.—I set out on my return in a direct line for Monte Video.
Having heard of some giant's bones at a neighbouring farm-house on the
Sarandis, a small stream entering the Rio Negro, I rode there accompanied
by my host, and purchased for the value of eighteen pence the head of the
Toxodon. 84 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 miles from this place. I found remains
of this extraordinary animal at two other places, so that it must formerly
have been common. I found here, also, some large portions of the armour of
a gigantic armadillo-like animal, and part of the great head of a Mylodon.
The bones of this head are so fresh, that they contain, according to the
analysis by Mr. T. Reeks, seven 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 short
excursions, I heard of many others, and the origin of such names as "the
stream of the animal," "the hill of the giant," is obvious. At other times I
heard of the marvellous property of certain rivers, which had the power of
changing small bones into large; or, as some maintained, the bones
themselves 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 their bones have been exposed by the streams intersecting the
subaqueous deposit in which they were originally embedded. We may
conclude that the whole area of the Pampas is one wide sepulchre of these
extinct gigantic quadrupeds.
By the middle of the day, on the 28th, we arrived at Monte Video, having
been two days 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 the Plata. Not far from Monte Video we passed through the village of
Las Pietras, so named from some large rounded masses of syenite. Its
appearance was rather pretty. In this country a few fig-trees round a group
of houses, and a site elevated 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
countryrmen, are very superior to those who reside in the towns. The
Gaucho is invariably most obliging, polite, and hospitable: I did not meet
with even one instance of rudeness or inhospitality. He is modest, both
respecting himself and country, but at the same time a spirited, bold fellow.
On the other hand, many robberies are committed, and there is much
bloodshed: the habit of constantly wearing the knife is the chief cause of the
latter. It is lamentable to hear how many lives are lost in trifling quarrels. In
fighting, each 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; the other that he was too
poor. The number of horses and the profusion of food are the destruction of
all industry. Moreover, there are so many feast-days; and again, nothing can
succeed without it be begun when the moon is on the increase; so that half
the 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 inhabitants of the country
invariably assist a murderer to escape: they seem to think that the individual
sins against the government, and not against the people. A traveller has no
protection besides his fire-arms; and the constant habit of carrying them is
the main check to more frequent robberies. The character of the higher and
more educated classes who reside in the towns, partakes, but perhaps in a
lesser degree, of the good parts of the Gaucho, 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 Englishman, 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 who has cheated me. I know it is against the law, but my lawyer
(naming him) recommended me to take this step." The Chief Justice smiled
acquiescence, thanked him, and 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
democratic 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 Bahia Blanca gained his livelihood by making paper cigars, and he
wished to accompany me, as guide or servant, to Buenos Ayres, but his
father objected on the score 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 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 that which may be deficient. It is impossible to doubt but
that the extreme liberalism of these countries must ultimately lead to good
results. The very general toleration of foreign religions, the regard paid to
the means of education, the freedom of the press, the facilities offered to all
foreigners, and 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.
December 6th.—The Beagle sailed from the Rio Plata, never again to
enter its muddy stream. Our course was directed to Port Desire, on the coast
of Patagonia. Before proceeding any further, I will here put together a few
observations made at sea.
Several times when the ship has been some miles off the mouth of the
Plata, and at other times when off the shores of Northern Patagonia, we
have been surrounded by insects. One evening, when we were about ten
miles from the Bay of San Blas, 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
appearance. More species than one were present, but the main part belonged
to a kind very similar to, but not identical with, the common English Colias
edusa. Some moths and hymenoptera accompanied the butterflies; and a
fine beetle (Calosoma) flew on board. Other instances are known of this
beetle having been caught far out at sea; and this is the more remarkable, as
the greater number of the Carabidae 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; 85 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 injured by the salt water. I lost some of the
specimens, but those which I preserved belonged to the genera Colymbetes,
Hydroporus, Hydrobius (two species), Notaphus, Cynucus, Adimonia, and
Scarabaeus. 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 appeared 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 of the Adventure. The cause probably is due to the want
of shelter, both of trees and hills, so that an insect on the wing with an off-
shore breeze, would be very apt to be blown out to sea. The most
remarkable instance I have known of an insect being caught far from the
land, was that of a large grasshopper (Acrydium), which flew on board,
when the Beagle was to windward of the Cape de Verd Islands, and when
the nearest point of land, not directly opposed to the trade-wind, was Cape
Blanco on the coast of Africa, 370 miles distant. 86
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 the flocculent web, as on an autumnal day in England. The ship
was sixty miles distant from the land, in the direction of a steady though
light breeze. Vast numbers of a small spider, about one-tenth of an inch in
length, and of a dusky red 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 the water. When disturbed it lifted
up its front legs, in the attitude of attention. On its first arrival it appeared
very thirsty, and with exserted maxillae drank eagerly of drops of water, this
same circumstance has been observed by Strack: may it not be in
consequence of the little insect having passed through a dry and rarefied
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
unaccountable. I thought I could perceive that the spider, before performing
the above preparatory steps, connected its legs together with the most
delicate threads, but I am not sure whether this observation was correct.
One day, at St. Fe, I had a better opportunity of observing some similar
facts. A spider which was about three-tenths of an inch in length, and which
in its general appearance resembled a Citigrade (therefore quite different
from the gossamer), while standing on the summit of a post, darted forth
four or five threads from its spinners. These, glittering in the sunshine,
might be compared to diverging rays of light; they were not, however,
straight, but in undulations like films of silk blown by the wind. They were
more than a yard in length, and diverged in an ascending direction from the
orifices. The spider then suddenly let go its hold of the post, and was
quickly borne out of sight. The day was hot and apparently calm; yet under
such circumstances, 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 the shadow of any object cast on a bank, or over a level plain
at a distant landmark, the effect of an ascending current of heated air is
almost always evident: such upward currents, it has been remarked, are also
shown by the ascent of soap-bubbles, which will not rise in an in-doors

room. Hence I think there is not much difficulty in understanding the ascent
of the fine lines projected from a spider's spinners, and afterwards of the
spider itself; the divergence of the lines has been attempted to be explained,
I believe by Mr. Murray, by their similar electrical condition. The
circumstance of spiders of the same species, but of different sexes and ages,
being found on several occasions at the distance of many leagues from the
land, attached in vast numbers to the lines, renders it probable that the habit
of sailing through the air is as characteristic of this tribe, as that of diving is
of the Argyroneta. We may then reject Latreille's supposition, that the
gossamer owes its origin indifferently to the young of several genera of
spiders: although, as we have seen, the young of other spiders do possess
the power of performing aerial voyages. 87
During our different passages south of the Plata, I often towed astern a
net made of bunting, and thus caught many curious animals. 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—the longest equalling that of
the entire leg. These claws are very thin, and are serrated with the finest
teeth, directed backwards: their curved extremities are flattened, and on this
part five most minute cups are placed which seem to act in the same manner
as the suckers on the arms of the cuttle-fish. As the animal lives in the open
sea, and probably wants a place of rest, I suppose this beautiful and most
anomalous structure is adapted to take hold of floating marine animals.
In deep water, far from the land, the number of living creatures is
extremely small: south of the latitude 35 degs., I never succeeded 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 crustacea and some other animals are
numerous, but only during the night. Between latitudes 56 and 57 degs.
south of Cape Horn, the net was put astern several times; it never, however,
brought up anything besides a few of two extremely minute species of
Entomostraca. Yet whales and seals, petrels and albatross, are exceedingly
abundant throughout this part of the ocean. It has always been a mystery to
me on what the albatross, which lives far from the shore, can subsist; I

presume that, like the condor, it is able to fast long; and that one good feast
on the carcass of a putrid whale lasts for a long time. The central and
intertropical 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 spectacle. There was a fresh
breeze, and every part of the surface, which during the day is seen as foam,
now glowed with a pale light. The vessel drove before her bows two 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 horizon, from the reflected glare of these livid flames, was not so
utterly obscure as over the vault of the heavens.
As we proceed further southward the sea is seldom phosphorescent; 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
connection with the scarcity of organic beings in that part of the ocean.
After the elaborate paper, 88 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 through fine gauze; yet many
were distinctly visible by the naked eye. The water when placed in a
tumbler and agitated, gave out sparks, but a small portion in a watch-glass
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 probable 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 considerable
depths beneath the surface. Near the mouth of the Plata some circular and
oval patches, from two to four yards in diameter, and with defined outlines,
shone with a steady but pale light; while the surrounding water only gave
out a few sparks. The appearance resembled the reflection of the moon, or
some luminous body; for the edges were sinuous from the undulations of
the surface. The ship, which drew thirteen feet of water, passed over,
without disturbing these patches. Therefore we must suppose 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 rapidity of the flashes. I have already remarked that the phenomenon is
very much more common in warm than in cold countries; and I have
sometimes imagined that a disturbed electrical condition of the atmosphere
was most favourable to its production. Certainly I think the sea is most
luminous after a few days of more calm weather than ordinary, during
which time it has swarmed with various animals. Observing that the water
charged with gelatinous particles is in an impure state, and that the
luminous appearance in all common cases is produced by the agitation of
the fluid in contact with the atmosphere, I am inclined to consider that the
phosphorescence is the result of the decomposition of the organic particles,
by which process (one is tempted almost to call it a kind of respiration) the
ocean becomes purified.
December 23rd.—We arrived at Port Desire, situated in lat. 47 degs., 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 whitish 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 these desert 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 horizon is
indistinct from the trembling mirage which seems to rise from the heated
surface.
In such a country the fate of the Spanish settlement was soon decided; the
dryness of the climate during the greater part of the year, and the occasional
hostile attacks of the wandering Indians, compelled the colonists to desert
their half-finished buildings. The style, however, in which they were
commenced shows the strong and liberal hand of Spain in the old time. The
result of all the attempts to colonize this side of America south of 41 degs.,
has 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 misfortunes. At St. Joseph's Bay, on the coast of
Patagonia, a small settlement was made; but during one Sunday the Indians
made an attack and massacred the whole party, excepting two men, who
remained captives during many years. At the Rio Negro I conversed with
one of these men, now in extreme old age.
The zoology of Patagonia is as limited as its flora. 89 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 valleys a few finches and insect-feeders. An ibis
(Theristicus melanops—a species said to be found in central Africa) is not
uncommon on the most desert parts: in their stomachs I found grasshoppers,
cicadae, small lizards, and even scorpions. 810 At one time of the year these
birds go in flocks, at another in pairs, their cry is very loud and singular,
like the neighing of the guanaco.
The guanaco, or wild llama, is the characteristic quadruped of the plains
of Patagonia; it is the South American representative of the camel of the
East. It is an elegant animal in a state of nature, with a long slender neck

and fine legs. It is very common over the whole of the temperate parts of
the continent, as far south as the islands near Cape Horn. It generally lives
in small herds of from 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 long distance their peculiar shrill neighing note of alarm. If
he then looks attentively, he will probably see the herd standing in a line on
the side of some distant hill. On approaching nearer, a few more squeals are
given, and off they set at an apparently slow, but really quick canter, along
some narrow beaten track to a neighbouring hill. If, however, by chance he
abruptly meets a single animal, or several together, they will generally stand
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 mountains of Tierra del Fuego, I have more than once seen a
guanaco, on being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but prance and
leap about in the most ridiculous 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 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,
however, have no idea of defence; even a single dog will secure one of
these large animals, till the huntsman can come up. In many of their habits
they are like sheep in a flock. Thus when they see men approaching in
several directions on 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 they
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 with the regularity of cavalry, and had returned back in as straight
a line as they had advanced. The guanacos have one singular habit, which is
to me quite inexplicable; namely, that on successive days they drop their
dung in the same defined heap. I saw one of these heaps which was eight
feet in diameter, and was composed of a large quantity. This habit,
according to M. A. d'Orbigny, is common to all the species of the genus; it
is very useful to the Peruvian Indians, who use the dung for fuel, and are
thus saved the trouble of collecting it.
The guanacos appear to have 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 counted between ten and twenty heads. I
particularly examined the bones; they did not appear, as some scattered
ones which I had seen, gnawed or broken, as if dragged together by beasts
of prey. The animals in most cases must have crawled, 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 guanacos 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, because 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 harbour. In the
morning we searched for some watering-places mentioned in an old
Spanish chart. We found one creek, at the head of which there was a
trickling rill (the first we had seen) of brackish water. Here the tide
compelled us to wait several hours; and in the interval I walked some miles
into the interior. The plain as usual consisted of gravel, mingled with soil
resembling chalk in appearance, but very different from it in nature. From
the 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." 811
In the evening we sailed a few miles further up, and then pitched the tents
for the night. By the middle of the next day the yawl was aground, and from
the shoalness of the water could not proceed any higher. The water being
found partly fresh, Mr. Chaffers took the dingey and went up two or three
miles further, where she also grounded, but in a fresh-water river. The water
was muddy, and though the stream was most insignificant in size, it would
be difficult to account for its origin, except from the melting snow on the
Cordillera. At the 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 be distinguished as having belonged to a man. Falconer
states, that where an Indian dies he is buried, but that subsequently his
bones are carefully taken up and carried, let the distance be ever so great, to
be deposited near the sea-coast. This custom, I think, may be accounted for
by recollecting, that before the introduction of horses, these Indians must
have led nearly the same life as the Fuegians now do, and therefore
generally have resided in the neighbourhood of the sea. The common
prejudice of lying where one's ancestors have lain, would make the now
roaming Indians bring the less perishable part of their dead to their ancient
burial-ground on the coast.
January 9th, 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
day a party accompanied Captain Fitz Roy on a long walk round the head of
the harbour. We were eleven hours without tasting any water, and some of
the party were quite 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 atmosphere;
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 Colymbetes not quite dead, which must have lived in some not far distant
pool. Three other insects (a Cincindela, like hybrida, a Cymindis, and a

Harpalus, which all live on muddy flats occasionally overflowed by the
sea), and one other found dead on the plain, complete the list of the beetles.
A good-sized fly (Tabanus) was 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 musquitoes—on the blood of what
animals do these insects commonly feed? The guanaco is nearly the only
warm-blooded quadruped, and it is found in quite inconsiderable numbers
compared with the multitude of flies.
The geology of Patagonia is interesting. Differently from Europe, where
the tertiary formations appear to have accumulated 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, sometimes 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 of its bulk, of Infusoria.
Professor Ehrenberg has already ascertained in it thirty oceanic forms. This
bed extends for 500 miles along the coast, and probably for a considerably
greater distance. At Port St. Julian its thickness is more than 800 feet! These
white beds are everywhere capped by a mass of gravel, forming probably
one of the largest beds of shingle in the world: it certainly extends from
near the Rio Colorado to between 600 and 700 nautical miles southward, at
Santa Cruz (a river a little south of St. Julian), it reaches to the foot of the
Cordillera; half way up the river, its thickness is more than 200 feet; it
probably everywhere 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, without 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 the
old coast-lines and banks of rivers, and that these fragments have been
dashed into smaller pieces, and that each of them has since been slowly
rolled, rounded, and far transported the mind is stupefied 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 beds, and long subsequently to the underlying beds with the tertiary
shells.
Everything in this southern continent has been effected on a grand scale:
the land, from the Rio Plata to Tierra del Fuego, a distance of 1200 miles,
has been raised in mass (and in Patagonia to a height of between 300 and
400 feet), within the period of the now existing sea-shells. The old and
weathered shells left on the surface of the upraised plain still partially retain
their colours. The uprising movement has been interrupted by at least eight
long periods of rest, during which the sea ate, deeply back into the land,
forming at successive levels the long lines of 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, which 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 Santa
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
upraised 300 to 400 feet: I may add, that within the period when icebergs
transported boulders over the upper plain of Santa Cruz, the elevation has
been at least 1500 feet. Nor has Patagonia been 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 have sunk downwards several hundred feet, to
allow of the accumulation of the superincumbent strata. What a history of
geological changes does the simply-constructed coast of Patagonia reveal!
At Port St. Julian, 812 in some red mud capping the gravel on the 90-feet
plain, I found half the skeleton of the Macrauchenia Patachonica, a
remarkable quadruped, full as large as a camel. It belongs to the same
division of the Pachydermata with the rhinoceros, tapir, and palaeotherium;
but in the structure of the bones of its long neck it shows a clear relation to
the camel, or rather to the guanaco and llama. From recent sea-shells being
found on two of the higher step-formed plains, which must have been
modelled and upraised before the mud was deposited in which the

Macrauchenia was entombed, it is certain that this curious quadruped lived
long after the sea was inhabited by its present shells. I was at first much
surprised how a large quadruped could so lately have subsisted, in lat. 49
degs. 15', on these wretched gravel plains, with their stunted vegetation; but
the relationship of the Macrauchenia to the Guanaco, now an inhabitant of
the most sterile parts, partly explains this difficulty.
The relationship, though distant, between the Macrauchenia and the
Guanaco, between the Toxodon and the Capybara,—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 Hydrochaerus, 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 quadrupeds 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, than any other class of facts.
It is impossible to reflect on the changed state of the American continent
without the deepest astonishment. Formerly it must 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 possessed great vigour. The greater number, if
not all, of these extinct quadrupeds lived at a late period, and were the
contemporaries of most of the existing sea-shells. Since they lived, no very
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
irresistibly hurried into the belief of some great catastrophe; but thus to
destroy animals, both large and small, in Southern Patagonia, 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 Patagonia, leads to the belief that all the features of
the land result from slow and gradual changes. It appears from the character
of the fossils in Europe, Asia, Australia, and in North and South America,
that those conditions which favour the life of the larger quadrupeds were
lately co-extensive with the world: what those conditions were, no one has
yet even conjectured. It could hardly have been a change of temperature,
which at about the same time destroyed the inhabitants of tropical,
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 Edentata? We must at least look to
some other cause for the destruction of the little tucutuco at Bahia Blanca,
and of the many fossil mice and other small quadrupeds in Brazil. No one
will imagine that a drought, even far severer than those which cause such
losses in the provinces of La Plata, could destroy every individual of every
species from Southern Patagonia to Behring's Straits. What shall we say of
the extinction of the horse? Did those plains fail of pasture, which have
since been overrun by thousands and hundreds of thousands of the
descendants of the stock introduced by the Spaniards? Have the
subsequently introduced species consumed the food of the great antecedent
races? Can we believe that the Capybara has taken the food of the Toxodon,
the Guanaco of the Macrauchenia, the existing small Edentata of their
numerous gigantic prototypes? Certainly, 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 of view, it
will appear less perplexing. We do not steadily bear in mind, how
profoundly ignorant we are of the conditions of existence 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 case 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. We are, nevertheless, seldom able with
certainty to tell in any given species, at what period of life, or at what
period of the year, or whether only at long intervals, the check falls; or,
again, what is the precise nature of the check. Hence probably it is, that we
feel so little surprise at one, of two species closely allied in habits, being
rare and the other abundant in the same district; or, again, that one should
be abundant in one district, and 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 through man,
either wholly or in one limited district, we know that it becomes rarer and
rarer, and is then lost: it would be difficult to point out any just distinction
813 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 observers; it has often
been found that a shell very common in a tertiary stratum is now most rare,
and has even long been thought 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 district—why should we
feel such great astonishment at the rarity being carried one 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
Magalonyx 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 comparative 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 surprise at sickness—but
when the sick man dies to wonder, and to believe that he died through
violence.

CHAPTER IX — SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA,
AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
Santa Cruz—Expedition up the River—Indians—Immense Streams of
Basaltic Lava—Fragments not transported by the River—Excavations 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—Penguins
—Geese—Eggs of Doris—Compound Animals.

A
PRIL 13, 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 proceeded 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. Captain Fitz Roy now determined to follow its course
as far as time would allow. On the 18th three whale-boats started, carrying
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 night 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 the middle about seventeen feet
deep. The rapidity of the current, 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 valley varies from five to ten miles in breadth; it is bounded
by step-formed terraces, which rise in most parts, one above the other, to

the height of five hundred feet, and have on the opposite sides a remarkable
correspondence.
April 19th.—Against so strong a current it was, of course, quite
impossible to row or sail: 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 arrangements made by Captain Fitz Roy were very
good for facilitating the work of all, and as all had a share in it, I will
describe the system. 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 incognita, for it
was there that Captain Stokes turned back. We saw in the distance a great
smoke, and found the skeleton of a horse, so 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 chuzos, or long spears, were observed
on the ground. It was generally thought that the Indians had reconnoitred us
during the night. Shortly afterwards we came to a spot where, from the
fresh footsteps of men, children, and horses, it was evident that the party
had crossed the river.
April 22nd.—The country remained the same, and was extremely
uninteresting. The complete similarity of the productions throughout

Patagonia is one of its most striking characters. The level plains of arid
shingle support the same stunted and dwarf plants; and in the valleys the
same thorn-bearing bushes grow. Everywhere we see the same birds and
insects. Even the very banks of the river and of the clear streamlets which
entered it, were scarcely enlivened by a brighter tint of green. The curse of
sterility is on the land, and the water flowing over a bed of pebbles partakes
of the same curse. Hence the number of water-fowls 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 91 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 that it was devoured by others. A small and delicately shaped
fox, which is likewise very abundant, 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 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 mountains themselves,
instead of the masses of vapour condensed by their 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 had noticed the presence of a
few small pebbles of a very cellular basalt. These 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 distance of five of
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 its 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 thickness; following up the river
course, the surface imperceptibly rose and the mass became thicker, so that
at forty miles above the first station it was 320 feet thick. What the
thickness may be close to the Cordillera, I have no means of knowing, but
the platform there attains a height of about three thousand feet above the
level of the sea; we must therefore look to the mountains of that great chain
for its source; and worthy of such a source are streams that have flowed
over the gently inclined bed of the sea to a distance of one hundred miles.
At the first glance of the basaltic cliffs on the opposite sides of the valley, it
was evident 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 hundred feet, and a breadth
varying from rather less than two miles to four miles? The river, though it
has so little power in transporting 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 arguments 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 America was formerly here cut off by a
strait, joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, like that of Magellan. But it
may yet be asked, how has the solid basalt been moved? 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 inadmissible, 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. No 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 had been hollowed out. Although we know that
there are tides, which run within the Narrows 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 corroded so
vast an area and thickness of solid basaltic lava. Nevertheless, we must
believe that the strata undermined by the waters of this ancient strait, were
broken up into huge fragments, and these lying scattered on the beach were
reduced first to smaller blocks, then to pebbles and lastly to the most
impalpable mud, which the tides drifted far into the Eastern or Western
Ocean.
With the change in the geological structure of the plains the character of
the landscape likewise altered. While rambling up some of the narrow and
rocky defiles, I could almost have fancied myself transported back again to
the barren valleys of the island of St. Jago. Among the basaltic cliffs I found
some plants which I had seen nowhere else, but others I recognised as being
wanderers from Tierra del Fuego. These porous rocks serve as a 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 circumscribed patches of bright green herbage.
April 27th.—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 fragments, tracking the boats
became both dangerous and laborious.

This day I shot a condor. It measured from tip to tip of the wings, eight
and a half feet, and from beak to tail, four feet. This bird is known to have a
wide geographical range, being found on the west coast of South America,
from the Strait of Magellan along the Cordillera as far as eight degrees
north 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 habitations in the
Andes. Further south, among the bold precipices at the head of Port Desire,
the condor is not uncommon; yet only a few stragglers occasionally visit the
sea-coast. A line of cliff near the mouth of the Santa Cruz is frequented by
these birds, and about eighty miles up the river, where the sides of the
valley are formed by steep basaltic precipices, the condor reappears. From
these facts it seems that the condors require perpendicular cliffs. In Chile,
they haunt, during the greater part of the year, the lower country near the
shores of the Pacific, and at night several roost together in one tree; but in
the early part of summer, they retire to the most inaccessible parts of the
inner Cordillera, there to breed in peace.
With respect to their propagation, I was told by the country people in
Chile, that the condor makes no sort of nest, but in the months of November
and December lays two large white eggs on a shelf of bare rock. It is said
that the young condors 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 basaltic cliffs of
the Santa Cruz, I found a spot, where scores must usually haunt. On coming
suddenly to the brow of the precipice, it was a grand spectacle to see
between twenty and thirty of these great birds start heavily from their
resting-place, and wheel away in majestic circles. From the quantity of
dung on the rocks they must long have frequented this cliff for roosting and
breeding. Having gorged themselves with carrion on the plains below, they
retire to these favourite ledges to digest their food. From these facts, the
condor, like the gallinazo, must to a certain degree be considered as a
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 excursions 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 occasions 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 condors frequently
attack young goats and lambs; and the shepherd-dogs are trained, whenever
they pass over, to run out, and looking upwards to bark violently. The
Chilenos destroy and catch numbers. Two methods are used; one is to place
a carcass on a level piece of ground within an enclosure of sticks with an
opening, and when the condors are gorged to gallop up on horseback to the
entrance, and thus enclose them: for when this bird has not space to run, it
cannot give its body sufficient momentum to rise from the ground. The
second method is to mark the trees in which, frequently to the number of
five or six together, they roost, and they 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. 92 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 experiment, which very likely has been tried.
When an animal is killed in the country, it is well known that the
condors, like other carrion-vultures, soon gain intelligence of it, and
congregate in an inexplicable manner. In most cases it must not be
overlooked, that the birds have discovered their prey, and have picked the
skeleton clean, before the flesh is in the least degree tainted. Remembering
the experiments of M. Audubon, on the little 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
forwards, 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,
within one yard of an old male bird; he looked at it for a moment with
attention, but then regarded it no more. With a stick I pushed it closer and
closer, until at last he touched it with his beak; the paper was then instantly
torn off with fury, and at the same moment, every bird in the long row
began struggling and flapping its 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
singularly balanced. Professor Owen has demonstrated that the olfactory
nerves of the turkey-buzzard (Cathartes aura) are highly developed, and on
the evening when Mr. Owen's paper was read at the Zoological Society, it
was mentioned by a gentleman that he had seen the carrion-hawks in the
West Indies on two occasions collect on the roof of a house, when a corpse
had become offensive from not having been buried, in this case, the
intelligence could hardly have been acquired by sight. On the other hand,
besides the experiments of Audubon and that one by myself, Mr. Bachman
has tried in the United States many varied plans, showing that neither the
turkey-buzzard (the species dissected by Professor Owen) nor the gallinazo
find their food by smell. He covered portions of highly-offensive offal with
a thin canvas 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 discovering it. A small rent
was made in the canvas, and the offal was immediately discovered; the
canvas was replaced by a fresh piece, and meat again put on it, and was
again devoured by the vultures without their discovering the hidden mass
on which they were trampling. These facts are attested by the signatures of
six gentlemen, besides that of Mr. Bachman. 93
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 horizon, is commonly viewed with any attention by a
person either walking or on horseback. If such be the case, and the vulture
is on the wing at a height of 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 overlooked? 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 descend 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 birds flap its wings. Near Lima, I watched
several for nearly half an hour, without once taking off my eyes, they
moved in large curves, sweeping in circles, descending and ascending
without giving a single flap. As they glided close over my head, I intently
watched from an oblique position, the outlines of the separate and great
terminal feathers of each wing; and these separate feathers, if there had
been the least vibratory movement, would have appeared as if blended
together; but they were seen distinct against the blue sky. The head and
neck were moved frequently, and apparently with force; and the extended
wings seemed to form the fulcrum on which the movements of the neck,
body, and tail acted. If the bird wished to descend, the wings were for a
moment collapsed; and when again 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
soaring, its motion must be sufficiently rapid so that the action of the
inclined surface of its body on the atmosphere may counterbalance its
gravity. The force to keep up the 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 movements of the neck and
body of the condor, we must 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 white summits
of the Cordillera, as they were seen occasionally peeping through their
dusky envelope of clouds. During the few succeeding days we continued to
get on slowly, for we found the river-course very tortuous, and strewed with
immense fragments of various ancient slate rocks, and of granite. The plain
bordering the valley has here attained an elevation of about 1100 feet above
the river, and its character was 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 in situ, and took out my compass to observe the direction of its
cleavage. The plain here was not quite so level as that nearer the coast, but
yet in 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 with signs of horses, and with several
small articles which had belonged to the Indians—such as parts of a mantle
and a bunch of ostrich feathers—, but they appeared to have been lying
long on the ground. Between the place where the Indians had so lately
crossed the river and this neighbourhood, 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 chase. Nevertheless, in two places in this very central
region, I found small heaps of stones, which I do not think could have been
accidentally thrown together. They were placed on points, projecting over
the edge of the highest lava cliff, and they resembled, but on a small scale,
those near Port Desire.
May 4th.—Captain Fitz Roy 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 proceed any further. Everywhere we met
with the same productions, and the same dreary landscape. We were now
one hundred 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 with regret, for we were obliged to imagine their nature
and productions, instead of standing, as we had hoped, on their summits.
Besides the useless loss of time which an attempt to ascend the river and
higher would have cost us, we had already been for some days on half
allowance of bread. This, although really enough for reasonable men, was,
after a hard day's march, rather scanty food: a light stomach and an easy
digestion are good things to talk about, but very unpleasant in practice.

5th.—Before sunrise we commenced our descent. We shot down the
stream with great rapidity, generally at the rate of ten knots an hour. In this
one day we effected what had cost us five-and-a-half hard days' labour in
ascending. On the 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 great tertiary
formation of Patagonia.
On March 1st, 1833, and again on March 16th, 1834, the Beagle
anchored in Berkeley Sound, in East Falkland Island. This archipelago 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 little more than half the size of Ireland. After the
possession of these miserable islands had been contested by France, Spain,
and England, they were left uninhabited. The government of Buenos Ayres
then sold them to a private 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 was
consequently murdered. A British officer was next sent, unsupported by any
power: and when we arrived, we found him in charge of a population, of
which rather more than half were runaway rebels and murderers.
The theatre is worthy of the scenes acted on it. An undulating land, with a
desolate and wretched aspect, is everywhere covered by a peaty soil and
wiry grass, of one monotonous brown colour. Here and there a peak or ridge
of grey quartz rock breaks through the smooth surface Every one has heard
of the climate of these regions; it may be compared to that which is
experienced at the height of between one and two thousand feet, on the
mountains of North Wales; having however less sunshine and less frost but
more wind and rain. 94
16th.—I will now describe a short excursion which 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 very boisterous and cold with heavy
hail-storms. We 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 covered 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 everywhere the ground was so soft that the snipe were
able to feed. Besides these two birds there were few others. There is one
main range of hills, nearly two thousand feet in height, and composed of
quartz rock, the 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, for they had been lately much harassed.
In the evening we came across a small herd. One of my companions, St.
Jago by name, soon separated a fat cow: he threw the bolas, and it struck
her legs, but failed in becoming entangled. Then dropping his hat to mark
the spot where the balls were left, while at full gallop, he uncoiled his lazo,
and after a most severe chase, again came up to the cow, and caught her
round the horns. The other Gaucho had gone on ahead with the spare
horses, so that St. Jago had some difficulty in 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 when on level ground it does not appear an easy job for
one man to kill a beast mad with terror. Nor would it be so, if the horse,
when left to itself without its rider, did not soon learn, for its own safety, to
keep the lazo tight, so that, if the cow or ox moves forward, the horse
moves just as quickly forward; otherwise, it stands motionless leaning on
one side. This horse, however, 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 contrived to give
the fatal touch to the main tendon of the hind leg after which, without much
difficulty, he drove his knife into the head of the spinal marrow, and the
cow dropped as if struck by lightning. He cut off pieces of flesh with the
skin to it, but without any bones, sufficient for our expedition. We then rode
on to our sleeping-place, and had for supper "carne con cuero," or meat
roasted with the skin on it. This is as superior to common beef as venison is
to mutton. A large circular piece taken from the back is roasted on the
embers with the hide downwards and is 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. We rode across the island to the neck of land which
joins the Rincon del Toro (the great peninsula at the S. W. extremity) to the
rest of the island. From the great number of cows which have been killed,
there is a large proportion of bulls. These wander about single, or two and
three together, and are very savage. I never saw such magnificent beasts;
they equalled in the size of their huge heads and necks the Grecian marble
sculptures. Capt. Sulivan informs me that the hide of an average-sized bull
weighs forty-seven pounds, 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 horses have been thus killed. An
old bull crossed a boggy stream, and took his stand on the opposite side to
us; we in vain tried to drive him away, and failing, were obliged to make a
large circuit. The Gauchos in revenge determined to emasculate him and
render him for the future harmless. It was very interesting to see how art
completely 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 tightly 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 himself. By the aid, however,
of a second person throwing his lazo so as to catch both hind legs, it is
quickly managed: for the animal, as long as its hind legs are kept
outstretched, is quite helpless, and the first man can with his hands loosen
his lazo from the horns, and then quietly mount his horse; but the moment
the second man, by backing ever so little, relaxes the strain, the lazo slips
off the legs of the struggling beast, which then rises free, shakes himself,
and vainly rushes at his antagonist.
During our whole ride we saw only one troop of wild horses. These
animals, as well as the 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 prevent 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, except from the strong
attachment which horses have to any locality 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 had the increase of 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 the
stallions constantly roaming from place to place, and compelling the mares
to accompany them, whether or not the young foals are able to follow. One
Gaucho told Capt. Sulivan that he had watched a stallion for a whole hour,
violently kicking and biting a mare till he forced her to leave her foal to its
fate. Capt. Sulivan can so far corroborate this curious account, that he has
several times found young foals dead, whereas he has never found a dead
calf. Moreover, the dead bodies of full-grown horses are more frequently
found, as if more subject to disease or accidents, than those of the cattle.
From the softness of the ground their hoofs often grow irregularly to a great
length, and this causes lameness. The 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 necessary to go to the great expense of importing fresh
horses from the Plata. At some future period the southern hemisphere
probably will have its breed of Falkland ponies, as the northern has its
Shetland breed.
The cattle, instead of having degenerated like the horses seem, as before
remarked, to have increased in size; and they are much more numerous than
the horses. Capt. Sulivan informs me that they vary much less in the general
form of their bodies and in the shape of their horns than English cattle. In
colour they differ much; and it is a remarkable circumstance, that in
different parts of this one small island, different colours predominate.
Round Mount Usborne, at a height of from 1000 to 1500 feet above the sea,
about half of some of the herds are mouse or lead-coloured, a tint which is
not 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 all probability ultimately prevail over the others, if the
herds were left undisturbed for the next several centuries.
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 has 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 thought a more
favourable climate, the rabbit cannot live out of doors. The first few pairs,
moreover, had here to content against pre-existing enemies, in the fox and
some large hawks. The French naturalists have considered the black variety
a distinct species, and called it Lepus Magellanicus. 95 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 offspring. Of the latter I now possess a
specimen, and it is marked about the head differently from the French
specific description. This circumstance shows how cautious naturalists
should be in making species; for even Cuvier, on looking at the skull of one
of these rabbits, thought it was probably distinct!
The only quadruped native to the island 96; is a large wolf-like fox (Canis
antarcticus), which is common to both East and West Falkland. I have no
doubt it is a peculiar species, and confined to this archipelago; because
many sealers, Gauchos, and Indians, who have visited these islands, all
maintain that no such animal is found in any part of South America.

Molina, from a similarity in habits, thought that this was the same with
his "culpeu;" 97 but I have seen both, and they are quite distinct. These
wolves are well known from Byron's account of their tameness 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 the evening
killed them, by holding out a piece of meat in one hand, and in the other a
knife ready to stick them. As far as I am aware, there is no other instance in
any part of the world, of so small a mass of broken land, distant from a
continent, possessing so large an aboriginal quadruped peculiar to itself.
Their numbers have rapidly decreased; they are already banished from that
half of the island which lies to the eastward of the neck of land between St.
Salvador Bay and Berkeley Sound. Within a very few years after these
islands shall have become regularly settled, in all probability this for 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. The valley was pretty well
sheltered from the cold wind, but there was very little brushwood for fuel.
The Gauchos, however, soon found what, to my great surprise, made nearly
as hot a fire as coals; this was the skeleton of a 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.
18th.—It rained during nearly the whole day. At night we managed,
however, with our saddle-cloths to keep ourselves pretty well dry and
warm; but the ground on which we slept was on each occasion nearly in the
state of a bog, and there was not a dry spot to sit down on after our day's
ride. I have in another part stated how singular it is that there should be
absolutely no 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
Compositae) 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 was very surprising to see the
Gauchos, in the midst of rain and everything soaking wet, with nothing
more than a tinder-box and a piece of rag, immediately make a fire. They

sought beneath the tufts of grass and bushel 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
degrees it smoked more and more, and at last burst out in flames. I do not
think any other method would have had a chance of succeeding with such
damp materials.
19th.—Each 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 suffer. 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 this 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 party 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 have been brought
to the spot on purpose. From their previous 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 determine to make a push,
and try to reach the vessel before night. From the quantity of rain which had
fallen, the surface of the whole country was swampy. I suppose my horse
fell at least a dozen times, and sometimes the whole six horses were
floundering in the mud together. All the little streams are bordered by soft
peat, which makes it very difficult for the horses to leap them without
falling. To complete our 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 with perfect symmetry, and the
appearance of some of the masses is in consequence most singular. Pernety
98 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. The 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 having been heated to such a
degree that it became viscid, and upon cooling crystallized. While in the
soft state it must have been pushed up through the overlying beds.
In many parts of the island the bottoms of the valleys are covered in an
extraordinary manner by myriads of great loose angular fragments of the
quartz rock, forming "streams of stones." These have been mentioned with
surprise by every voyager since the time of Pernety. The blocks are not
water-worn, their angles being only a little blunted; they vary in size from
one or two feet in diameter to ten, or even more than twenty times as much.
They are not thrown together into irregular piles, but are spread out into
level sheets or great streams. It is not possible to ascertain their thickness,
but the water of small streamlets can be heard trickling through the stones
many feet below the surface. The actual depth is probably great, because the
crevices between the lower fragments must long ago have been filled up
with sand. The width of these sheets of stones varied from a few hundred
feet to a mile; but the peaty soil daily encroaches on the borders, and even
forms islets wherever a few fragments happen to lie close together. In a
valley south of Berkeley Sound, which some of our party called the "great
valley of fragments," it was necessary to cross an 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 continuous stream of
these fragments followed up the course of a valley, and even extended to the
very crest of the hill. On these crests huge masses, exceeding in dimensions
any small building, seemed to stand arrested in their headlong course: there,
also, the curved strata of the archways lay piled on each other, like the 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 more striking
by the contrast of the low rounded forms of the neighbouring hills.
I was interested by finding on the highest peak of one range (about 700
feet above the sea) a great arched fragment, lying on its convex side, or
back downwards. Must we believe that it was fairly pitched up in the air,
and thus turned? 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, we must
infer that the period of violence was subsequent to the land having been
raised above the waters of the sea. In a transverse 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 movement of
overwhelming force, 99 the fragments have been levelled into one
continuous sheet. If during the earthquake 910 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 sand on a vibrating board, and find their level? I have
seen, in the Cordillera of the Andes, the evident marks where stupendous
mountains have been broken into pieces like so much thin crust, and the
strata thrown of 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-
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. have before
described the carrion-vulture of Polyborus. There are some other hawks,
owls, and a few small land-birds. The water-fowl are particularly numerous,
and they must formerly, from the accounts of the old navigators, have been
much more so. One day I observed a cormorant playing with a fish which it
had caught. Eight times successively the bird let its prey go, then dived after
it, and although in deep water, brought it each time to the surface. In the
Zoological Gardens I have seen the otter treat a fish in the same manner,
much as a cat does a mouse: I do not know of any other instance where
dame Nature appears so wilfully cruel. Another day, having placed myself
between a penguin (Aptenodytes demersa) and the water, I was much
amused by watching its habits. It was a brave bird; and till reaching the sea,
it regularly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy blows
would have stopped him; every inch he gained he firmly kept, standing
close before me erect and 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 wings
are used as fins; but on the land, as front legs. When crawling, it may be
said on four legs, through the tussocks 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 it was not a fish leaping for sport.

Two kinds of geese frequent the Falklands. The upland species (Anas
Magellanica) is common, in pairs and in small flocks, throughout the island.
They do not migrate, but build on the small 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 accompanied by his darker consort, and
standing close by each other on some distant rocky point, is a common
feature in the landscape.
In these islands 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 appropriately, steamers. Their wings are too small and weak to allow
of flight, but by their aid, partly swimming and partly flapping the surface
of the water, they move very quickly. The manner is something 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 penguins as fins, the steamer as paddles,
and the ostrich as sails: and the Apteryz 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 surprisingly heavy
and strong: the head is so strong that I have scarcely been able to fracture it
with my geological hammer; and all our sportsmen soon discovered how
tenacious these birds were of life. When in the evening pluming themselves
in a flock, they make the same odd mixture of sounds which bull-frogs do
within the tropics.

In Tierra del Fuego, as well as in the Falkland Islands, made many
observations on the lower marine animals, 911 but they are of little general
interest. I will mention only one class of facts, relating to certain zoophytes
in the more highly organized division of that class. Several genera (Flustra,
Eschara, Cellaria, Crisia, and others) agree in having singular moveable
organs (like those of Flustra avicularia, found in the European seas)
attached to their cells. The organ, in the greater number of cases, very
closely resembles the head of a vulture; but the lower mandible can be
opened much wider than in a real bird's beak. The head itself possessed
considerable powers of movement, by means of a short neck. In one
zoophyte the head itself was fixed, but the lower jaw free: in another it was
replaced by a triangular hood, with beautifully-fitted trap-door, which
evidently answered to the lower mandible. In the greater number of species,
each cell was provided with one head, but in others each cell had two.
The young cells at the end of the branches of these corallines contain
quite immature polypi, yet the vulture-head attached to them, though small,
are in every respect perfect When the polypus was removed by a needle
from any of the cells, these organs did not appear in the least affected.
When one of the vulture-like heads was cut off from the cell, the lower
mandible retained its power of opening and closing. Perhaps the most
singular part of their structure is, that when there were more than two rows
of cells on a branch, the central cells were furnished with these appendages,
of only one-fourth the size of the outside ones. Their movements varied
according to the species; but in some I never saw the least motion; while
others, with the lower mandible generally wide open, oscillated backwards
and forwards at the rate of about five seconds each turn, others moved
rapidly and by starts. When touched with a needle, the beak generally
seized the point so firmly, that the whole branch might be shaken.
These bodies have no relation whatever with the production of the eggs
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 furnished with a
long-toothed bristle, which had the power of moving quickly. Each of these
bristles and each of the vulture-like heads generally moved quite
independently of the others, but 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 zoophyte,
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 instance of uniform action, though of a very different nature,
in a zoophyte closely allied to Clytia, and therefore very simply organized.
Having kept a large tuft of it in a basin of salt-water, when it was dark I
found that as often as I rubbed any part of a branch, the whole became
strongly phosphorescent with a green light: I do not think I ever saw any
object more beautifully so. But the remarkable circumstance was, that the
flashes of light always proceeded up the branches, from the base towards
the extremities.
The examination of these compound animals was always very interesting
to me. What can be more remarkable that to see a 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, often of complicated organizations. The
branches, moreover, as we have just seen, sometimes possess organs
capable of movement and independent of the polypi. Surprising as this
union of separate individuals in 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 polypus, furnished with a mouth,
intestines, and other organs, as 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 than
in a tree. Our conception of a compound animal, where in some respects the
individuality of each is not completed, may be aided, by reflecting on the
production of two 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 propagated
by buds seem more intimately related to each other, than eggs or seeds are
to their parents. It seems now pretty well established that plants 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
certainty, by buds, layers, and grafts, which by seminal propagation never
or only casually reappear.

CHAPTER X — TIERRA DEL FUEGO
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 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.

D
ECEMBER 17th, 1832.—Having now finished with Patagonia 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, inhospitable Statenland was visible amidst the clouds.
In the afternoon we anchored in the Bay of Good Success. While entering
we were saluted in a manner becoming the inhabitants of this savage land.
A group of Fuegians partly concealed by the entangled forest, were perched
on a wild point overhanging the sea; and as we passed by, they sprang up
and waving their tattered cloaks sent forth a loud and sonorous 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 sufficient to show me how widely different it was from
anything 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 Good Success Bay.
In the morning the Captain sent a party to communicate with the
Fuegians. When we came within hail, one of the four natives who were
present advanced to receive us, and began to shout most vehemently,
wishing to direct us where to land. When we were on shore the party looked
rather alarmed, but continued talking and making gestures with great
rapidity. It was without exception the most curious and interesting spectacle

I ever beheld: I could not have believed how wide was the difference
between savage and civilized man: it is greater than between a wild and
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 three 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 Patagonians 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.
Their 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 chuckling 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. He then bared his bosom for me to
return the compliment, which being done, he seemed highly pleased. The
language of these people, according to our notions, scarcely deserves to be
called articulate. Captain Cook has 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 eyes) succeeded in
making far more hideous grimaces. They could repeat with perfect
correctness each word in any sentence we addressed them, and they
remembered 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 of mimicry. I was told, almost in the same words, of the
same ludicrous habit among the Caffres; the Australians, likewise, have
long been notorious for being able to imitate and describe the gait of any
man, so that he may be recognized. How can this faculty be explained? is it
a consequence of the more practised 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 Fuegians 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 would 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 Beagle in 1826 to 1830, Captain Fitz
Roy seized on a party of natives, as hostages for the loss of a boat, which
had been stolen, to the great jeopardy of a party employed on the survey;
and some of these natives, as well as a child whom he bought for a pearl-
button, he took with him to England, determining to educate them and
instruct them in religion at his own expense. To settle these natives in their
own country, was one chief inducement to Captain Fitz Roy to undertake
our present voyage; and before the Admiralty had resolved to send out this
expedition, Captain Fitz Roy had generously chartered a vessel, and would
himself have taken them back. The natives were accompanied by a
missionary, R. Matthews; of whom and of the natives, Captain Fitz Roy has
published a full and excellent account. Two men, one of whom died in
England of the 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, taciturn, morose,
and when excited violently passionate; his affections were very strong
towards a few friends on board; his intellect 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
remarkably sympathetic with any one in pain: when the water was rough, I
was often a little sea-sick, and he used to come to me and say in a plaintive
voice, "Poor, poor fellow!" but the notion, after his aquatic life, of a man
being sea-sick, was too ludicrous, and he was generally obliged to turn on
one side to hide a smile or laugh, and then he would repeat his "Poor, poor
fellow!" He was of a 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 looking 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 of 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 partaken of the same
character, with the miserable, 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 information from them,
concerning the habits of their countrymen; this was partly owing to their
apparent difficulty in understanding 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 understood anything which they
had asserted. Their sight was remarkably acute; it is well known that sailors,
from long practice, 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 object has been,
and though doubted by every one, they have proved right, when it has been
examined through a telescope. They were quite conscious of this power;
and Jemmy, when he had any little 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 conversation one with another on the
subject. The old man addressed a long harangue to Jemmy, which it seems
was to invite him to stay with them. But Jemmy understood very little of
their language, and was, moreover, thoroughly ashamed of his countrymen.
When York Minster afterwards came on shore, they noticed him in the same
way, and told him he ought to shave; yet he had not twenty dwarf hairs on
his face, whilst we all wore our untrimmed beards. They examined the
colour of his skin, and compared it with ours. One of our arms being bared,
they expressed the liveliest surprise and admiration at its whiteness, just in
the same way in which I have seen the ourangoutang 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 all this was done with such alacrity, that I dare say he
thought himself the handsomest man in Tierra del Fuego. After our first
feeling of grave astonishment was over, nothing could be more ludicrous
than the odd mixture of surprise and imitation which these 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 mountain sides, except on the exposed western coast, are covered
from the water's edge upwards by one great forest. The trees reach to an
elevation of between 1000 and 1500 feet, and are succeeded by a band of
peat, with minute alpine plants; and this again is succeeded by the line of
perpetual snow, which, according to Captain King, in the Strait of Magellan
descends to between 3000 and 4000 feet. To find an acre of level land in
any 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 to 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, I could hardly crawl along; but the bed of the stream soon
became a little more open, from the floods having swept the sides. I
continued slowly to advance for an hour along the broken and rocky banks,
and was amply repaid by the grandeur of the scene. The gloomy depth of
the ravine well accorded with the universal signs 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 water-course 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 considerable elevation, and obtained a
good view of the surrounding woods. The trees all belong to one kind, the
Fagus betuloides; for the number of the other species of Fagus and of the
Winter's Bark, is quite inconsiderable. This beech keeps its leaves
throughout the year; but its foliage is of a peculiar brownish-green colour,
with a tinge of yellow. As the whole 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 water-course as
on the previous day, till it dwindled 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 which from a distance appeared like a carpet of fine green turf, but
which, to our vexation, turned out to be a compact 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. 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 well-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 highest in
the immediate neighbourhood, and the waters flowed to the sea in opposite
directions. We obtained a wide view over the surrounding country: to the
north a swampy moorland extended, but to the south we had a scene of
savage magnificence, well becoming Tierra del Fuego. There was a degree
of mysterious grandeur in mountain behind mountain, with the deep
intervening valleys, all covered by one thick, dusky mass of forest. The
atmosphere, likewise, in this climate, where gale succeeds gale, with rain,
hail, and sleet, seems blacker than anywhere else. In the Strait of Magellan
looking due southward from Port Famine, the distant channels between the
mountains appeared from their gloominess to lead beyond the confines of
this world.
December 21st.—The Beagle got under way: and on the succeeding day,
favoured to an uncommon degree by a fine easterly breeze, we closed in
with the Barnevelts, and running past Cape Deceit with its stony peaks,
about three o'clock doubled the weather-beaten Cape Horn. The evening
was calm and bright, and we enjoyed a fine view of the surrounding isles.
Cape Horn, however, demanded his tribute, and before night sent us a gale
of wind directly in our teeth. We stood out to sea, and on the second day

again made the land, when we saw on our weather-bow this notorious
promontory in its proper form—veiled in a mist, and its dim outline
surrounded by a storm of wind and water. Great black clouds were rolling
across the heavens, and squalls of rain, with hail, swept by us with such
extreme violence, that the Captain determined to run into Wigwam Cove.
This is a snug little harbour, not far from Cape Horn; and here, at
Christmas-eve, we anchored in smooth water. The only thing which
reminded us of the gale outside, was every now and then a puff from the
mountains, which made the ship surge at her anchors.
December 25th.—Close by the Cove, a pointed hill, called Kater's Peak,
rises to the height of 1700 feet. The surrounding 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 residence; but they return at intervals to
the same spots, as is evident from the piles of old shells, which must often
amount to many tons in freight. 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
whole cannot be the work of an hour, and it is only used for a few days. At
Goeree Roads I saw a place where one of these naked men had slept, which
absolutely offered no more cover than the 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 weather. 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 degs., but in the night fell to 38 or 40

degs. 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 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 sufficient 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 harbour not far
distant, a woman, who was suckling a recently-born child, came one day
alongside the vessel, and remained there out of mere curiosity, whilst the
sleet fell and thawed on her naked bosom, and on the skin of her naked
baby! These poor wretches were stunted in their growth, their hideous faces
bedaubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair
entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures violent. Viewing such
men, one can hardly make one's self believe that they are fellow-creatures,
and inhabitants of the same world. It is a 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 without any hook, jerk out little fish. If a seal is killed, or the
floating carcass of a putrid whale is 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 in great distress. A succession of gales
prevented the women from getting shell-fish on the rocks, and they could
not go out in their canoes to catch seal. A small party of these men one

morning set out, and the other Indians explained to him, that they were
going a four days' journey for food: on their return, Low went to meet them,
and he found them excessively tired, each man carrying a great square piece
of putrid whale's-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. From the concurrent, but quite independent
evidence of the boy taken by Mr. Low, and of Jemmy Button, it is certainly
true, that when pressed in winter by hunger, they kill and devour their old
women before they kill their dogs: the boy, being asked by Mr. Low why
they did this, answered, "Doggies catch otters, old women no." This boy
described the manner in which they are killed by being held over smoke and
thus choked; he imitated their screams as a joke, and described the parts of
their bodies which are considered best to eat. Horrid 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 are told that
they then often run away into the mountains, but that they are pursued by
the men and brought back to the slaughter-house at their own firesides!
Captain Fitz Roy could never ascertain that the Fuegians have any
distinct belief in a future life. 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 perform any sort of religious worship; though perhaps the
muttering of the old man before he distributed the putrid blubber to his
famished party, may be of this nature. Each family or tribe has a wizard or
conjuring doctor, whose office we could never clearly ascertain. Jemmy
believed in dreams, 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 quartermaster firmly believed that the successive heavy gales,
which we encountered off Cape Horn, were caused by our having the
Fuegians on board. The nearest approach 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, how naturally, in a race a little more advanced in culture, the
elements 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, where a single man had slept the
night before, I should have thought that they were thieves who had been
driven from their tribes; but other obscure speeches made me doubt this; I
have sometimes imagined that the most probable explanation was that they
were 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 reduced to the
stones on the beach; in search of food they are compelled unceasingly to
wander from spot to spot, and so steep is the coast, that they can only move
about in their 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, or 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 ingenious work, poor as it is, has remained the same,
as we know from Drake, for the last two hundred and fifty years.
Whilst beholding these savages, one asks, whence have they come? 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 the tribes of
Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and then to enter on one of the most inhospitable
countries within the limits of the globe? Although such reflections must at
first seize on the mind, yet we may feel sure that they are partly erroneous.
There is no reason to believe that the Fuegians decrease in number;
therefore we must suppose that they enjoy a sufficient share of happiness,
of whatever kind it may be, to render life worth having. Nature by making
habit omnipotent, and its effects hereditary, has fitted the Fuegian 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
get westward to land York and Fuegia in their own country. When at sea we
had a constant succession of gales, and the current was against us: we
drifted to 57 degs. 23' south. On the 11th of January, 1833, by carrying a
press of sail, we fetched within a few miles of the great rugged mountain of
York Minster (so called by Captain Cook, and the origin of the name of the
elder Fuegian), when a violent squall compelled us to shorten sail and stand
out to sea. The surf was breaking fearfully on the coast, and the spray was
carried over a cliff estimated to 200 feet in height. On the 12th the gale was
very heavy, and we did not know exactly where we were: it was a most
unpleasant sound to hear constantly repeated, "keep a good look-out to
leeward." On the 13th the storm raged with its full fury: our horizon was
narrowly limited by the sheets of spray borne by the wind. The sea looked
ominous, like a dreary waving plain with patches of drifted snow: whilst the
ship laboured heavily, the albatross glided with its expanded wings right up
the wind. At noon a 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 to put on. Captain Fitz Roy gave up the
attempt to get westward by the outside coast. In the evening we ran in
behind False Cape Horn, 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 15th, 1833.—The Beagle anchored in Goeree Roads. Captain
Fitz Roy having resolved to settle the Fuegians, according to their wishes,
in Ponsonby Sound, four boats were equipped to carry them there through
the Beagle Channel. This channel, which was discovered by Captain Fitz
Roy during the last voyage, is a most remarkable feature in the geography
of this, or indeed of any other country: it may be compared to the valley of
Lochness in Scotland, with its chain of lakes and friths. It is about one
hundred and twenty miles long, with an average breadth, not subject to any
very great variation, of about two miles; and is throughout the 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 Tierra del Fuego in an east and west line, and in the middle
is joined at right angles on the south side by an irregular channel, which has
been called Ponsonby Sound. This is the residence of Jemmy Button's tribe
and family.
19th.—Three whale-boats and the yawl, with a party of 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. Nothing could look more comfortable than this scene. The
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 picture 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 attention and to spread far and wide the news. Some of the men

ran for miles along the shore. I shall never forget how wild and savage one
group appeared: suddenly four or five men came to the edge of an
overhanging cliff; they were absolutely naked, and their long hair streamed
about their faces; they held rugged staffs in their hands, and, springing from
the ground, they waved their arms round their heads, and sent forth the most
hideous yells.
At dinner-time we landed among a party of Fuegians. At first they were
not inclined to be friendly; for until the Captain pulled in ahead of the other
boats, they kept their slings in their hands. We soon, however, delighted
them by trifling presents, such as tying red tape round their heads. They
liked our biscuit: but one of the savages touched with his finger some of the
meat preserved in tin cases which I was eating, and feeling it soft and cold,
showed as much disgust at it, as I should have done at putrid blubber.
Jemmy was thoroughly ashamed of his countrymen, and declared his own
tribe were quite different, in which he was wofully mistaken. It was as easy
to please as it was difficult to satisfy these savages. Young and old, men and
children, never ceased repeating the word "yammerschooner," which means
"give me." After pointing to almost every object, one after the other, even to
the buttons on our coats, and saying their favourite word in as many
intonations as possible, they would then use it in a neuter sense, and
vacantly repeat "yammerschooner." 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 uninhabited 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 running 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
gun close to his ear could never have entered his mind. He perhaps literally
did not for a second know whether it was a sound or a blow, and therefore
very naturally rubbed his head. In a similar manner, when a savage sees a
mark struck by a bullet, it may be some time before he is able at all to
understand how it is effected; for the fact of a body being invisible from its
velocity would perhaps be to him an idea totally inconceivable. Moreover,
the extreme force of a bullet, that penetrates a hard substance without
tearing it, may convince the savage that it has no force at all. Certainly I
believe that many savages of the lowest grade, such as these of Tierra del
Fuego, have seen objects struck, and even small animals killed by the
musket, without being in the least aware how deadly an instrument it is.
22nd.—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 the different 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 the hostile tribe nearest to his own.
He often told us how the savage Oens men "when the leaf red," crossed the
mountains from the eastern coast of Tierra del Fuego, and made 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 magnificent 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 unbroken sweep
from the water's edge, and were covered to the height of fourteen or fifteen
hundred feet by the dusky-coloured forest. It was most curious to observe,
as far as the eye could range, how level and truly horizontal the line on the

mountain side was, at which trees ceased to grow: it precisely resembled the
high-water mark of drift-weed on a sea-beach.
At night we slept close to the junction of 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 our
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 morning (23rd) a
fresh party arrived, belonging to the Tekenika, or Jemmy's tribe. Several of
them had run so fast that 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, 101 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 Woollya, surrounded by islets, every one of
which and every point had its proper native name. We found here a family
of Jemmy's tribe, but not his relations: we made friends with them; and in
the evening they sent a canoe to inform Jemmy's mother and brothers. The
cove was bordered by some acres of good sloping land, not covered (as
elsewhere) either by peat or by forest-trees. 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 they expressed a wish to remain here,
and as the spot was singularly 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 companion. There was no demonstration of affection; they
simply stared for a short time at each other; and the mother immediately
went to look after her canoe. We heard, however, through York that the
mother has been inconsolable for the loss of Jemmy and had searched
everywhere for him, thinking that he might have been left after having been
taken in the boat. The women took much notice of and were very kind to
Fuegia. We had already perceived that Jemmy had almost forgotten his own
language. I should think there was scarcely another human 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, whilst
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 anything else, not
even to our boats. Of all the things which York saw, during his absence
from his country, nothing seems more to have astonished him than an
ostrich, near Maldonado: breathless 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 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. Matthews, with his usual quiet fortitude
(remarkable in a man apparently possessing little energy of character),
determined to stay with the Fuegians, who evinced no alarm for themselves;
and so we left them to pass their first awful night.
On our return in the morning (28th) we were 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 overpoweringly
hot, so that our skins were scorched: with this beautiful weather, the view in
the middle of the Beagle Channel was very remarkable. Looking towards
either hand, no object intercepted the vanishing points of this long canal
between the mountains. The circumstance of its being an arm of the sea was
rendered very evident by several huge whales 102 spouting in different
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. 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
breathing of the seamen beneath the tents, and sometimes by the cry of a

night-bird. The occasional barking of a dog, heard in the distance, reminds
one that it is the land of the savage.
January 20th.—Early in the morning we arrived at the point where the
Beagle Channel divides into two arms; and we entered 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 anything more beautiful 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: he was knocked over
and over, but not hurt, and the boats though thrice lifted on high and let fall
again, received no damage. This was most fortunate for us, for we were a
hundred miles distant from the ship, and we should have 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; the 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 desolate islands, and
the weather was wretchedly bad. We met with no natives. The coast was

almost everywhere so steep, that we had several times to pull many miles
before we could find space enough to pitch our two tents: one night we
slept on large round boulders, with putrefying sea-weed between them; and
when the tide rose, we had to get up and move our blanket-bags. The
farthest point westward which we 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 6th.—We arrived at Woollya. 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 ultimately he was left at New Zealand, where
his brother was a missionary. 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 everything which had not
been concealed underground. Every article seemed to have been torn up and
divided by the natives. Matthews 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 with a large stone in his hand: another day a whole
party came armed with stones and stakes, and some of the younger men and
Jemmy's brother were crying: Matthews met them with presents. 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 Fuegians 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 Fuegia.
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 years with civilized men, would, I 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 the Beagle Channel, but by the southern coast. The boats were
heavily laden and the sea rough, and we had a dangerous passage. By the
evening of the 7th we were on board the Beagle after an absence of twenty
days, during which time we had gone three hundred miles in the open boats.
On the 11th, Captain Fitz Roy paid a visit by himself to the Fuegians and
found them going on well; and that they had lost very few more things.
On the last day of February in the succeeding year (1834) the Beagle
anchored in a beautiful little cove at the eastern entrance 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 we had followed in the boats to the settlement at Woollya. We did not
see many natives until we were near Ponsonby Sound, where we were
followed by ten or twelve canoes. The natives did not at all understand the
reason of our tacking, and, instead of meeting us at each tack, vainly strove
to follow us in our zigzag course. I was amused at finding what a difference
the circumstance of being quite superior in force made, in the interest of
beholding these savages. While in the boats I got to hate the very sound of
their voices, so much trouble did they give us. The first and last word was
"yammerschooner." When, entering some quiet little cove, we have looked
round and thought to pass a quiet night, the odious word "yammerschooner"
has shrilly sounded 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 hallo from an all-powerful voice,
heard at a prodigious distance, would reach our ears, and clearly could we
distinguish—"yammerschooner." 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, etc.;
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 her head with
rushes. Her husband, who enjoyed the very universal privilege in this
country of possessing two wives, evidently became jealous of all the

attention paid to his young wife; and, after a consultation with his naked
beauties, was paddled away by them.
Some of the Fuegians plainly showed that they had a fair notion of barter.
I gave one man a large nail (a most valuable present) without making any
signs for a return; but he immediately picked out two fish, and handed them
up on the point of his spear. If any present was designed for one canoe, and
it fell near another, it was 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 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 ourselves,—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
"chefs d'oeuvre de l'industrie humaine, comme ils traitent les loix de la
nature et ses phenomenes."
On the 5th of March, we anchored in a cove at Woollya, but we saw not a
soul there. We were alarmed at this, for the natives in Ponsonby Sound
showed by gestures, that there had been fighting; and we afterwards heard
that the dreaded Oens men had made a descent. Soon a canoe, with a little
flag flying, was seen approaching, with one of the men in it washing the
paint off his face. This man was poor Jemmy,—now a thin, haggard savage,
with long disordered hair, and naked, except a bit of blanket round his
waist. We did not recognize him till he was close to us, for he was ashamed
of himself, and turned his back to the ship. We had left him plump, fat,
clean, and well-dressed;—I never saw so complete and grievous a change.
As soon, however, as he was clothed, and the first flurry was over, things
wore a good appearance. He dined with Captain Fitz Roy, and ate his dinner
as tidily as formerly. He told us that he had "too much" (meaning enough)
to eat, that he was not cold, that his relations were very good people, and
that he did not wish to go back to England: in the evening we found out the
cause of this great change in Jemmy's feelings, in the arrival of his young
and nice-looking wife. With his usual good feeling he brought two beautiful
otter-skins for two of his best friends, and some spear-heads 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 property. He told us that York Minster had built a
large canoe, and with his wife Fuegia, 103 had several months since gone to
his own country, and had taken farewell by an act of consummate villainy;
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 way, 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 for 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 shipwrecked 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 artificial 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 republicans 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 that the political state of the country can be improved. At present,
even a piece of cloth given to one is torn into shreds and distributed; and no
one individual becomes richer than another. On the other hand, it is difficult
to understand how a chief can 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 inhabiting the Pacific, are comparatively
civilized. The Esquimau 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 of
roots, and living concealed on the wild and arid plains, are sufficiently
wretched. The Australian, in the simplicity of the arts of life, comes nearest
the Fuegian: he can, however, boast of his boomerang, his spear and
throwing-stick, his method of climbing trees, of tracking animals, and of
hunting. Although the Australian 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 the reverse.

CHAPTER XI — STRAIT OF MAGELLAN.—
CLIMATE OF THE SOUTHERN COASTS
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.

I
N THE end of May, 1834, we entered for a 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 second 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 Gregory 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, 111 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 at Cape
Gregory with the famous so-called gigantic Patagonians, who gave us a
cordial reception. Their height appears greater than it really is, from their
large guanaco mantles, their long flowing hair, and general figure: on an
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. Captain Fitz
Roy offered to take any three of them on board, and all seemed determined
to be of the three. It was long before we could clear the boat; at last we got
on board with our three giants, who dined with the Captain, and behaved
quite like gentlemen, helping themselves with knives, forks, and spoons:
nothing was so much relished as sugar. This tribe has had so much
communication with sealers and whalers that most of the men can speak a
little English and Spanish; and they are half civilized, and proportionally
demoralized.
The next morning a large party went on shore, to barter for skins and
ostrich-feathers; fire-arms being refused, tobacco was in greatest request,
far more so than axes or tools. The whole population of the toldos, men,
women, and children, were 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
important woman in the tribe, once begged Mr. Low to leave any one of his
sailors with them. They spend the greater part of the year here; but in
summer they hunt along the foot of the Cordillera: sometimes they travel as
far as the Rio Negro 750 miles to the north. They are well stocked with
horses, each man having, according 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, showing the
extraordinarily rapid multiplication of horses in South America. The horse
was first landed at Buenos Ayres in 1537, and the colony being then for a
time deserted, the horse ran wild; 112 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 1st.—We anchored in the fine bay of Port Famine. It was now the
beginning of winter, and I never saw a more cheerless prospect; the dusky
woods, piebald with snow, could be only seen indistinctly, through a
drizzling hazy atmosphere. We 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 edge, is
generally in full view. I remember having seen a mountain, first from the
Beagle Channel, where the whole sweep from the summit to the base was
full in view, and then from Ponsonby Sound across several successive
ridges; and it was curious to observe in the latter case, as each fresh ridge
afforded fresh means of judging of the distance, how the mountain rose in
height.
Before reaching Port Famine, two men were seen running along the shore
and hailing the ship. A boat was sent for them. They turned out to be two
sailors who had run away from a sealing-vessel, and had joined the
Patagonians. These Indians had treated them with their usual disinterested
hospitality. They had parted company through accident, and were then
proceeding to Port Famine in hopes of finding some ship. I dare say they
were worthless vagabonds, but I never saw more miserable-looking ones.
They had been living for some days on mussel-shells and berries, and their
tattered clothes had been burnt by sleeping so near their fires. They had
been exposed night and day, without any shelter, to the late incessant gales,
with rain, sleet, and snow, and yet they were in good health.
During our stay at Port Famine, the Fuegians twice came and plagued us.
As there were many instruments, clothes, and men on shore, it was thought
necessary to frighten them away. The first time a few great guns 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 sent with orders to fire a few musket-shots wide of
them. The Fuegians hid themselves behind the trees, and for every
discharge of the muskets they fired their arrows; all, however, fell short of
the boat, and the 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 officers told me that the

clamour first raised, and the barking of the dogs, was quite ludicrous in
contrast with the profound silence which in a minute or two afterwards
prevailed. The next morning not a single Fuegian was in the
neighbourhood.
When the Beagle was 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 mountain (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 barricaded 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 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
intersecting the land in many directions. The strong wind was piercingly
cold, and the atmosphere rather hazy, so that we did not stay long on the top
of the mountain. Our descent was not quite so laborious as our ascent, for
the weight of the body forced a passage, and all the slips and falls were in
the right direction.
I have already mentioned the sombre and dull character of the evergreen
forests, 113 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
mountains 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. Near Port Famine I have seen more large trees than
anywhere else: I measured a Winter's Bark which was four feet six inches in
girth, and 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 its importance
as an article of food to the Fuegians. It is a globular, 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 accompanying woodcut. This
fungus belongs to a new and curious genus, 114 I found a
second species on another species 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
Diernan's Land. How singular is this relationship 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 un-cooked. It has a
mucilaginous, slightly sweet taste, with a faint smell like that of a
mushroom. With the exception of a few berries, chiefly of a dwarf arbutus,
the natives eat no vegetable food besides this fungus. 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 Magellanicus 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 to believe that the land
was once joined, and thus allowed animals 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 intersection 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 Tierra del Fuego, one has cliffs composed of
matter that may be called stratified alluvium, which front similar ones on
the opposite side of the channel,—while the other is exclusively bordered
by old crystalline rocks: in the former, called Navarin Island, both foxes and
guanacos occur; but in the latter, Hoste Island, although similar in every
respect, and only separated by a channel a little 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 wood-pecker, with a fine scarlet crest on its head. A
little, dusky-coloured wren (Scytalopus Magellanicus) hops in a skulking
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 numerous than it really is, from its habit of following with
seeming curiosity any person who enters these silent woods: continually
uttering a harsh twitter, it flutters 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 industriously, 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, as well as in that of the
Falkland Islands. I do not ground this statement merely on my own
observation, but I heard it from the Spanish inhabitants of the latter place,
and from Jemmy Button with regard to Tierra del Fuego. On the banks of
the Santa Cruz, in 50 degs. 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 character of Patagonia; but within
the damp and cold limit of Tierra del Fuego not one occurs. That the climate
would not have suited some of the orders, such as lizards, might have been
foreseen; but with respect to frogs, this was not so obvious.
Beetles occur in very small numbers: it was long before I could believe
that a country as large as Scotland, covered with vegetable productions and
with a variety of stations, could be so unproductive. The few which I found
were alpine species (Harpalidae and Heteromidae) living under stones. The
vegetable-feeding Chrysomelidae, so eminently characteristic of the
Tropics, are here almost entirely absent; 115 I saw very few flies, butterflies,
or bees, and no crickets or Orthoptera. In the pools of water I found but a
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 the 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 individual animals than any other station. There
is one marine production which, from its importance, is worthy of a
particular history. It is the kelp, or Macrocystis pyrifera. This plant grows
on every rock from low-water mark to a great depth, both on the outer coast
and within the channels. 116 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
navigating near this stormy land is evident; and it certainly has saved many
a one from being wrecked. I know few things more surprising than to see
this plant 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 sufficiently strong to support the
weight of the large loose stones, to which in the inland channels 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 117 up from the 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 as to be of a white colour. We find exquisitely delicate
structures, some inhabited 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-fish, beautiful Holuthuriae, 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 different species from those in Tierra
del Fuego: we see here 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 terrestrial 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 destruction the many
cormorants and other fishing birds, the otters, seals, and porpoises, would
soon perish also; and lastly, the Fuegian savage, the miserable lord of this
miserable land, would redouble his cannibal feast, decrease in numbers, and
perhaps cease to exist.
June 8th.—We weighed anchor early in the morning and left Port
Famine. Captain Fitz Roy determined to leave the Strait of Magellan by the
Magdalen Channel, which had not long been discovered. Our course lay
due south, down that gloomy passage which I have before alluded to as
appearing to lead to another and worse world. The wind was fair, but the
atmosphere was very thick; so that we missed much curious scenery. The
dark ragged clouds were rapidly driven over the mountains, from their
summits nearly down to their bases. The glimpses which we caught through
the dusky mass were highly interesting; jagged points, cones of snow, blue
glaciers, strong outlines, marked on a lurid sky, were seen at different
distances and heights. In 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 almost 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 part of the channel; but the water
was so deep that no anchorage could be found. We were in consequence
obliged to stand off and on in this narrow arm of the sea, during a pitch-
dark night of fourteen hours long.
June 10th.—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
might he say so. Outside the main islands, there are numberless scattered
rocks on which the long swell of the open ocean incessantly rages. We
passed out between the East and West Furies; and a little farther 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 subjects, or the final recapitulation alone may be
read. I shall, however, here give only an abstract, and must refer for details
to the Thirteenth Chapter and the Appendix of the former edition of this
work.
On the Climate and Productions of Tierra del Fuego and of the South-
west Coast.—The following table gives the mean temperature of Tierra del
Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and, for comparison, that of Dublin:—