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Chapter VIII
(PLATE 37. FUEGIANS AND WIGWAMS.)
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 Organisation constant.
Change in the Zoology of America.
Causes of Extinction.
BANDA ORIENTAL AND PATAGONIA.
Having been delayed for nearly a fortnight in the city, I was glad
to escape on board a packet bound for Monte Video. A town in a
state of blockade must always be a disagreeable place of residence;
in this case moreover there were 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 14, 1833.
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 Jos‚, 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 have called it
level. The country is a series of undulations, in themselves
perhaps not absolutely great, but, as compared to the plains of St.
Fé, real mountains. From these inequalities there is an abundance
of small rivulets, and the turf is green and luxuriant.
NOVEMBER 17, 1833.
We crossed the Rozario, which was deep and rapid, and passing the
village of Colla, arrived at mid-day at Colonia del Sacramiento.
The distance is twenty leagues, through a country covered with fine
grass, but poorly stocked with cattle or inhabitants. I was invited
to sleep at Colonia, and to accompany on the following day a
gentleman to his 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 stable 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.
NOVEMBER 18, 1833.
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
sterling, and he only wanted 500 pounds sterling 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 recognised by a few peculiarly marked animals, and
its number is known: so that, one being lost out of ten thousand,
it is perceived by its absence from one of the tropillas. During a
stormy night the cattle all mingle together; but the next morning
the tropillas separate as before; so that each animal must know its
fellow out of ten thousand others.
On two occasions I met with in this province some oxen of a very
curious breed, called nãta 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. (8/1. Mr. Waterhouse has drawn up a
detailed description of this head, which I hope he will publish in
some Journal.) 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 civilised 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 one of the niata breed,
characterises, as I am informed by Dr. Falconer, that great extinct
ruminant of India, the Sivatherium. (8/2. A nearly similar
abnormal, but I do not know whether hereditary, structure has been
observed in the carp, and likewise in the crocodile of the Ganges:
"Histoire des Anomalies" par M. Isid. Geoffroy St. Hilaire tome 1
page 244.) 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 Se¤or 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 19, 1833.
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 projecting headland on the banks of the
river, called Punta Gorda. On the way we tried to find a jaguar.
There were plenty of fresh tracks, and we visited the trees on
which they are said to sharpen their claws; but we did not succeed
in disturbing one. From this point the Rio Uruguay presented to our
view a 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.
NOVEMBER 21, 1833.
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 22, 1833.
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 crystallised 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. (8/3. M. A. d'Orbigny
has given nearly a similar account of these dogs, tome 1 page 175.)
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 forefinger 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 racehorses 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 26, 1833.
I set out on my return in a direct line for Monte Video. Having
heard of some giant's bones at a neighbouring farmhouse on the
Sarandis, a small stream entering the Rio Negro, I rode there
accompanied by my host, and purchased for the value of
eighteenpence the head of the Toxodon. (8/4. I must express my
obligation to Mr. Keane, at whose house I was staying on the
Berquelo, and to Mr. Lumb at Buenos Ayres, for without their
assistance these valuable remains would never have reached
England.) 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 countrymen, are very superior to those who reside in
the towns. The Gaucho is invariably most obliging, polite, and
hospitable: I did not meet with even one instance of rudeness or
inhospitality. He is modest, both respecting himself and country,
but at the same time a spirited, bold fellow. On the other hand,
many robberies are committed, and there is much bloodshed: the
habit of constantly wearing the knife is the chief cause of the
latter. It is lamentable to hear how many lives are lost in
trifling quarrels. In fighting, each 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 firearms; 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 6, 1833.
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 farther, 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 (8/5. Lyell's "Principles of Geology"
volume 3 page 63.); 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 offshore 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. (8/6. The flies which
frequently accompany a ship for some days on its passage from
harbour to harbour, wandering from the vessel, are soon lost, and
all disappear.)
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 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. Fé, 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
quite 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 indoors 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. (8/7.
Mr. Blackwall in his "Researches in Zoology" has many excellent
observations on the habits of spiders.)
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 degrees, 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 degrees 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 farther 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 by Ehrenberg,
on the phosphorescence of the sea, it is almost superfluous on my
part to make any observations on the subject. (8/8. An abstract is
given in No. 4 of the "Magazine of Zoology and Botany.") 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 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 23, 1833.
We arrived at Port Desire, situated in latitude 47 degrees, 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 colonise this side of America south of 41 degrees 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.
(PLATE 38. OPUNTIA DARWINII.)
The zoology of Patagonia is as limited as its Flora. (8/9. I found
here a species of cactus, described by Professor Henslow, under the
name of Opuntia Darwinii "Magazine of Zoology and Botany" volume 1
page 466, which was remarkable for the irritability of the stamens,
when I inserted either a piece of stick or the end of my finger in
the flower. The segments of the perianth also closed on the pistil,
but more slowly than the stamens. Plants of this family, generally
considered as tropical, occur in North America "Lewis and Clarke's
Travels" page 221, in the same high latitude as here, namely, in
both cases, in 47 degrees.) 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.
(8/10. These insects were not uncommon beneath stones. I found one
cannibal scorpion quietly devouring another.) 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,
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