CHAPTER IX
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.
APRIL 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 valley, which extends in a direct line westward. This valle varies from five to ten miles in breadth; it is bounded b step-formed terraces, which rise in most parts, one above th other, to the height of five hundred feet, and have on th opposite sides a remarkable correspondence.
April 19th. -- Against so strong a current it was, o course, quite impossible to row or sail: consequently th three boats were fastened together head and stern, two hand left in each, and the rest came on shore to track. As th general arrangements made by Captain Fitz Roy were ver good for facilitating the work of all, and as all had a shar in it, I will describe the system. The party including ever one, was divided into two spells, each of which hauled at th tracking line alternately for an hour and a half. The officers of each boat lived with, ate the same food, and slep in the same tent with their crew, so that each boat wa quite independent of the others. After sunset the first leve spot where any bushes were growing, was chosen for ou night's lodging. Each of the crew took it in turns to b cook. Immediately the boat was hauled up, the cook mad his fire; two others pitched the tent; the coxswain hande the things out of the boat; the rest carried them up to th tents and collected firewood. By this order, in half an hou everything was ready for the night. A watch of two me and an officer was always kept, whose duty it was to loo 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 ther were many islets, covered by thorny bushes, and the channels between them were shallow.
April 20th. -- We passed the islands and set to work. Ou regular day's march, although it was hard enough, carrie us on an average only ten miles in a straight line, and perhaps fifteen or twenty altogether. Beyond the place wher we slept last night, the country is completely terra incognita for it was there that Captain Stokes turned back. We sa in the distance a great smoke, and found the skeleton of 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 though that the Indians had reconnoitred us during the night Shortly afterwards we came to a spot where, from the fres footsteps of men, children, and horses, it was evident tha the party had crossed the river.
April 22nd. -- The country remained the same, and wa extremely uninteresting. The complete similarity of th productions throughout Patagonia is one of its most striking characters. The level plains of arid shingle suppor the same stunted and dwarf plants; and in the valleys th same thorn-bearing bushes grow. Everywhere we see th same birds and insects. Even the very banks of the rive and of the clear streamlets which entered it, were scarcel enlivened by a brighter tint of green. The curse of sterilit is on the land, and the water flowing over a bed of pebble partakes of the same curse. Hence the number of waterfowl is very scanty; for there is nothing to support life i the stream of this barren river.
Patagonia, poor as she is in some respects, can howeve boast of a greater stock of small rodents [1] than perhaps an other country in the world. Several species of mice ar externally characterized by large thin ears and a very fin fur. These little animals swarm amongst the thickets in th valleys, where they cannot for months together taste a dro of water excepting the dew. They all seem to be cannibals for no sooner was a mouse caught in one of my traps tha it was devoured by others. A small and delicately shape fox, which is likewise very abundant, probably derives it entire support from these small animals. The guanaco i also in his proper district, herds of fifty or a hundred wer common; and, as I have stated, we saw one which mus have contained at least five hundred. The puma, with th condor and other carrion-hawks in its train, follows an preys upon these animals. The footsteps of the puma wer to be seen almost everywhere on the banks of the river and the remains of several guanacos, with their neck dislocated and bones broken, showed how they had met thei death.
April 24th. -- Like the navigators of old when approachin an unknown land, we examined and watched for the mos trivial sign of a change. The drifted trunk of a tree, or boulder of primitive rock, was hailed with joy, as if we ha seen a forest growing on the flanks of the Cordillera. Th top, however, of a heavy bank of clouds, which remaine almost constantly in one position, was the most promisin sign, and eventually turned out a true harbinger. At first th clouds were mistaken for the mountains themselves, instea of the masses of vapour condensed by their icy summits.
April 26th. -- We this day met with a marked change i the geological structure of the plains. From the first starting I had carefully examined the gravel in the river, an for the two last days had noticed the presence of a few smal pebbles of a very cellular basalt. These gradually increase in number and in size, but none were as large as a man' head. This morning, however, pebbles of the same rock but more compact, suddenly became abundant, and in th course of half an hour we saw, at the distance of five o six miles, the angular edge of a great basaltic platform When we arrived at its base we found the stream bubblin among the fallen blocks. For the next twenty-eight mile the river-course was encumbered with these basaltic masses Above that limit immense fragments of primitive rocks derived from its surrounding boulder-formation, wer equally numerous. None of the fragments of any considerable size had been washed more than three or four mile down the river below their parent-source: considering th singular rapidity of the great body of water in the Sant Cruz, and that no still reaches occur in any part, this example is a most striking one, of the inefficiency of rivers i 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. A the point where we first met this formation it was 120 fee in thickness; following up the river course, the surfac imperceptibly rose and the mass became thicker, so that a forty miles above the first station it was 320 feet thick What the thickness may be close to the Cordillera, I hav no means of knowing, but the platform there attains a heigh of about three thousand feet above the level of the sea we must therefore look to the mountains of that great chai for its source; and worthy of such a source are streams tha have flowed over the gently inclined bed of the sea to distance of one hundred miles. At the first glance of th basaltic cliffs on the opposite sides of the valley, it wa evident that the strata once were united. What power, then has removed along a whole line of country, a solid mass o very hard rock, which had an average thickness of nearl three hundred feet, and a breadth varying from rather les than two miles to four miles? The river, though it has s little power in transporting even inconsiderable fragments yet in the lapse of ages might produce by its gradual erosio an effect of which it is difficult to judge the amount. Bu in this case, independently of the insignificance of such a agency, good reasons can be assigned for believing that thi valley was formerly occupied by an arm of the sea. It i needless in this work to detail the arguments leading to thi conclusion, derived from the form and the nature of th step-formed terraces on both sides of the valley, from th manner in which the bottom of the valley near the Ande expands into a great estuary-like plain with sand-hillock on it, and from the occurrence of a few sea-shells lying i the bed of the river. If I had space I could prove tha South America was formerly here cut off by a strait, joinin the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, like that of Magellan But it may yet be asked, how has the solid basalt bee moved? Geologists formerly would have brought into play the violent action of some overwhelming debacle; but in thi case such a supposition would have been quite inadmissible because, the same step-like plains with existing sea-shell lying on their surface, which front the long line of the Patagonian coast, sweep up on each side of the valley of Sant Cruz. No possible action of any flood could thus hav modelled the land, either within the valley or along the ope coast; and by the formation of such step-like plains or terraces the valley itself had been hollowed out. Although w know that there are tides, which run within the Narrow of the Strait of Magellan at the rate of eight knots an hour yet we must confess that it makes the head almost giddy t reflect on the number of years, century after century, whic the tides, unaided by a heavy surf, must have required t have corroded so vast an area and thickness of solid basalti lava. Nevertheless, we must believe that the strata undermined by the waters of this ancient strait, were broken u into huge fragments, and these lying scattered on the beach were reduced first to smaller blocks, then to pebbles an lastly to the most impalpable mud, which the tides drifte far into the Eastern or Western Ocean.
With the change in the geological structure of the plain the character of the landscape likewise altered. While rambling up some of the narrow and rocky defiles, I could almos have fancied myself transported back again to the barre valleys of the island of St. Jago. Among the basaltic cliffs I found some plants which I had seen nowhere else, bu others I recognised as being wanderers from Tierra de Fuego. These porous rocks serve as a reservoir for th scanty rain-water; and consequently on the line where th igneous and sedimentary formations unite, some smal 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 rat of six knots an hour. From this cause, and from the man great angular fragments, tracking the boats became bot dangerous and laborious.
This day I shot a condor. It measured from tip to ti of the wings, eight and a half feet, and from beak to tail four feet. This bird is known to have a wide geographica range, being found on the west coast of South America from the Strait of Magellan along the Cordillera as far a eight degrees north of the equator. The steep cliff near th mouth of the Rio Negro is its northern limit on the Patagonian coast; and they have there wandered about fou hundred miles from the great central line of their habitation in the Andes. Further south, among the bold precipices at the head of Port Desire, the condor is not uncommon; yet only a few stragglers occasionally visit the seacoast. A line of cliff near the mouth of the Santa Cruz i frequented by these birds, and about eighty miles up th river, where the sides of the valley are formed by stee basaltic precipices, the condor reappears. From these facts it seems that the condors require perpendicular cliffs. I Chile, they haunt, during the greater part of the year, th lower country near the shores of the Pacific, and at nigh several roost together in one tree; but in the early part o summer, they retire to the most inaccessible parts of th inner Cordillera, there to breed in peace.
With respect to their propagation, I was told by th country people in Chile, that the condor makes no sort o nest, but in the months of November and December lay two large white eggs on a shelf of bare rock. It is said tha the young condors cannot fly for an entire year; and lon after they are able, they continue to roost by night, an hunt by day with their parents. The old birds generally liv in pairs; but among the inland basaltic cliffs of the Sant Cruz, I found a spot, where scores must usually haunt. O coming suddenly to the brow of the precipice, it was a gran spectacle to see between twenty and thirty of these grea birds start heavily from their resting-place, and wheel awa in majestic circles. From the quantity of dung on the rocks they must long have frequented this cliff for roosting an breeding. Having gorged themselves with carrion on th plains below, they retire to these favourite ledges to diges 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 commonl happens, have been killed by the pumas. I believe, fro what I saw in Patagonia, that they do not on ordinary occasions extend their daily excursions to any great distanc 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 fo pleasure, but on others, the Chileno countryman tells yo that they are watching a dying animal, or the puma devouring its prey. If the condors glide down, and then suddenl all rise together, the Chileno knows that it is the pum which, watching the carcass, has sprung out to drive awa 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, an looking upwards to bark violently. The Chilenos destro and catch numbers. Two methods are used; one is to plac a carcass on a level piece of ground within an enclosure o sticks with an opening, and when the condors are gorged to gallop up on horseback to the entrance, and thus enclos them: for when this bird has not space to run, it canno give its body sufficient momentum to rise from the ground The second method is to mark the trees in which, frequentl to the number of five or six together, they roost, and the at night to climb up and noose them. They are such heav sleepers, as I have myself witnessed, that this is not a difficult task. At Valparaiso, I have seen a living condor sol for sixpence, but the common price is eight or ten shillings One which I saw brought in, had been tied with rope, an was much injured; yet, the moment the line was cut b which its bill was secured, although surrounded by people it began ravenously to tear a piece of carrion. In a garde at the same place, between twenty and thirty were kept alive They were fed only once a week, but they appeared in prett good health. [2] The Chileno countrymen assert that the condor will live, and retain its vigour, between five and six week without eating: I cannot answer for the truth of this, bu it is a cruel experiment, which very likely has been tried.
When an animal is killed in the country, it is well know 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 bird have discovered their prey, and have picked the skeleto clean, before the flesh is in the least degree tainted. Remembering the experiments of M. Audubon, on the littl smelling powers of carrion-hawks, I tried in the above mentioned garden the following experiment: the condor were tied, each by a rope, in a long row at the bottom of wall; and having folded up a piece of meat in white paper, walked backwards and forwards, carrying it in my hand a the distance of about three yards from them, but no notic whatever was taken. I then threw it on the ground, withi one yard of an old male bird; he looked at it for a momen with attention, but then regarded it no more. With a stic I pushed it closer and closer, until at last he touched it wit his beak; the paper was then instantly torn off with fury and at the same moment, every bird in the long row bega struggling and flapping its wings. Under the same circumstances, it would have been quite impossible to have deceive a dog. The evidence in favour of and against the acut smelling powers of carrion-vultures is singularly balanced Professor Owen has demonstrated that the olfactory nerve of the turkey-buzzard (Cathartes aura) are highly developed, and on the evening when Mr. Owen's paper was rea at the Zoological Society, it was mentioned by a gentlema that he had seen the carrion-hawks in the West Indies o two occasions collect on the roof of a house, when a corps had become offensive from not having been buried, in thi case, the intelligence could hardly have been acquired b sight. On the other hand, besides the experiments of Audubon and that one by myself, Mr. Bachman has tried in th United States many varied plans, showing that neither th 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, an strewed pieces of meat on it: these the carrion-vultures at up, and then remained quietly standing, with their beak within the eighth of an inch of the putrid mass, withou discovering it. A small rent was made in the canvas, an the offal was immediately discovered; the canvas was replaced by a fresh piece, and meat again put on it, and wa again devoured by the vultures without their discoverin the hidden mass on which they were trampling. These fact are attested by the signatures of six gentlemen, besides tha of Mr. Bachman. [3
Often when lying down to rest on the open plains, o looking upwards, I have seen carrion-hawks sailing throug the air at a great height. Where the country is level I d 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 suc be the case, and the vulture is on the wing at a height o between three and four thousand feet, before it could com within the range of vision, its distance in a straight lin from the beholder's eye, would be rather more than tw 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 th sharp-sighted bird? And will not the manner of its descen proclaim throughout the district to the whole family o carrion-feeders, that their prey is at hand?
When the condors are wheeling in a flock round an round any spot, their flight is beautiful. Except when risin from the ground, I do not recollect ever having seen on of these birds flap its wings. Near Lima, I watched severa for nearly half an hour, without once taking off my eyes they moved in large curves, sweeping in circles, descendin and ascending without giving a single flap. As they glide close over my head, I intently watched from an oblique position, the outlines of the separate and great terminal feather of each wing; and these separate feathers, if there had bee the least vibratory movement, would have appeared as i blended together; but they were seen distinct against th blue sky. The head and neck were moved frequently, an apparently with force; and the extended wings seemed t form the fulcrum on which the movements of the neck, body and tail acted. If the bird wished to descend, the wing were for a moment collapsed; and when again expande with an altered inclination, the momentum gained by th rapid descent seemed to urge the bird upwards with th even and steady movement of a paper kite. In the case o any bird soaring, its motion must be sufficiently rapid s that the action of the inclined surface of its body on th atmosphere may counterbalance its gravity. The force t keep up the momentum of a body moving in a horizonta plane in the air (in which there is so little friction) canno be great, and this force is all that is wanted. The movement of the neck and body of the condor, we must suppose is sufficient for this. However this may be, it is truly wonderful and beautiful to see so great a bird, hour after hour without any apparent exertion, wheeling and gliding ove mountain and river.
April 29th. -- From some high land we hailed with jo 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 o slowly, for we found the river-course very tortuous, an strewed with immense fragments of various ancient slat rocks, and of granite. The plain bordering the valley ha 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 angula fragments of basalt and of primary rocks. The first of thes erratic boulders which I noticed, was sixty-seven miles distant from the nearest mountain; another which I measure was five yards square, and projected five feet above th gravel. Its edges were so angular, and its size so great, tha I at first mistook it for a rock in situ, and took out my compass to observe the direction of its cleavage. The plain her was not quite so level as that nearer the coast, but yet i betrayed no signs of any great violence. Under these circumstances it is, I believe, quite impossible to explain th transportal of these gigantic masses of rock so many mile from their parent-source, on any theory except by that o floating icebergs.
During the two last days we met with signs of horses, an with several small articles which had belonged to the Indian -- 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 crosse the river and this neighbourhood, though so many mile apart, the country appears to be quite unfrequented. At first considering the abundance of the guanacos, I was surprise at this; but it is explained by the stony nature of the plains which would soon disable an unshod horse from taking par in the chase. Nevertheless, in two places in this very centra region, I found small heaps of stones, which I do not thin could have been accidentally thrown together. They wer placed on points, projecting over the edge of the highest lav cliff, and they resembled, but on a small scale, those nea Port Desire.
May 4th. -- Captain Fitz Roy determined to take the boat no higher. The river had a winding course, and was ver rapid; and the appearance of the country offered no temptation to proceed any further. Everywhere we met with th same productions, and the same dreary landscape. We wer now one hundred and forty miles distant from the Atlantic and about sixty from the nearest arm of the Pacific. Th valley in this upper part expanded into a wide basin, bounde on the north and south by the basaltic platforms, and fronte by the long range of the snow-clad Cordillera. But w viewed these grand mountains with regret, for we wer obliged to imagine their nature and productions, instead o standing, as we had hoped, on their summits. Besides th useless loss of time which an attempt to ascend the river an higher would have cost us, we had already been for som days on half allowance of bread. This, although reall enough for reasonable men, was, after a hard day's march rather scanty food: a light stomach and an easy digestio are good things to talk about, but very unpleasant in practice.
5th. -- Before sunrise we commenced our descent. W shot down the stream with great rapidity, generally at th rate of ten knots an hour. In this one day we effected wha 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 b dissatisfied; but to me the ascent afforded a most interestin section of the great tertiary formation of Patagonia.
On March 1st, 1833, and again on March 16th, 1834, th Beagle anchored in Berkeley Sound, in East Falkland Island This archipelago is situated in nearly the same latitude wit the mouth of the Strait of Magellan; it covers a space o 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 an seized them. The Englishman who was left in charge o the flag was consequently murdered. A British officer wa next sent, unsupported by any power: and when we arrived we found him in charge of a population, of which rathe 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 ridg of grey quartz rock breaks through the smooth surface Every one has heard of the climate of these regions; i may be compared to that which is experienced at the heigh of between one and two thousand feet, on the mountains o North Wales; having however less sunshine and less frost but more wind and rain. [4]
16th. -- I will now describe a short excursion which made round a part of this island. In the morning I starte with six horses and two Gauchos: the latter were capita men for the purpose, and well accustomed to living on thei 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 interestin than our day's ride. The country is uniformly the sam undulating moorland; the surface being covered by ligh brown withered grass and a few very small shrubs, al springing out of an elastic peaty soil. In the valleys her and there might be seen a small flock of wild geese, an everywhere the ground was so soft that the snipe were abl to feed. Besides these two birds there were few others There is one main range of hills, nearly two thousand fee in height, and composed of quartz rock, the rugged and barren crests of which gave us some trouble to cross. On th south side we came to the best country for wild cattle; w met, however, no great number, for they had been latel much harassed.
In the evening we came across a small herd. One of m 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 spo where the balls were left, while at full gallop, he uncoile his lazo, and after a most severe chase, again came up t the cow, and caught her round the horns. The other Gauch had gone on ahead with the spare horses, so that St. Jag 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 sh would not move, my horse, from having been trained, woul canter up, and with his chest give her a violent push. Bu when on level ground it does not appear an easy job fo one man to kill a beast mad with terror. Nor would it b so, if the horse, when left to itself without its rider, di not soon learn, for its own safety, to keep the lazo tight so that, if the cow or ox moves forward, the horse move just as quickly forward; otherwise, it stands motionles leaning on one side. This horse, however, was a youn one, and would not stand still, but gave in to the cow as sh struggled. It was admirable to see with what dexterity St Jago dodged behind the beast, till at last he contrived t give the fatal touch to the main tendon of the hind le after which, without much difficulty, he drove his knif into the head of the spinal marrow, and the cow droppe as if struck by lightning. He cut off pieces of flesh wit the skin to it, but without any bones, sufficient for ou expedition. We then rode on to our sleeping-place, an had for supper "carne con cuero," or meat roasted with th skin on it. This is as superior to common beef as veniso is to mutton. A large circular piece taken from the bac is roasted on the embers with the hide downwards and i 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 bee celebrated in London.
During the night it rained, and the next day (17th) wa very stormy, with much hail and snow. We rode across th island to the neck of land which joins the Rincon del Tor (the great peninsula at the S. W. extremity) to the rest o the island. From the great number of cows which hav been killed, there is a large proportion of bulls. These wander about single, or two and three together, and are ver savage. I never saw such magnificent beasts; they equalle in the size of their huge heads and necks the Grecian marbl sculptures. Capt. Sulivan informs me that the hide of a average-sized bull weighs forty-seven pounds, whereas hide of this weight, less thoroughly dried, is considered a a very heavy one at Monte Video. The young bulls generally run away, for a short distance; but the old ones do no stir a step, except to rush at man and horse; and man horses have been thus killed. An old bull crossed a bogg stream, and took his stand on the opposite side to us; w in vain tried to drive him away, and failing, were oblige to make a large circuit. The Gauchos in revenge determined to emasculate him and render him for the futur harmless. It was very interesting to see how art completel mastered force. One lazo was thrown over his horns as h rushed at the horse, and another round his hind legs: in minute the monster was stretched powerless on the ground After the lazo has once been drawn tightly round the horn of a furious animal, it does not at first appear an easy thin to disengage it again without killing the beast: nor, I apprehend, would it be so if the man was by himself. By th aid, however, of a second person throwing his lazo so as t 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 laz from the horns, and then quietly mount his horse; but th moment the second man, by backing ever so little, relaxe the strain, the lazo slips off the legs of the struggling beast which then rises free, shakes himself, and vainly rushes a his antagonist.
During our whole ride we saw only one troop of wil horses. These animals, as well as the cattle, were introduce by the French in 1764, since which time both have greatl increased. It is a curious fact, that the horses have neve left the eastern end of the island, although there is no natural boundary to prevent them from roaming, and that par 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 ar accustomed. Considering that the island does not appea fully stocked, and that there are no beasts of prey, I wa particularly curious to know what has checked their originally rapid increase. That in a limited island some chec would sooner or later supervene, is inevitable; but why ha the increase of the horse been checked sooner than that o the cattle? Capt. Sulivan has taken much pains for m in this inquiry. The Gauchos employed here attribute i chiefly to the stallions constantly roaming from place t place, and compelling the mares to accompany them, whethe or not the young foals are able to follow. One Gaucho tol Capt. Sulivan that he had watched a stallion for a whol hour, violently kicking and biting a mare till he force her to leave her foal to its fate. Capt. Sulivan can so fa corroborate this curious account, that he has several time found young foals dead, whereas he has never found a dea calf. Moreover, the dead bodies of full-grown horses ar more frequently found, as if more subject to disease o accidents, than those of the cattle. From the softness o the ground their hoofs often grow irregularly to a grea length, and this causes lameness. The predominant colour are roan and iron-grey. All the horses bred here, both tam and wild, are rather small-sized, though generally in goo condition; and they have lost so much strength, that the are unfit to be used in taking wild cattle with the lazo: i consequence, it is necessary to go to the great expense o importing fresh horses from the Plata. At some futur period the southern hemisphere probably will have its bree of Falkland ponies, as the northern has its Shetland breed.
The cattle, instead of having degenerated like the horse seem, as before remarked, to have increased in size; an they are much more numerous than the horses Capt. Sulivan informs me that they vary much less in the genera form of their bodies and in the shape of their horns tha English cattle. In colour they differ much; and it is a remarkable circumstance, that in different parts of this on small island, different colours predominate. Round Moun 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 o Choiseul Sound (which almost divides the island into tw parts), white beasts with black heads and feet are the mos common: in all parts black, and some spotted animals ma be observed. Capt. Sulivan remarks, that the difference i the prevailing colours was so obvious, that in looking fo the herds near Port Pleasant, they appeared from a lon distance like black spots, whilst south of Choiseul Soun they appeared like white spots on the hill-sides. Capt. Sulivan thinks that the herds do not mingle; and it is a singula fact, that the mouse-coloured cattle, though living on th high land, calve about a month earlier in the season tha the other coloured beasts on the lower land. It is interesting thus to find the once domesticated cattle breakin into three colours, of which some one colour would in al probability ultimately prevail over the others, if the herd 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 larg parts of the island. Yet, like the horses, they are confine within certain limits; for they have not crossed the centra chain of hills, nor would they have extended even so far a its base, if, as the Gauchos informed me, small colonies ha not been carried there. I should not have supposed tha these animals, natives of northern Africa, could have existe in a climate so humid as this, and which enjoys so littl sunshine that even wheat ripens only occasionally. It i asserted that in Sweden, which any one would have though a more favourable climate, the rabbit cannot live out o doors. The first few pairs, moreover, had here to conten against pre-existing enemies, in the fox and some larg hawks. The French naturalists have considered the black variety a distinct species, and called it Lepus Magellanicus. [5 They imagined that Magellan, when talking of an anima 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. Th Gauchos laughed at the idea of the black kind being different from the grey, and they said that at all events it ha not extended its range any further than the grey kind; tha the two were never found separate; and that they readil bred together, and produced piebald offspring. Of the latte I now possess a specimen, and it is marked about the hea differently from the French specific description. This circumstance shows how cautious naturalists should be i making species; for even Cuvier, on looking at the skul of one of these rabbits, thought it was probably distinct!
The only quadruped native to the island [6]; is a large wolf like fox (Canis antarcticus), which is common to both Eas 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, al maintain that no such animal is found in any part of Sout America.
Molina, from a similarity in habits, thought that thi was the same with his "culpeu;" [7] but I have seen both and they are quite distinct. These wolves are well know from Byron's account of their tameness and curiosity, whic the sailors, who ran into the water to avoid them, mistoo for fierceness. To this day their manners remain the same They have been observed to enter a tent, and actually pul some meat from beneath the head of a sleeping seaman. Th Gauchos also have frequently in the evening killed them by holding out a piece of meat in one hand, and in the othe a knife ready to stick them. As far as I am aware, ther is no other instance in any part of the world, of so smal a mass of broken land, distant from a continent, possessin so large an aboriginal quadruped peculiar to itself. Thei numbers have rapidly decreased; they are already banishe from that half of the island which lies to the eastward o the neck of land between St. Salvador Bay and Berkele Sound. Within a very few years after these islands shal have become regularly settled, in all probability this fo 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 hea 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 nearl 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 thei suppers.
18th. -- It rained during nearly the whole day. At nigh we managed, however, with our saddle-cloths to keep ourselves pretty well dry and warm; but the ground on whic 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' ride. I have in another part stated how singular it is tha there should be absolutely no trees on these islands, althoug Tierra del Fuego is covered by one large forest. Th largest bush in the island (belonging to the family of Compositae) is scarcely so tall as our gorse. The best fuel i afforded by a green little bush about the size of commo heath, which has the useful property of burning while fres and green. It was very surprising to see the Gauchos, i the midst of rain and everything soaking wet, with nothin more than a tinder-box and a piece of rag, immediately mak a fire. They sought beneath the tufts of grass and bushe for a few dry twigs, and these they rubbed into fibres; the surrounding them with coarser twigs, something like a bird' nest, they put the rag with its spark of fire in the middl and covered it up. The nest being then held up to th wind, by degrees it smoked more and more, and at las burst out in flames. I do not think any other method woul have had a chance of succeeding with such damp materials.
19th. -- Each morning, from not having ridden for som time previously, I was very stiff. I was surprised to hea the Gauchos, who have from infancy almost lived on horseback, say that, under similar circumstances, they alway suffer. St. Jago told me, that having been confined for thre months by illness, he went out hunting wild cattle, and i consequence, for the next two days, his thighs were so stif that he was obliged to lie in bed. This shows that the Gauchos, although they do not appear to do so, yet really mus exert much muscular effort in riding. The hunting wil cattle, in a country so difficult to pass as this is on accoun of the swampy ground, must be very hard work. Th Gauchos say they often pass at full speed over ground whic would be impassable at a slower pace; in the same manne as a man is able to skate over thin ice. When hunting, th party endeavours to get as close as possible to the herd with out being discovered. Each man carries four or five pair o the bolas; these he throws one after the other at as man cattle, which, when once entangled, are left for some day till they become a little exhausted by hunger and struggling They are then let free and driven towards a small herd o 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 thei 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 surfac of the whole country was swampy. I suppose my horse fel at least a dozen times, and sometimes the whole six horse were floundering in the mud together. All the little stream are bordered by soft peat, which makes it very difficult fo the horses to leap them without falling. To complete ou discomforts we were obliged to cross the head of a cree of the sea, in which the water was as high as our horses backs; and the little waves, owing to the violence of th wind, broke over us, and made us very wet and cold. Eve the iron-framed Gauchos professed themselves glad whe they reached the settlement, after our little excursion.
The geological structure of these islands is in mos respects simple. The lower country consists of clay-slat and sandstone, containing fossils, very closely related to, bu not identical with, those found in the Silurian formation of Europe; the hills are formed of white granular quart rock. The strata of the latter are frequently arched wit perfect symmetry, and the appearance of some of the masse is in consequence most singular. Pernety [8] has devote several pages to the description of a Hill of Ruins, th successive strata of which he has justly compared to th seats of an amphitheatre. The quartz rock must have bee quite pasty when it underwent such remarkable flexure without being shattered into fragments. As the quart insensibly passes into the sandstone, it seems probable tha the former owes its origin to the sandstone having bee heated to such a degree that it became viscid, and upon cooling crystallized. While in the soft state it must have bee pushed up through the overlying beds.
In many parts of the island the bottoms of the valleys ar covered in an extraordinary manner by myriads of grea loose angular fragments of the quartz rock, forming "stream of stones." These have been mentioned with surprise b every voyager since the time of Pernety. The blocks ar not waterworn, their angles being only a little blunted; the vary in size from one or two feet in diameter to ten, or eve more than twenty times as much. They are not throw together into irregular piles, but are spread out into leve sheets or great streams. It is not possible to ascertain thei thickness, but the water of small streamlets can be hear trickling through the stones many feet below the surface The actual depth is probably great, because the crevice between the lower fragments must long ago have been fille up with sand. The width of these sheets of stones varie from a few hundred feet to a mile; but the peaty soil dail encroaches on the borders, and even forms islets whereve a few fragments happen to lie close together. In a valle south of Berkeley Sound, which some of our party calle the "great valley of fragments," it was necessary to cros an uninterrupted band half a mile wide, by jumping fro one pointed stone to another. So large were the fragments that being overtaken by a shower of rain, I readily foun shelter beneath one of them.
Their little inclination is the most remarkable circumstance in these "streams of stones." On the hill-sides I hav 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 th angle, but to give a common illustration, I may say that th 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 eve extended to the very crest of the hill. On these crests hug masses, exceeding in dimensions any small building, seeme to stand arrested in their headlong course: there, also, th curved strata of the archways lay piled on each other, lik the ruins of some vast and ancient cathedral. In endeavouring to describe these scenes of violence one is tempted to pas from one simile to another. We may imagine that stream of white lava had flowed from many parts of the mountain into the lower country, and that when solidified they had bee rent by some enormous convulsion into myriads of fragments. The expression "streams of stones," which immediately occurred to every one, conveys the same idea. Thes 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 on range (about 700 feet above the sea) a great arched fragment, lying on its convex side, or back downwards. Mus we believe that it was fairly pitched up in the air, and thu turned? Or, with more probability, that there existed formerly a part of the same range more elevated than the poin on which this monument of a great convulsion of nature no lies. As the fragments in the valleys are neither rounde nor the crevices filled up with sand, we must infer that th period of violence was subsequent to the land having bee raised above the waters of the sea. In a transverse sectio within these valleys, the bottom is nearly level, or rises bu very little towards either side. Hence the fragments appea to have travelled from the head of the valley; but in realit it seems more probable that they have been hurled down fro the nearest slopes; and that since, by a vibratory movemen of overwhelming force, [9] the fragments have been levelle into one continuous sheet. If during the earthquake [10] whic in 1835 overthrew Concepcion, in Chile, it was thought wonderful that small bodies should have been pitched a fe inches from the ground, what must we say to a movemen which has caused fragments many tons in weight, to mov onwards like so much sand on a vibrating board, and fin their level? I have seen, in the Cordillera of the Andes, th evident marks where stupendous mountains have been broke into pieces like so much thin crust, and the strata thrown o their vertical edges; but never did any scene, like thes "streams of stones," so forcibly convey to my mind the ide of a convulsion, of which in historical records we might i vain seek for any counterpart: yet the progress of knowledg will probably some day give a simple explanation of thi 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 the must formerly, from the accounts of the old navigators have been much more so. One day I observed a cormoran playing with a fish which it had caught. Eight times successively the bird let its prey go, then dived after it, an although in deep water, brought it each time to the surface In the Zoological Gardens I have seen the otter treat a fis in the same manner, much as a cat does a mouse: I do no know of any other instance where dame Nature appears s wilfully cruel. Another day, having placed myself betwee a penguin (Aptenodytes demersa) and the water, I was muc amused by watching its habits. It was a brave bird; and til reaching the sea, it regularly fought and drove me backwards Nothing less than heavy blows would have stopped him; ever inch he gained he firmly kept, standing close before me erec and determined. When thus opposed he continually rolle his head from side to side, in a very odd manner, as if th power of distinct vision lay only in the anterior and basa part of each eye. This bird is commonly called the jackas penguin, from its habit, while on shore, of throwing its hea backwards, and making a loud strange noise, very like th braying of an ass; but while at sea, and undisturbed, its not 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 move so very quickly that it might easily be mistaken for a quadruped. When at sea and fishing, it comes to the surface fo the purpose of breathing with such a spring, and dives agai so instantaneously, that I defy any one at first sight to b sure that it was not a fish leaping for sport.
Two kinds of geese frequent the Falklands. The uplan species (Anas Magellanica) is common, in pairs and in smal flocks, throughout the island. They do not migrate, but buil on the small outlying islets. This is supposed to be fro fear of the foxes: and it is perhaps from the same caus that these birds, though very tame by day, are shy and wil in the dusk of the evening. They live entirely on vegetabl matter.
The rock-goose, so called from living exclusively on th sea-beach (Anas antarctica), is common both here and o the west coast of America, as far north as Chile. In the dee and retired channels of Tierra del Fuego, the snow-whit gander, invariably accompanied by his darker consort, an standing close by each other on some distant rocky point, i a common feature in the landscape.
In these islands a great loggerheaded duck or goose (Ana brachyptera), which sometimes weighs twenty-two pounds is very abundant. These birds were in former days called from their extraordinary manner of paddling and splashin upon the water, race-horses; but now they are named, muc more appropriately, steamers. Their wings are too small an weak to allow of flight, but by their aid, partly swimming an partly flapping the surface of the water, they move ver quickly. The manner is something like that by which th common house-duck escapes when pursued by a dog; but 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 th effect is exceedingly curious.
Thus we find in South America three birds which use thei wings for other purposes besides flight; the penguins as fins the steamer as paddles, and the ostrich as sails: and th 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 sam 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, [11] bu they are of little general interest. I will mention only on class of facts, relating to certain zoophytes in the more highl organized division of that class. Several genera (Flustra Eschara, Cellaria, Crisia, and others) agree in having singular moveable organs (like those of Flustra avicularia, foun in the European seas) attached to their cells. The organ, i the greater number of cases, very closely resembles the hea of a vulture; but the lower mandible can be opened muc wider than in a real bird's beak. The head itself possesse considerable powers of movement, by means of a short neck In one zoophyte the head itself was fixed, but the lower ja free: in another it was replaced by a triangular hood, with beautifully-fitted trap-door, which evidently answered to th lower mandible. In the greater number of species, each cel 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 th cells, these organs did not appear in the least affected. Whe one of the vulture-like heads was cut off from the cell, th lower mandible retained its power of opening and closing Perhaps the most singular part of their structure is, tha when there were more than two rows of cells on a branch the central cells were furnished with these appendages, o only one-fourth the size of the outside ones. Their movements varied according to the species; but in some I neve saw the least motion; while others, with the lower mandibl generally wide open, oscillated backwards and forwards a the rate of about five seconds each turn, others moved rapidly and by starts. When touched with a needle, the bea generally seized the point so firmly, that the whole branc might be shaken.
These bodies have no relation whatever with the production of the eggs or gemmules, as they are formed before th young polypi appear in the cells at the end of the growin branches; as they move independently of the polypi, and d not appear to be in any way connected with them; and a they differ in size on the outer and inner rows of cells, I hav little doubt, that in their functions, they are related rathe to the horny axis of the branches than to the polypi in th cells. The fleshy appendage at the lower extremity of th sea-pen (described at Bahia Blanca) also forms part of th zoophyte, as a whole, in the same manner as the roots of tree form part of the whole tree, and not of the individua leaf or flower-buds.
In another elegant little coralline (Crisia?), each cell wa furnished with a long-toothed bristle, which had the powe of moving quickly. Each of these bristles and each of th vulture-like heads generally moved quite independently o 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 o thousands of distinct polypi, as in any single animal. Th case, indeed, is not different from that of the sea-pens, which when touched, drew themselves into the sand on the coast o Bahia Blanca. I will state one other instance of unifor action, though of a very different nature, in a zoophyt closely allied to Clytia, and therefore very simply organized Having kept a large tuft of it in a basin of salt-water, whe it was dark I found that as often as I rubbed any part of branch, the whole became strongly phosphorescent with green light: I do not think I ever saw any object more beautifully so. But the remarkable circumstance was, that th flashes of light always proceeded up the branches, from th base towards the extremities.
The examination of these compound animals was alway very interesting to me. What can be more remarkable tha 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, sometime possess organs capable of movement and independent of th polypi. Surprising as this union of separate individuals in common stock must always appear, every tree displays th same fact, for buds must be considered as individual plants It is, however, natural to consider a polypus, furnished wit 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 bod 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 reflectin on the production of two distinct creatures by bisecting single one with a knife, or where Nature herself perform the task of bisection. We may consider the polypi in zoophyte, or the buds in a tree, as cases where the divisio of the individual has not been completely effected. Certainl in the case of trees, and judging from analogy in that o corallines, the individuals propagated by buds seem mor intimately related to each other, than eggs or seeds are t their parents. It seems now pretty well established tha plants propagated by buds all partake of a common duratio of life; and it is familiar to every one, what singular an numerous peculiarities are transmitted with certainty, b buds, layers, and grafts, which by seminal propagation neve or only casually reappear.
[1] The desserts of Syria are characterized, according to Volney (tom. i. p. 351), by woody bushes, numerous rats, gazelles and hares. In the landscape of Patagonia, the guanaco replaces the gazelle, and the agouti the hare.
[2] I noticed that several hours before any one of the condors died, all the lice, with which it was infested, crawled to the outside feathers. I was assured that this always happens.
[3] London's Magazine of Nat. Hist., vol. vii.
[4] From accounts published since our voyage, and more especially from several interesting letters from Capt. Sulivan, R. N., employed on the survey, it appears that we took an exaggerated view of the badness of the climate on these islands. But when I reflect on the almost universal covering of peat, and on the fact of wheat seldom ripening here, I can hardly believe that the climate in summer is so fine and dry as it has lately been represented.
[5] Lesson's Zoology of the Voyage of the Coquille, tom. i. p. 168. All the early voyagers, and especially Bougainville, distinctly state that the wolf-like fox was the only native animal on the island. The distinction of the rabbit as a species, is taken from peculiarities in the fur, from the shape of the head, and from the shortness of the ears. I may here observe that the difference between the Irish and English hare rests upon nearly similar characters, only more strongly marked.
[6] I have reason, however, to suspect that there is a field- mouse. The common European rat and mouse have roamed far from the habitations of the settlers. The common hog has also run wild on one islet; all are of a black colour: the boars are very fierce, and have great trunks.
[7] The "culpeu" is the Canis Magellanicus brought home by Captain King from the Strait of Magellan. It is common in Chile.
[8] Pernety, Voyage aux Isles Malouines, p. 526.
[9] "Nous n'avons pas ete moins saisis d'etonnement a la vue de l'innombrable quantite de pierres de touts grandeurs, bouleversees les unes sur les autres, et cependent rangees, comme si elles avoient ete amoncelees negligemment pour remplir des ravins. On ne se lassoit pas d'admirer les effets prodigieux de la nature." -- Pernety, p. 526.
[10] An inhabitant of Mendoza, and hence well capable of judging, assured me that, during the several years he had resided on these islands, he had never felt the slightest shock of an earthquake.
[11] I was surprised to find, on counting the eggs of a large white Doris (this sea-slug was three and a half inches long), how extraordinarily numerous they were. From two to five eggs (each three-thousandths of an inch in diameter) were contained in spherical little case. These were arranged two deep in transverse rows forming a ribbon. The ribbon adhered by its edge to the rock in an oval spire. One which I found, measured nearly twenty inches in length and half in breadth. By counting how many balls were contained in a tenth of an inch in the row, and how many rows in an equal length of the ribbon, on the most moderate computation there were six hundred thousand eggs. Yet this Doris was certainly not very common; although I was often searching under the stones, I saw only seven individuals. No fallacy is more common with naturalists, than that the numbers of an individual species depend on its powers of propagation.
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