Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage Round the World of H.M.S. Beagle Under the Command of Captain Fitz Roy, R.N.
by Charles Darwin · English · Gutenberg #3704 · 1,255,852 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage Round the World of H.M.S. Beagle Under the Command of Captain Fitz Roy, R.N.
Author: Charles Darwin
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES INTO THE NATURAL HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRIES VISITED DURING THE VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD OF H.M.S. BEAGLE UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN FITZ ROY, R.N. ***
A NATURALIST’S VOYAGE
ROUND THE WORLD
First Edition May 1860
Second Edition May 1870
Third Edition February 1872
Fourth Edition July 1874
Fifth Edition March 1876
Sixth Edition January 1879
Seventh Edition May 1882
Eighth Edition February 1884
Ninth Edition August 1886
Tenth Edition January 1888
Eleventh Edition January 1890
Reprinted June 1913
[Illustration: H.M.S. BEAGLE IN STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. MT SARMIENTO IN
THE DISTANCE.]
Journal of Researches
into the
Natural History & Geology
of the
countries visited during the voyage
round the world of H.M.S. _Beagle_
under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R.N.
By Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S.
AUTHOR OF ‘ORIGIN OF SPECIES,’ ETC.
[Illustration]
A new edition with illustrations by R. T. Pritchett
of places visited and objects described.
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1913.
TO
CHARLES LYELL, ESQ., F.R.S.
This second edition is dedicated with grateful pleasure, as an
acknowledgment that the chief part of whatever scientific merit this
journal and the other works of the author may possess, has been derived
from studying the well-known and admirable
PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY.
PREFATORY NOTICE TO THE ILLUSTRATED EDITION.
This work was described, on its first appearance, by a writer in the
_Quarterly Review_ as “One of the most interesting narratives of
voyaging that it has fallen to our lot to take up, and one which must
always occupy a distinguished place in the history of scientific
navigation.”
This prophecy has been amply verified by experience; the extraordinary
minuteness and accuracy of Mr. Darwin’s observations, combined with the
charm and simplicity of his descriptions, have ensured the popularity
of this book with all classes of readers—and that popularity has even
increased in recent years. No attempt, however, has hitherto been made
to produce an illustrated edition of this valuable work: numberless
places and objects are mentioned and described, but the difficulty of
obtaining authentic and original representations of them drawn for the
purpose has never been overcome until now.
Most of the views given in this work are from sketches made on the spot
by Mr. Pritchett, with Mr. Darwin’s book by his side. Some few of the
others are taken from engravings which Mr. Darwin had himself selected
for their interest as illustrating his voyage, and which have been
kindly lent by his son.
Mr. Pritchett’s name is well known in connection with the voyages of
the _Sunbeam_ and _Wanderer_, and it is believed that the
illustrations, which have been chosen and verified with the utmost care
and pains, will greatly add to the value and interest of the “VOYAGE OF
A NATURALIST.”
JOHN MURRAY.
_December_ 1889.
AUTHOR’S PREFACE.
I have stated in the preface to the first Edition of this work, and in
the _Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle_, that it was in consequence
of a wish expressed by Captain Fitz Roy, of having some scientific
person on board, accompanied by an offer from him of giving up part of
his own accommodations, that I volunteered my services, which received,
through the kindness of the hydrographer, Captain Beaufort, the
sanction of the Lords of the Admiralty. As I feel that the
opportunities which I enjoyed of studying the Natural History of the
different countries we visited have been wholly due to Captain Fitz
Roy, I hope I may here be permitted to repeat my expression of
gratitude to him; and to add that, during the five years we were
together, I received from him the most cordial friendship and steady
assistance. Both to Captain Fitz Roy and to all the Officers of the
_Beagle_[1] I shall ever feel most thankful for the undeviating
kindness with which I was treated during our long voyage.
[1] I must take this opportunity of returning my sincere thanks to Mr.
Bynoe, the surgeon of the _Beagle_, for his very kind attention to me
when I was ill at Valparaiso.
This volume contains, in the form of a Journal, a history of our
voyage, and a sketch of those observations in Natural History and
Geology, which I think will possess some interest for the general
reader. I have in this edition largely condensed and corrected some
parts, and have added a little to others, in order to render the volume
more fitted for popular reading; but I trust that naturalists will
remember that they must refer for details to the larger publications
which comprise the scientific results of the Expedition. The _Zoology
of the Voyage of the Beagle_ includes an account of the Fossil
Mammalia, by Professor Owen; of the Living Mammalia, by Mr. Waterhouse;
of the Birds, by Mr. Gould; of the Fish, by the Reverend L. Jenyns; and
of the Reptiles, by Mr. Bell. I have appended to the descriptions of
each species an account of its habits and range. These works, which I
owe to the high talents and disinterested zeal of the above
distinguished authors, could not have been undertaken had it not been
for the liberality of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s
Treasury, who, through the representation of the Right Honourable the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been pleased to grant a sum of one
thousand pounds towards defraying part of the expenses of publication.
I have myself published separate volumes on the _Structure and
Distribution of Coral Reefs_; on the _ Volcanic Islands visited during
the Voyage of the Beagle_; and on the _Geology of South America._ The
sixth volume of the _ Geological Transactions_ contains two papers of
mine on the Erratic Boulders and Volcanic Phenomena of South America.
Messrs. Waterhouse, Walker, Newman, and White, have published several
able papers on the Insects which were collected, and I trust that many
others will hereafter follow. The plants from the southern parts of
America will be given by Dr. J. Hooker, in his great work on the Botany
of the Southern Hemisphere. The Flora of the Galapagos Archipelago is
the subject of a separate memoir by him, in the _ Linnean
Transactions._ The Reverend Professor Henslow has published a list of
the plants collected by me at the Keeling Islands; and the Reverend J.
M. Berkeley has described my cryptogamic plants.
I shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the great assistance which I
have received from several other naturalists in the course of this and
my other works; but I must be here allowed to return my most sincere
thanks to the Reverend Professor Henslow, who, when I was an
undergraduate at Cambridge, was one chief means of giving me a taste
for Natural History,—who, during my absence, took charge of the
collections I sent home, and by his correspondence directed my
endeavours,—and who, since my return, has constantly rendered me every
assistance which the kindest friend could offer.
DOWN, BROMLEY, KENT,
_June_ 1845.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Porto Praya — Ribeira Grande — Atmospheric Dust with Infusoria — Habits
of a Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish — St. Paul’s Rocks, non-volcanic —
Singular Incrustations — Insects the first Colonists of Islands —
Fernando Noronha — Bahia — Burnished Rocks — Habits of a Diodon —
Pelagic Confervæ and Infusoria — Causes of discoloured Sea.
CHAPTER II
Rio de Janeiro — Excursion north of Cape Frio — Great Evaporation —
Slavery — Botofogo Bay — Terrestrial Planariæ — Clouds on the
Corcovado — Heavy Rain — Musical Frogs — Phosphorescent insects —
Elater, springing powers of — Blue Haze — Noise made by a Butterfly —
Entomology — Ants — Wasp killing a Spider — Parasitical Spider —
Artifices of an Epeira — Gregarious Spider — Spider with an
unsymmetrical web.
CHAPTER III
Monte Video — Maldonado — Excursion to R. Polanco — Lazo and Bolas —
Partridges — Absence of trees — Deer — Capybara, or River Hog —
Tucutuco — Molothrus, cuckoo-like habits — Tyrant-flycatcher —
Mocking-bird — Carrion Hawks — Tubes formed by lightning — House
struck.
CHAPTER IV
Rio Negro — Estancias attacked by the Indians — Salt-Lakes — Flamingoes
— R. Negro to R. Colorado — Sacred Tree — Patagonian Hare — Indian
Families — General Rosas — Proceed to Bahia Blanca — Sand Dunes — Negro
Lieutenant — Bahia Blanca — Saline incrustations — Punta Alta —
Zorillo.
CHAPTER V
Bahia Blanca — Geology — Numerous gigantic extinct Quadrupeds — Recent
Extinction — Longevity of Species — Large Animals do not require a
luxuriant vegetation — Southern Africa — Siberian Fossils — Two Species
of Ostrich — Habits of Oven-bird — Armadilloes — Venomous Snake, Toad,
Lizard — Hybernation of Animals — Habits of Sea-Pen — Indian Wars and
Massacres — Arrowhead — Antiquarian Relic.
CHAPTER VI
Set out for Buenos Ayres — Rio Sauce — Sierra Ventana — Third Posta —
Driving Horses — Bolas — Partridges and Foxes — Features of the country
— Long-legged Plover — Teru-tero — Hail-storm — Natural enclosures in
the Sierra Tapalguen — Flesh of Puma — Meat Diet — Guardia del Monte —
Effects of cattle on the Vegetation — Cardoon — Buenos Ayres — Corral
where cattle are slaughtered.
CHAPTER VII
Excursion to St. Fé — Thistle Beds — Habits of the Bizcacha — Little
Owl — Saline streams — Level plains — Mastodon — St. Fé — Change in
landscape — Geology — Tooth of extinct Horse — Relation of the Fossil
and recent Quadrupeds of North and South America — Effects of a great
drought — Parana — Habits of the Jaguar — Scissor-beak — Kingfisher,
Parrot, and Scissor-tail — Revolution — Buenos Ayres — State of
Government.
CHAPTER VIII
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 — Aëronaut 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.
CHAPTER IX
Santa Cruz — Expedition up the River — Indians — Immense streams of
basaltic lava — Fragments not transported by the river — Excavation of
the valley — Condor, habits of — Cordillera — Erratic boulders of great
size — Indian relics — Return to the ship — Falkland Islands — Wild
horses, cattle, rabbits — Wolf-like fox — Fire made of bones — Manner
of hunting wild cattle — Geology — Streams of stones — Scenes of
violence — Penguin — Geese — Eggs of Doris — Compound animals.
CHAPTER X
Tierra del Fuego, first arrival — Good Success Bay — An account of the
Fuegians on board — Interview with the savages — Scenery of the forests
— Cape Horn — Wigwam Cove — Miserable condition of the savages —
Famines — Cannibals — Matricide — Religious feelings — Great Gale —
Beagle Channel — Ponsonby Sound — Build wigwams and settle the Fuegians
— Bifurcation of the Beagle Channel — Glaciers — Return to the Ship —
Second visit in the Ship to the Settlement — Equality of condition
amongst the natives.
CHAPTER XI
Strait of Magellan — Port Famine — Ascent of Mount Tarn — Forests —
Edible fungus — Zoology — Great Seaweed — Leave Tierra del Fuego —
Climate — Fruit-trees and productions of the southern coasts — Height
of snow-line on the Cordillera — Descent of glaciers to the sea —
Icebergs formed — Transportal of boulders — Climate and productions of
the Antarctic Islands — Preservation of frozen carcasses —
Recapitulation.
CHAPTER XII
Valparaiso — Excursion to the foot of the Andes — Structure of the land
— Ascend the Bell of Quillota — Shattered masses of greenstone —
Immense valleys — Mines — State of miners — Santiago — Hot-baths of
Cauquenes — Gold-mines — Grinding-mills — Perforated stones — Habits of
the Puma — El Turco and Tapacolo — Humming-birds.
CHAPTER XIII
Chiloe — General aspect — Boat excursion — Native Indians — Castro —
Tame fox — Ascend San Pedro — Chonos Archipelago — Peninsula of Tres
Montes — Granitic range — Boat-wrecked sailors — Low’s Harbour — Wild
potato — Formation of peat — Myopotamus, otter and mice — Cheucau and
Barking-bird — Opetiorhynchus — Singular character of ornithology —
Petrels.
CHAPTER XIV
San Carlos, Chiloe — Osorno in eruption, contemporaneously with
Aconcagua and Coseguina — Ride to Cucao — Impenetrable forests —
Valdivia — Indians — Earthquake — Concepcion — Great earthquake — Rocks
fissured — Appearance of the former towns — The sea black and boiling —
Direction of the vibrations — Stones twisted round — Great Wave —
Permanent Elevation of the land — Area of volcanic phenomena — The
connection between the elevatory and eruptive forces — Cause of
earthquakes — Slow elevation of mountain-chains.
CHAPTER XV
Valparaiso — Portillo Pass — Sagacity of mules — Mountain-torrents —
Mines, how discovered — Proofs of the gradual elevation of the
Cordillera — Effect of snow on rocks — Geological structure of the two
main ranges, their distinct origin and upheaval — Great subsidence —
Red snow — Winds — Pinnacles of snow — Dry and clear atmosphere —
Electricity — Pampas — Zoology of the opposite sides of the Andes —
Locusts — Great Bugs — Mendoza — Uspallata Pass — Silicified trees
buried as they grew — Incas Bridge — Badness of the passes exaggerated
— Cumbre — Casuchas — Valparaiso.
CHAPTER XVI
Coast-road to Coquimbo — Great loads carried by the miners — Coquimbo —
Earthquake — Step-formed terraces — Absence of recent deposits —
Contemporaneousness of the Tertiary formations — Excursion up the
valley — Road to Guasco — Deserts — Valley of Copiapó — Rain and
Earthquakes — Hydrophobia — The Despoblado — Indian ruins — Probable
change of climate — River-bed arched by an earthquake — Cold gales of
wind — Noises from a hill — Iquique — Salt alluvium — Nitrate of soda —
Lima — Unhealthy country — Ruins of Callao, overthrown by an earthquake
— Recent subsidence — Elevated shells on San Lorenzo, their
decomposition — Plain with embedded shells and fragments of pottery —
Antiquity of the Indian Race.
CHAPTER XVII
Galapagos Archipelago — The whole group volcanic — Number of craters —
Leafless bushes — Colony at Charles Island — James Island — Salt-lake
in crater — Natural history of the group — Ornithology, curious finches
— Reptiles — Great tortoises, habits of — Marine lizard, feeds on
seaweed — Terrestrial lizard, burrowing habits, herbivorous —
Importance of reptiles in the Archipelago — Fish, shells, insects —
Botany — American type of organisation — Differences in the species or
races on different islands — Tameness of the birds — Fear of man an
acquired instinct.
CHAPTER XVIII
Pass through the Low Archipelago — Tahiti — Aspect — Vegetation on the
mountains — View of Eimeo — Excursion into the interior — Profound
ravines — Succession of waterfalls — Number of wild useful plants —
Temperance of the inhabitants — Their moral state — Parliament convened
— New Zealand — Bay of Islands — Hippahs — Excursion to Waimate —
Missionary establishment — English weeds now run wild — Waiomio —
Funeral of a New Zealand woman — Sail for Australia.
CHAPTER XIX
Sydney — Excursion to Bathurst — Aspect of the woods — Party of natives
— Gradual extinction of the aborigines — Infection generated by
associated men in health — Blue Mountains — View of the grand gulf-like
valleys — Their origin and formation — Bathurst, general civility of
the lower orders — State of Society — Van Diemen’s Land — Hobart Town —
Aborigines all banished — Mount Wellington — King George’s Sound —
Cheerless aspect of the country — Bald Head, calcareous casts of
branches of trees — Party of natives — Leave Australia.
CHAPTER XX
Keeling Island — Singular appearance — Scanty Flora — Transport of
seeds — Birds and insects — Ebbing and flowing springs — Fields of dead
coral — Stones transported in the roots of trees — Great crab —
Stinging corals — Coral-eating fish — Coral formations — Lagoon islands
or atolls — Depth at which reef-building corals can live — Vast areas
interspersed with low coral islands — Subsidence of their foundations —
Barrier-reefs — Fringing-reefs — Conversion of fringing-reefs into
barrier-reefs, and into atolls — Evidence of changes in level —
Breaches in barrier-reefs — Maldiva atolls, their peculiar structure —
Dead and submerged reefs — Areas of subsidence and elevation —
Distribution of volcanoes — Subsidence slow and vast in amount.
CHAPTER XXI
Mauritius, beautiful appearance of — Great crateriform ring of
mountains — Hindoos — St. Helena — History of the changes in the
vegetation — Cause of the extinction of land-shells — Ascension —
Variation in the imported rats — Volcanic bombs — Beds of infusoria —
Bahia, Brazil — Splendour of tropical scenery — Pernambuco — Singular
reefs — Slavery — Return to England — Retrospect on our voyage.
List of Illustrations
Index
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
JOURNAL
Chapter I
Porto Praya—Ribeira Grande—Atmospheric Dust with Infusoria—Habits of a
Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish—St. Paul’s Rocks, non-volcanic—Singular
Incrustations—Insects the first Colonists of Islands—Fernando
Noronha—Bahia—Burnished Rocks—Habits of a Diodon—Pelagic Confervæ and
Infusoria—Causes of discoloured Sea.
ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS
After having been twice driven back by heavy south-western gales, Her
Majesty’s ship _Beagle_, a ten-gun brig, under the command of Captain
Fitz Roy, R.N., sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 1831.
The object of the expedition was to complete the survey of Patagonia
and Tierra del Fuego, commenced under Captain King in 1826 to 1830—to
survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and of some islands in the
Pacific—and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the
World. On the 6th of January we reached Teneriffe, but were prevented
landing, by fears of our bringing the cholera: the next morning we saw
the sun rise behind the rugged outline of the Grand Canary Island, and
suddenly illumine the Peak of
Teneriffe, whilst the lower parts were veiled in fleecy clouds. This
was the first of many delightful days never to be forgotten. On the
16th of January 1832 we anchored at Porto Praya, in St. Jago, the chief
island of the Cape de Verd archipelago.
The neighbourhood of Porto Praya, viewed from the sea, wears a desolate
aspect. The volcanic fires of a past age, and the scorching heat of a
tropical sun, have in most places rendered the soil unfit for
vegetation. The country rises in successive steps of table-land,
interspersed with some truncate conical hills, and the horizon is
bounded by an irregular chain of more lofty mountains. The scene, as
beheld through the hazy atmosphere of this climate, is one of great
interest; if, indeed, a person, fresh from sea, and who has just
walked, for the first time, in a grove of cocoa-nut trees, can be a
judge of anything but his own happiness. The island would generally be
considered as very uninteresting, but to any one accustomed only to an
English landscape, the novel aspect of an utterly sterile land
possesses a grandeur which more vegetation might spoil. A single green
leaf can scarcely be discovered over wide tracts of the lava plains;
yet flocks of goats, together with a few cows, contrive to exist. It
rains very seldom, but during a short portion of the year heavy
torrents fall, and immediately afterwards a light vegetation springs
out of every crevice. This soon withers; and upon such naturally formed
hay the animals live. It had not now rained for an entire year. When
the island was discovered, the immediate neighbourhood of Porto Praya
was clothed with trees,[1] the reckless destruction of which has caused
here, as at St. Helena, and at some of the Canary islands, almost
entire sterility. The broad, flat-bottomed valleys, many of which serve
during a few days only in the season as watercourses, are clothed with
thickets of leafless bushes. Few living creatures inhabit these
valleys. The commonest bird is a kingfisher (Dacelo Iagoensis), which
tamely sits on the branches of the castor-oil plant, and thence darts
on grasshoppers and lizards. It is brightly coloured, but not so
beautiful as the European species: in its flight, manners, and place of
habitation, which is generally in the driest valley, there is also a
wide difference.
[1] I state this on the authority of Dr. E. Dieffenbach, in his German
translation of the first edition of this Journal.
One day, two of the officers and myself rode to Ribeira Grande, a
village a few miles eastward of Porto Praya. Until we reached the
valley of St. Martin, the country presented its usual dull brown
appearance; but here, a very small rill of water produces a most
refreshing margin of luxuriant vegetation. In the course of an hour we
arrived at Ribeira Grande, and were surprised at the sight of a large
ruined fort and cathedral. This little town, before its harbour was
filled up, was the principal place in the island: it now presents a
melancholy, but very picturesque appearance. Having procured a black
Padre for a guide, and a Spaniard who had served in the Peninsular war
as an interpreter, we visited a collection of buildings, of which an
ancient church formed the principal part. It is here the governors and
captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some of the
tombstones recorded dates of the sixteenth century.[2] The heraldic
ornaments were the only things in this retired place that reminded us
of Europe. The church or chapel formed one side of a quadrangle, in the
middle of which a large clump of bananas were growing. On another side
was a hospital, containing about a dozen miserable-looking inmates.
[2] The Cape de Verd Islands were discovered in 1449. There was a
tombstone of a bishop with the date of 1571; and a crest of a hand and
dagger, dated 1497.
We returned to the Vênda to eat our dinners. A considerable number of
men, women, and children, all as black as jet, collected to watch us.
Our companions were extremely merry; and everything we said or did was
followed by their hearty laughter. Before leaving the town we visited
the cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the smaller church, but
boasts of a little organ, which sent forth singularly inharmonious
cries. We presented the black priest with a few shillings, and the
Spaniard, patting him on the head, said, with much candour, he thought
his colour made no great difference. We then returned, as fast as the
ponies would go, to Porto Praya.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo, situated near the
centre of the island. On a small plain which we crossed, a few stunted
acacias were growing; their tops had been bent by the steady
trade-wind, in a singular manner—some of them even at right angles to
their trunks. The direction
of the branches was exactly north-east by north, and south-west by
south, and these natural vanes must indicate the prevailing direction
of the force of the trade-wind. The travelling had made so little
impression on the barren soil, that we here missed our track, and took
that to Fuentes. This we did not find out till we arrived there; and we
were afterwards glad of our mistake. Fuentes is a pretty village, with
a small stream; and everything appeared to prosper well, excepting,
indeed, that which ought to do so most—its inhabitants. The black
children, completely naked, and looking very wretched, were carrying
bundles of firewood half as big as their own bodies.
Near Fuentes we saw a large flock of guinea-fowl—probably fifty or
sixty in number. They were extremely wary, and could not be approached.
They avoided us, like partridges on a rainy day in September, running
with their heads cocked up; and if pursued, they readily took to the
wing.
The scenery of St. Domingo possesses a beauty totally unexpected, from
the prevalent gloomy character of the rest of the island. The village
is situated at the bottom of a valley, bounded by lofty and jagged
walls of stratified lava. The black rocks afford a most striking
contrast with the bright green vegetation, which follows the banks of a
little stream of clear water. It happened to be a grand feast-day, and
the village was full of people. On our return we overtook a party of
about twenty young black girls, dressed in excellent taste; their black
skins and snow-white linen being set off by coloured turbans and large
shawls. As soon as we approached near, they suddenly all turned round,
and covering the path with their shawls, sung with great energy a wild
song, beating time with their hands upon their legs. We threw them some
vintéms, which were received with screams of laughter, and we left them
redoubling the noise of their song.
One morning the view was singularly clear; the distant mountains being
projected with the sharpest outline, on a heavy bank of dark blue
clouds. Judging from the appearance, and from similar cases in England,
I supposed that the air was saturated with moisture. The fact, however,
turned out quite the contrary. The hygrometer gave a difference of 29.6
degrees, between the temperature of the air, and the point at which dew
was precipitated. This difference was nearly double
that which I had observed on the previous mornings. This unusual degree
of atmospheric dryness was accompanied by continual flashes of
lightning. Is it not an uncommon case, thus to find a remarkable degree
of aerial transparency with such a state of weather?
Generally the atmosphere is hazy; and this is caused by the falling of
impalpably fine dust, which was found to have slightly injured the
astronomical instruments. The morning before we anchored at Porto
Praya, I collected a little packet of this brown-coloured fine dust,
which appeared to have been filtered from the wind by the gauze of the
vane at the masthead. Mr. Lyell has also given me four packets of dust
which fell on a vessel a few hundred miles northward of these islands.
Professor Ehrenberg[3] finds that this dust consists in great part of
infusoria with siliceous shields, and of the siliceous tissue of
plants. In five little packets which I sent him, he has ascertained no
less than sixty-seven different organic forms! The infusoria, with the
exception of two marine species, are all inhabitants of fresh-water. I
have found no less than fifteen different accounts of dust having
fallen on vessels when far out in the Atlantic. From the direction of
the wind whenever it has fallen, and from its having always fallen
during those months when the harmattan is known to raise clouds of dust
high into the atmosphere, we may feel sure that it all comes from
Africa. It is, however, a very singular fact, that, although Professor
Ehrenberg knows many species of infusoria peculiar to Africa, he finds
none of these in the dust which I sent him. On the other hand, he finds
in it two species which hitherto he knows as living only in South
America. The dust falls in such quantities as to dirty everything on
board, and to hurt people’s eyes; vessels even have run on shore owing
to the obscurity of the atmosphere. It has often fallen on ships when
several hundred, and even more than a thousand miles from the coast of
Africa, and at points sixteen hundred miles distant in a north and
south direction. In some dust which was collected on a vessel three
hundred miles from the land, I was much surprised to find particles of
stone above the thousandth of an inch square,
mixed with finer matter. After this fact one need not be surprised at
the diffusion of the far lighter and smaller sporules of cryptogamic
plants.
[3] I must take this opportunity of acknowledging the great kindness
with which this illustrious naturalist has examined many of my
specimens. I have sent (June 1845) a full account of the falling of
this dust to the Geological Society.
The geology of this island is the most interesting part of its natural
history. On entering the harbour, a perfectly horizontal white band in
the face of the sea cliff, may be seen running for some miles along the
coast, and at the height of about forty-five feet above the water. Upon
examination, this white stratum is found to consist of calcareous
matter, with numerous shells embedded, most or all of which now exist
on the neighbouring coast. It rests on ancient volcanic rocks, and has
been covered by a stream of basalt, which must have entered the sea
when the white shelly bed was lying at the bottom. It is interesting to
trace the changes, produced by the heat of the overlying lava, on the
friable mass, which in parts has been converted into a crystalline
limestone, and in other parts into a compact spotted stone. Where the
lime has been caught up by the scoriaceous fragments of the lower
surface of the stream, it is converted into groups of beautifully
radiated fibres resembling arragonite. The beds of lava rise in
successive gently-sloping plains, towards the interior, whence the
deluges of melted stone have originally proceeded. Within historical
times no signs of volcanic activity have, I believe, been manifested in
any part of St. Jago. Even the form of a crater can but rarely be
discovered on the summits of the many red cindery hills; yet the more
recent streams can be distinguished on the coast, forming lines of
cliffs of less height, but stretching out in advance of those belonging
to an older series: the height of the cliffs thus affording a rude
measure of the age of the streams.
During our stay, I observed the habits of some marine animals. A large
Aplysia is very common. This sea-slug is about five inches long; and is
of a dirty yellowish colour, veined with purple. On each side of the
lower surface, or foot, there is a broad membrane, which appears
sometimes to act as a ventilator, in causing a current of water to flow
over the dorsal branchiæ or lungs. It feeds on the delicate seaweeds
which grow among the stones in muddy and shallow water; and I found in
its stomach several small pebbles, as in the gizzard of a bird. This
slug, when disturbed, emits a very fine
purplish-red fluid, which stains the water for the space of a foot
around. Besides this means of defence, an acrid secretion, which is
spread over its body, causes a sharp, stinging sensation, similar to
that produced by the Physalia, or Portuguese man-of-war.
I was much interested, on several occasions, by watching the habits of
an Octopus, or cuttle-fish. Although common in the pools of water left
by the retiring tide, these animals were not easily caught. By means of
their long arms and suckers, they could drag their bodies into very
narrow crevices; and when thus fixed, it required great force to remove
them. At other times they darted tail first, with the rapidity of an
arrow, from one side of the pool to the other, at the same instant
discolouring the water with a dark chestnut-brown ink. These animals
also escape detection by a very extraordinary, chameleon-like power of
changing their colour. They appear to vary their tints according to the
nature of the ground over which they pass: when in deep water, their
general shade was brownish purple, but when placed on the land, or in
shallow water, this dark tint changed into one of a yellowish green.
The colour, examined more carefully, was a French grey, with numerous
minute spots of bright yellow: the former of these varied in intensity;
the latter entirely disappeared and appeared again by turns. These
changes were effected in such a manner that clouds, varying in tint
between a hyacinth red and a chestnut-brown,[4] were continually
passing over the body. Any part, being subjected to a slight shock of
galvanism, became almost black: a similar effect, but in a less degree,
was produced by scratching the skin with a needle. These clouds, or
blushes as they may be called, are said to be produced by the alternate
expansion and contraction of minute vesicles containing variously
coloured fluids.[5]
[4] So named according to Patrick Symes’s nomenclature.
[5] See _Encyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology_ article
“Cephalopoda.”
This cuttle-fish displayed its chameleon-like power both during the act
of swimming and whilst remaining stationary at the bottom. I was much
amused by the various arts to escape detection used by one individual,
which seemed fully aware that I was watching it. Remaining for a time
motionless, it would then stealthily advance an inch or two, like a cat
after a mouse; sometimes changing its colour: it thus proceeded, till
having
gained a deeper part, it darted away, leaving a dusky train of ink to
hide the hole into which it had crawled.
While looking for marine animals, with my head about two feet above the
rocky shore, I was more than once saluted by a jet of water,
accompanied by a slight grating noise. At first I could not think what
it was, but afterwards I found out that it was this cuttle-fish, which,
though concealed in a hole, thus often led me to its discovery. That it
possesses the power of ejecting water there is no doubt, and it
appeared to me that it could certainly take good aim by directing the
tube or siphon on the under side of its body. From the difficulty which
these animals have in carrying their heads, they cannot crawl with ease
when placed on the ground. I observed that one which I kept in the
cabin was slightly phosphorescent in the dark.
ST. PAUL’S ROCKS.—In crossing the Atlantic we hove-to, during the
morning of February 16th, 1832, close to the island of St. Paul’s. This
cluster of rocks is situated in 0° 58′ north latitude, and 29° 15′ west
longitude. It is 540 miles distant from the coast of America, and 350
from the island of Fernando Noronha. The highest point is only fifty
feet above the level of the sea, and the entire circumference is under
three-quarters of a mile. This small point rises abruptly out of the
depths of the ocean. Its mineralogical constitution is not simple; in
some parts the rock is of a cherty, in others of a feldspathic nature,
including thin veins of serpentine. It is a remarkable fact that all
the many small islands, lying far from any continent, in the Pacific,
Indian, and Atlantic Oceans, with the exception of the Seychelles and
this little point of rock, are, I believe, composed either of coral or
of erupted matter. The volcanic nature of these oceanic islands is
evidently an extension of that law, and the effect of those same
causes, whether chemical or mechanical, from which it results that a
vast majority of the volcanoes now in action stand either near
sea-coasts or as islands in the midst of the sea.
[Illustration]
The rocks of St. Paul appear from a distance of a brilliantly white
colour. This is partly owing to the dung of a vast multitude of
seafowl, and partly to a coating of a hard glossy substance with a
pearly lustre, which is intimately united to the surface of the rocks.
This, when examined with a lens, is
found to consist of numerous exceedingly thin layers, its total
thickness being about the tenth of an inch. It contains much animal
matter, and its origin, no doubt, is due to the action of the rain or
spray on the birds’ dung. Below some small masses of guano at
Ascension, and on the Abrolhos Islets, I found certain stalactitic
branching bodies, formed apparently in the same manner as the thin
white coating on these rocks. The branching bodies so closely resembled
in general appearance certain nulliporæ (a family of hard calcareous
sea-plants), that in lately looking hastily over my collection I did
not perceive the difference. The globular extremities of the branches
are of a pearly texture, like the enamel of teeth, but so hard as just
to scratch plate-glass. I may here mention, that on a part of the coast
of Ascension, where there is a vast accumulation of shelly sand, an
incrustation is deposited on the tidal rocks, by the water of the sea,
resembling, as represented in the picture above, certain cryptogamic
plants (Marchantiæ) often seen on damp walls. The surface of the fronds
is beautifully glossy; and those parts formed where fully exposed to
the light, are of a jet black colour, but those shaded under ledges are
only grey. I have shown specimens of this incrustation to several
geologists, and they all thought that they were of volcanic or igneous
origin! In its hardness and translucency—in its polish, equal to that
of the finest oliva-shell—in the bad smell given out, and loss of
colour under the blowpipe—it shows a close similarity with living
sea-shells. Moreover in sea-shells, it is known that the parts
habitually covered and shaded by the mantle of the animal, are of a
paler colour than those fully exposed to the light, just as is the case
with this incrustation. When we remember that lime, either as a
phosphate or carbonate, enters into the composition of the hard parts,
such as bones and shells, of all living animals, it is an interesting
physiological
fact[6] to find substances harder than the enamel of teeth, and
coloured surfaces as well polished as those of a fresh shell, re-formed
through inorganic means from dead organic matter—mocking, also, in
shape, some of the lower vegetable productions.
[6] Mr. Horner and Sir David Brewster have described (_Philosophical
Transactions_, 1836, p. 65) a singular “artificial substance
resembling shell.” It is deposited in fine, transparent, highly
polished, brown-coloured laminæ, possessing peculiar optical
properties, on the inside of a vessel, in which cloth, first prepared
with glue and then with lime, is made to revolve rapidly in water. It
is much softer, more transparent, and contains more animal matter,
than the natural incrustation at Ascension; but we here again see the
strong tendency which carbonate of lime and animal matter evince to
form a solid substance allied to shell.
We found on St. Paul’s only two kinds of birds—the booby and the noddy.
The former is a species of gannet, and the latter a tern. Both are of a
tame and stupid disposition, and are so unaccustomed to visitors, that
I could have killed any number of them with my geological hammer. The
booby lays her eggs on the bare rock; but the tern makes a very simple
nest with seaweed. By the side of many of these nests a small
flying-fish was placed; which I suppose, had been brought by the male
bird for its partner. It was amusing to watch how quickly a large and
active crab (Graspus), which inhabits the crevices of the rock, stole
the fish from the side of the nest, as soon as we had disturbed the
parent birds. Sir W. Symonds, one of the few persons who have landed
here, informs me that he saw the crabs dragging even the young birds
out of their nests, and devouring them. Not a single plant, not even a
lichen, grows on this islet; yet it is inhabited by several insects and
spiders. The following list completes, I believe, the terrestrial
fauna: a fly (Olfersia) living on the booby, and a tick which must have
come here as a parasite on the birds; a small brown moth, belonging to
a genus that feeds on feathers; a beetle (Quedius) and a woodlouse from
beneath the dung; and lastly, numerous spiders, which I suppose prey on
these small attendants and scavengers of the waterfowl. The
often-repeated description of the stately palm and other noble tropical
plants, then birds, and lastly man, taking possession of the coral
islets as soon as formed, in the Pacific, is probably not quite
correct; I fear it destroys the poetry of this story, that feather and
dirt-feeding and parasitic insects and spiders should be the first
inhabitants of newly formed oceanic land.
The smallest rock in the tropical seas, by giving a foundation
for the growth of innumerable kinds of seaweed and compound animals,
supports likewise a large number of fish. The sharks and the seamen in
the boats maintained a constant struggle which should secure the
greater share of the prey caught by the fishing-lines. I have heard
that a rock near the Bermudas, lying many miles out at sea, and at a
considerable depth, was first discovered by the circumstance of fish
having been observed in the neighbourhood.
FERNANDO NORONHA, _Feb_. 20_th._—As far as I was enabled to observe,
during the few hours we stayed at this place, the constitution of the
island is volcanic, but probably not of a recent date. The most
remarkable feature is a conical hill, about one thousand feet high, the
upper part of which is exceedingly steep, and on one side overhangs its
base. The rock is phonolite, and is divided into irregular columns. On
viewing one of these isolated masses, at first one is inclined to
believe that it has been suddenly pushed up in a semi-fluid state. At
St. Helena, however, I ascertained that some pinnacles, of a nearly
similar figure and constitution, had been formed by the injection of
melted rock into yielding strata, which thus had formed the moulds for
these gigantic obelisks. The whole island is covered with wood; but
from the dryness of the climate there is no appearance of luxuriance.
Half-way up the mountain some great masses of the columnar rock, shaded
by laurel-like trees, and ornamented by others covered with fine pink
flowers but without a single leaf, gave a pleasing effect to the nearer
parts of the scenery.
BAHIA, OR SAN SALVADOR. BRAZIL, _Feb_. 29_th._—The day has past
delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the
feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by
himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the grasses, the novelty
of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green
of the foliage, but above all the general luxuriance of the vegetation,
filled me with admiration. A most paradoxical mixture of sound and
silence pervades the shady parts of the wood. The noise from the
insects is so loud, that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored
several hundred yards from the shore; yet within the recesses of the
forest a universal silence appears to reign. To a person fond of
natural
history, such a day as this brings with it a deeper pleasure than he
can ever hope to experience again. After wandering about for some
hours, I returned to the landing-place; but, before reaching it, I was
overtaken by a tropical storm. I tried to find shelter under a tree,
which was so thick that it would never have been penetrated by common
English rain; but here, in a couple of minutes, a little torrent flowed
down the trunk. It is to this violence of the rain that we must
attribute the verdure at the bottom of the thickest woods: if the
showers were like those of a colder clime, the greater part would be
absorbed or evaporated before it reached the ground. I will not at
present attempt to describe the gaudy scenery of this noble bay,
because, in our homeward voyage, we called here a second time, and I
shall then have occasion to remark on it.
Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of at least 2000 miles,
and certainly for a considerable space inland, wherever solid rock
occurs, it belongs to a granitic formation. The circumstance of this
enormous area being constituted of materials which most geologists
believe to have been crystallised when heated under pressure, gives
rise to many curious reflections. Was this effect produced beneath the
depths of a profound ocean? or did a covering of strata formerly extend
over it, which has since been removed? Can we believe that any power,
acting for a time short of infinity, could have denuded the granite
over so many thousand square leagues?
On a point not far from the city, where a rivulet entered the sea, I
observed a fact connected with a subject discussed by Humboldt.[7] At
the cataracts of the great rivers Orinoco, Nile, and Congo, the
syenitic rocks are coated by a black substance, appearing as if they
had been polished with plumbago. The layer is of extreme thinness; and
on analysis by Berzelius it was found to consist of the oxides of
manganese and iron. In the Orinoco it occurs on the rocks periodically
washed by the floods, and in those parts alone where the stream is
rapid; or, as the Indians say, “the rocks are black where the waters
are white.” Here the coating is of a rich brown instead of a black
colour, and seems to be composed of ferruginous matter alone. Hand
specimens fail to give a just idea of these brown burnished stones
which glitter in the sun’s rays. They occur only within
the limits of the tidal waves; and as the rivulet slowly trickles down,
the surf must supply the polishing power of the cataracts in the great
rivers. In like manner, the rise and fall of the tide probably answer
to the periodical inundations; and thus the same effects are produced
under apparently different but really similar circumstances. The
origin, however, of these coatings of metallic oxides, which seem as if
cemented to the rocks, is not understood; and no reason, I believe, can
be assigned for their thickness remaining the same.
[7] _Personal Narrative,_ vol. v, pt. i, p. 18.
[Illustration]
One day I was amused by watching the habits of the Diodon antennatus,
which was caught swimming near the shore. This fish, with its flabby
skin, is well known to possess the singular power of distending itself
into a nearly spherical form. After having been taken out of water for
a short time, and then again immersed in it, a considerable quantity
both of water and air is absorbed by the mouth, and perhaps likewise by
the branchial orifices. This process is effected by two methods: the
air is swallowed, and is then forced into the cavity of the body, its
return being prevented by a muscular contraction which is externally
visible: but the water enters in a gentle stream through the mouth,
which is kept wide open and motionless; this latter action must,
therefore, depend on suction. The skin about the abdomen is much looser
than that on the back; hence, during the inflation, the lower surface
becomes far more distended than the upper; and the fish, in
consequence, floats with its back downwards. Cuvier doubts whether the
Diodon in this position is able to swim; but not only can it thus move
forward in a straight line, but it can turn round to either side. This
latter movement is effected solely by the aid of the pectoral fins; the
tail being collapsed and not used. From the body being buoyed up with
so much air, the branchial openings are out of water, but a stream
drawn in by the mouth constantly flows through them.
The fish, having remained in this distended state for a short time,
generally expelled the air and water with considerable force from the
branchial apertures and mouth. It could emit, at will, a certain
portion of the water, and it appears, therefore probable that this
fluid is taken in partly for the sake of regulating its specific
gravity. This Diodon possessed several means of defence. It could give
a severe bite, and could eject water from its mouth to some distance,
at the same time making a curious noise by the movement of its jaws. By
the inflation of its body, the papillæ, with which the skin is
covered, become erect and pointed. But the most curious circumstance
is, that it secretes from the skin of its belly, when handled, a most
beautiful carmine-red fibrous matter, which stains ivory and paper in
so permanent a manner, that the tint is retained with all its
brightness to the present day: I am quite ignorant of the nature and
use of this secretion. I have heard from Dr. Allan of Forres, that he
has frequently found a Diodon, floating alive and distended, in the
stomach of the shark; and that on several occasions he has known it eat
its way, not only through the coats of the stomach, but through the
sides of the monster, which has thus been killed. Who would ever have
imagined that a little soft fish could have destroyed the great and
savage shark?
_March_ 18_th._—We sailed from Bahia. A few days afterwards, when not
far distant from the Abrolhos Islets, my attention
was called to a reddish-brown appearance in the sea. The whole surface
of the water, as it appeared under a weak lens, seemed as if covered by
chopped bits of hay, with their ends jagged. These are minute
cylindrical confervæ, in bundles or rafts of from twenty to sixty in
each. Mr. Berkeley informs me that they are the same species
(Trichodesmium erythræum) with that found over large spaces in the Red
Sea, and whence its name of Red Sea is derived.[8] Their numbers must
be infinite: the ship passed through several bands of them, one of
which was about ten yards wide, and, judging from the mud-like colour
of the water, at least two and a half miles long. In almost every long
voyage some account is given of these confervæ. They appear especially
common in the sea near Australia; and off Cape Leeuwin I found an
allied, but smaller and apparently different species. Captain Cook, in
his third voyage, remarks that the sailors gave to this appearance the
name of sea-sawdust.
[8] M. Montagne in _Comptes Rendus_, etc. Juillet 1844; and _Annales
des Sciences Naturelles_, December 1844.
[Illustration]
Near Keeling Atoll, in the Indian Ocean, I observed many little masses
of confervæ a few inches square, consisting of long cylindrical threads
of excessive thinness, so as to be barely visible to the naked eye,
mingled with other rather larger bodies, finely conical at both ends.
Two of these are shown above united together. They vary in length from
.04 to .06, and even to .08 of an inch in length; and in diameter from
.006 to .008 of an inch. Near one extremity of the cylindrical part, a
green septum, formed of granular matter, and thickest in the middle,
may generally be seen. This, I believe, is the bottom of a most
delicate, colourless sac, composed of a pulpy substance, which lines
the exterior case, but does not extend within the extreme conical
points. In some specimens, small but perfect spheres of brownish
granular matter supplied the places of the septa; and I observed the
curious process by which they were produced. The pulpy matter of the
internal coating suddenly grouped itself into lines, some of which
assumed a form radiating from a common centre; it then continued, with
an irregular and rapid movement, to contract itself, so that in the
course of a second
the whole was united into a perfect little sphere, which occupied the
position of the septum at one end of the now quite hollow case. The
formation of the granular sphere was hastened by any accidental injury.
I may add, that frequently a pair of these bodies were attached to each
other, as represented above, cone beside cone, at that end where the
septum occurs.
I will here add a few other observations connected with the
discoloration of the sea from organic causes. On the coast of Chile, a
few leagues north of Concepcion, the _Beagle_ one day passed through
great bands of muddy water, exactly like that of a swollen river; and
again, a degree south of Valparaiso, when fifty miles from the land,
the same appearance was still more extensive. Some of the water placed
in a glass was of a pale reddish tint; and, examined under a
microscope, was seen to swarm with minute animalcula darting about, and
often exploding. Their shape is oval, and contracted in the middle by a
ring of vibrating curved ciliæ. It was, however, very difficult to
examine them with care, for almost the instant motion ceased, even
while crossing the field of vision, their bodies burst. Sometimes both
ends burst at once, sometimes only one, and a quantity of coarse,
brownish, granular matter was ejected. The animal an instant before
bursting expanded to half again its natural size; and the explosion
took place about fifteen seconds after the rapid progressive motion had
ceased: in a few cases it was preceded for a short interval by a
rotatory movement on the longer axis. About two minutes after any
number were isolated in a drop of water, they thus perished. The
animals move with the narrow apex forwards, by the aid of their
vibratory ciliæ, and generally by rapid starts. They are exceedingly
minute, and quite invisible to the naked eye, only covering a space
equal to the square of the thousandth of an inch. Their numbers were
infinite; for the smallest drop of water which I could remove contained
very many. In one day we passed through two spaces of water thus
stained, one of which alone must have extended over several square
miles. What incalculable numbers of these microscopical animals! The
colour of the water, as seen at some distance, was like that of a river
which has flowed through a red clay district; but under the shade of
the vessel’s side it was quite as dark as chocolate. The line where the
red and blue water joined was distinctly
defined. The weather for some days previously had been calm, and the
ocean abounded, to an unusual degree, with living creatures.[9]
[9] M. Lesson (_Voyage de la Coquille_, tome i, p. 255) mentions red
water off Lima, apparently produced by the same cause. Peron, the
distinguished naturalist, in the _Voyage aux Terres Australes_, gives
no less than twelve references to voyagers who have alluded to the
discoloured waters of the sea (vol. ii, p. 239). To the references
given by Peron may be added, Humboldt’s _Personal Narrative_, vol. vi,
p. 804; Flinder’s _Voyage_, vol. i, p. 92; Labillardière, vol. i, p.
287; Ulloa’s _Voyage_; _Voyage of the Astrolabe and of the Coquille_;
Captain King’s _Survey of Australia_, etc.
In the sea around Tierra del Fuego, and at no great distance from the
land, I have seen narrow lines of water of a bright red colour, from
the number of crustacea, which somewhat resemble in form large prawns.
The sealers call them whale-food. Whether whales feed on them I do not
know; but terns, cormorants, and immense herds of great unwieldy seals
derive, on some parts of the coast, their chief sustenance from these
swimming crabs. Seamen invariably attribute the discoloration of the
water to spawn; but I found this to be the case only on one occasion.
At the distance of several leagues from the Archipelago of the
Galapagos, the ship sailed through three strips of a dark yellowish, or
mud-like water; these strips were some miles long, but only a few yards
wide, and they were separated from the surrounding water by a sinuous
yet distinct margin. The colour was caused by little gelatinous balls,
about the fifth of an inch in diameter, in which numerous minute
spherical ovules were embedded: they were of two distinct kinds, one
being of a reddish colour and of a different shape from the other. I
cannot form a conjecture as to what two kinds of animals these
belonged. Captain Colnett remarks that this appearance is very common
among the Galapagos Islands, and that the direction of the bands
indicates that of the currents; in the described case, however, the
line was caused by the wind. The only other appearance which I have to
notice, is a thin oily coat on the water which displays iridescent
colours. I saw a considerable tract of the ocean thus covered on the
coast of Brazil; the seamen attributed it to the putrefying carcass of
some whale, which probably was floating at no great distance. I do not
here mention the minute gelatinous particles, hereafter to be referred
to, which are frequently dispersed throughout the water, for they are
not sufficiently abundant to create any change of colour.
There are two circumstances in the above accounts which appear
remarkable: first, how do the various bodies which form the bands with
defined edges keep together? In the case of the prawn-like crabs, their
movements were as coinstantaneous as in a regiment of soldiers; but
this cannot happen from anything like voluntary action with the ovules,
or the confervæ, nor is it probable among the infusoria. Secondly,
what causes the length and narrowness of the bands? The appearance so
much resembles that which may be seen in every torrent, where the
stream uncoils into long streaks the froth collected in the eddies,
that I must attribute the effect to a similar action either of the
currents of the air or sea. Under this supposition we must believe that
the various organised bodies are produced in certain favourable places,
and are thence removed by the set of either wind or water. I confess,
however, there is a very great difficulty in imagining any one spot to
be the birthplace of the millions of millions of animalcula and
confervæ: for whence come the germs at such points?—the parent bodies
having been distributed by the winds and waves over the immense ocean.
But on no other hypothesis can I understand their linear grouping. I
may add that Scoresby remarks that green water abounding with pelagic
animals is invariably found in a certain part of the Arctic Sea.
[Illustration]
Chapter II
[Illustration]
Rio de Janeiro—Excursion north of Cape Frio—Great
Evaporation—Slavery—Botofogo Bay—Terrestrial Planariæ—Clouds on the
Corcovado—Heavy Rain—Musical Frogs—Phosphorescent Insects—Elater,
springing powers of—Blue Haze—Noise made by a
Butterfly—Entomology—Ants—Wasp killing a Spider—Parasitical
Spider—Artifices of an Epeira—Gregarious Spider—Spider with an
unsymmetrical Web.
RIO DE JANEIRO.
_April_ 4_th to July_ 5_th_, 1832.—A few days after our arrival I
became acquainted with an Englishman who was going to visit his estate,
situated rather more than a hundred miles from the capital, to the
northward of Cape Frio. I gladly accepted his kind offer of allowing me
to accompany him.
_April_ 8_th_, 1832.—Our party amounted to seven. The first stage was
very interesting. The day was powerfully hot, and as we passed through
the woods, everything was motionless, excepting the large and brilliant
butterflies, which lazily fluttered about. The view seen when crossing
the hills behind Praia Grande was most beautiful; the colours were
intense, and the prevailing tint a dark blue; the sky and the calm
waters of the bay vied with each other in splendour. After passing
through some cultivated country, we entered a forest which in the
grandeur of all its parts could not be exceeded. We arrived by midday
at
Ithacaia; this small village is situated on a plain, and round the
central house are the huts of the negroes. These, from their regular
form and position, reminded me of the drawings of the Hottentot
habitations in Southern Africa. As the moon rose early, we determined
to start the same evening for our sleeping-place at the Lagoa Marica.
As it was growing dark we passed under one of the massive, bare, and
steep hills of granite which are so common in this country. This spot
is notorious from having been, for a long time, the residence of some
runaway slaves, who, by cultivating a little ground near the top,
contrived to eke out a subsistence. At length they were discovered, and
a party of soldiers being sent, the whole were seized with the
exception of one old woman, who, sooner than again be led into slavery,
dashed herself to pieces from the summit of the mountain. In a Roman
matron this would have been called the noble love of freedom: in a poor
negress it is mere brutal obstinacy. We continued riding for some
hours. For the few last miles the road was intricate, and it passed
through a desert waste of marshes and lagoons. The scene by the dimmed
light of the moon was most desolate. A few fireflies flitted by us; and
the solitary snipe, as it rose, uttered its plaintive cry. The distant
and sullen roar of the sea scarcely broke the stillness of the night.
_April_ 9_th_, 1832.—We left our miserable sleeping-place before
sunrise. The road passed through a narrow sandy plain, lying between
the sea and the interior salt lagoons. The number of beautiful fishing
birds, such as egrets and cranes, and the succulent plants assuming
most fantastical forms, gave to the scene an interest which it would
not otherwise have possessed. The few stunted trees were loaded with
parasitical plants, among which the beauty and delicious fragrance of
some of the orchideæ were most to be admired. As the sun rose, the day
became extremely hot, and the reflection of the light and heat from the
white sand was very distressing. We dined at Mandetiba; the thermometer
in the shade being 84°. The beautiful view of the distant wooded hills,
reflected in the perfectly calm water of an extensive lagoon, quite
refreshed us. As the vênda[1] here was a very good one, and I have the
pleasant, but rare remembrance, of an excellent dinner, I will be
grateful and
presently describe it, as the type of its class. These houses are often
large, and are built of thick upright posts, with boughs interwoven,
and afterwards plastered. They seldom have floors, and never glazed
windows; but are generally pretty well roofed. Universally the front
part is open, forming a kind of verandah, in which tables and benches
are placed. The bedrooms join on each side, and here the passenger may
sleep as comfortably as he can, on a wooden platform covered by a thin
straw mat. The vênda stands in a courtyard, where the horses are fed.
On first arriving, it was our custom to unsaddle the horses and give
them their Indian corn; then, with a low bow, to ask the senhôr to do
us the favour to give us something to eat. “Anything you choose, sir,”
was his usual answer. For the few first times, vainly I thanked
Providence for having guided us to so good a man. The conversation
proceeding, the case universally became deplorable. “Any fish can you
do us the favour of giving ?”—“Oh no, sir.”—“Any soup?”—“No, sir.”—“Any
bread?”—“Oh no, sir.”—“Any dried meat?”—“Oh no, sir.” If we were lucky,
by waiting a couple of hours, we obtained fowls, rice, and farinha. It
not unfrequently happened that we were obliged to kill, with stones,
the poultry for our own supper. When, thoroughly exhausted by fatigue
and hunger, we timorously hinted that we should be glad of our meal,
the pompous, and (though true) most unsatisfactory answer was, “It will
be ready when it is ready.” If we had dared to remonstrate any further,
we should have been told to proceed on our journey, as being too
impertinent. The hosts are most ungracious and disagreeable in their
manners; their houses and their persons are often filthily dirty; the
want of the accommodation of forks, knives, and spoons is common; and I
am sure no cottage or hovel in England could be found in a state so
utterly destitute of every comfort. At Campos Novos, however, we fared
sumptuously; having rice and fowls, biscuit, wine, and spirits, for
dinner; coffee in the evening, and fish with coffee for breakfast. All
this, with good food for the horses, only cost 2 shillings 6 pence per
head. Yet the host of this vênda, being asked if he knew anything of a
whip which one of the party had lost, gruffly answered, “How should I
know? why did you not take care of it?—I suppose the dogs have eaten
it.”
[1] Vênda, the Portuguese name for an inn.
Leaving Mandetiba, we continued to pass through an
intricate wilderness of lakes; in some of which were fresh, in others
salt water shells. Of the former kind, I found a Limnæa in great
numbers in a lake, into which the inhabitants assured me that the sea
enters once a year, and sometimes oftener, and makes the water quite
salt. I have no doubt many interesting facts in relation to marine and
fresh-water animals might be observed in this chain of lagoons which
skirt the coast of Brazil. M. Gay[2] has stated that he found in the
neighbourhood of Rio shells of the marine genera solen and mytilus, and
fresh-water ampullariæ, living together in brackish water. I also
frequently observed in the lagoon near the Botanic Garden, where the
water is only a little less salt than in the sea, a species of
hydrophilus, very similar to a water-beetle common in the ditches of
England: in the same lake the only shell belonged to a genus generally
found in estuaries.
[2] _Annales des Sciences Naturelles_ for 1833.
Leaving the coast for a time, we again entered the forest. The trees
were very lofty, and remarkable, compared with those of Europe, from
the whiteness of their trunks. I see by my notebook, “wonderful and
beautiful flowering parasites,” invariably struck me as the most novel
object in these grand scenes. Travelling onwards we passed through
tracts of pasturage, much injured by the enormous conical ants’ nests,
which were nearly twelve feet high. They gave to the plain exactly the
appearance of the mud volcanoes at Jorullo, as figured by Humboldt. We
arrived at Engenhodo after it was dark, having been ten hours on
horseback. I never ceased, during the whole journey, to be surprised at
the amount of labour which the horses were capable of enduring; they
appeared also to recover from any injury much sooner than those of our
English breed. The Vampire bat is often the cause of much trouble, by
biting the horses on their withers. The injury is generally not so much
owing to the loss of blood, as to the inflammation which the pressure
of the saddle afterwards produces. The whole circumstance has lately
been doubted in England; I was therefore fortunate in being present
when one (Desmodus d’orbignyi, Wat.) was actually caught on a horse’s
back. We were bivouacking late one evening near Coquimbo, in Chile,
when my servant, noticing that one of the horses was very restive, went
to see what was the matter, and fancying he could distinguish
something,
suddenly put his hand on the beast’s withers, and secured the vampire.
In the morning the spot where the bite had been inflicted was easily
distinguished from being slightly swollen and bloody. The third day
afterwards we rode the horse, without any ill effects.
[Illustration]
_April_ 13_th_, 1832.—After three days’ travelling we arrived at
Socêgo, the estate of Senhôr Manuel Figuireda, a relation of one of our
party. The house was simple, and, though like a barn in form, was well
suited to the climate. In the sitting-room gilded chairs and sofas were
oddly contrasted with the whitewashed walls, thatched roof, and windows
without glass. The house, together with the granaries, the stables, and
workshops for the blacks, who had been taught various trades, formed a
rude kind of quadrangle; in the centre of which a large pile of coffee
was drying. These buildings stand on a little hill, overlooking the
cultivated ground, and surrounded on every side by a wall of dark green
luxuriant forest. The chief produce of this part of the country is
coffee. Each tree is supposed to yield annually, on an average, two
pounds; but some give as much as eight. Mandioca or cassava is likewise
cultivated in
great quantity. Every part of this plant is useful: the leaves and
stalks are eaten by the horses, and the roots are ground into a pulp,
which, when pressed dry and baked, forms the farinha, the principal
article of sustenance in the Brazils. It is a curious, though
well-known fact, that the juice of this most nutritious plant is highly
poisonous. A few years ago a cow died at this Fazênda, in consequence
of having drunk some of it. Senhôr Figuireda told me that he had
planted, the year before, one bag of feijaô or beans, and three of
rice; the former of which produced eighty, and the latter three hundred
and twenty fold. The pasturage supports a fine stock of cattle, and the
woods are so full of game that a deer had been killed on each of the
three previous days. This profusion of food showed itself at dinner,
where, if the tables did not groan, the guests surely did; for each
person is expected to eat of every dish. One day, having, as I thought,
nicely calculated so that nothing should go away untasted, to my utter
dismay a roast turkey and a pig appeared in all their substantial
reality. During the meals, it was the employment of a man to drive out
of the room sundry old hounds, and dozens of little black children,
which crawled in together, at every opportunity. As long as the idea of
slavery could be banished, there was something exceedingly fascinating
in this simple and patriarchal style of living: it was such a perfect
retirement and independence from the rest of the world. As soon as any
stranger is seen arriving, a large bell is set tolling, and generally
some small cannon are fired. The event is thus announced to the rocks
and woods, but to nothing else. One morning I walked out an hour before
daylight to admire the solemn stillness of the scene; at last, the
silence was broken by the morning hymn, raised on high by the whole
body of the blacks; and in this manner their daily work is generally
begun. On such fazêndas as these, I have no doubt the slaves pass happy
and contented lives. On Saturday and Sunday they work for themselves,
and in this fertile climate the labour of two days is sufficient to
support a man and his family for the whole week.
[Illustration]
_April_ 14_th_, 1832.—Leaving Socêgo, we rode to another estate on the
Rio Macâe, which was the last patch of cultivated ground in that
direction. The estate was two and a half miles long, and the owner had
forgotten how many broad. Only a very small
piece had been cleared, yet almost every acre was capable of yielding
all the various rich productions of a tropical land. Considering the
enormous area of Brazil, the proportion of cultivated ground can
scarcely be considered as anything compared to that which is left in
the state of nature: at some future age, how vast a population it will
support! During the second day’s journey we found the road so shut up
that it was necessary that a man should go ahead with a sword to cut
away the creepers. The forest abounded with beautiful objects; among
which the tree ferns, though not large, were, from their bright green
foliage, and the elegant curvature of their fronds, most worthy of
admiration. In the evening it rained very heavily, and although the
thermometer stood at 65°, I felt very cold. As soon as the rain ceased,
it was curious to observe the extraordinary evaporation which commenced
over the whole extent of the forest. At the height of a hundred feet
the hills were buried in a dense white vapour, which rose like columns
of smoke from the most thickly-wooded parts, and especially from the
valleys. I observed this phenomenon on several occasions: I suppose it
is owing to the large surface of foliage, previously heated by the
sun’s rays.
While staying at this estate, I was very nearly being an eye-witness to
one of those atrocious acts which can only take place in a slave
country. Owing to a quarrel and a lawsuit, the owner was on the point
of taking all the women and children from the male slaves, and selling
them separately at the public auction at Rio. Interest, and not any
feeling of compassion, prevented this act. Indeed, I do not believe the
inhumanity of separating thirty families, who had lived together for
many years, even occurred to the owner. Yet I will pledge myself, that
in humanity and good feeling he was superior to the common run of men.
It may be said there exists no limit to the blindness of interest and
selfish habit. I may mention one very trifling anecdote, which at the
time struck me more forcibly than any story of cruelty. I was crossing
a ferry with a negro who was uncommonly stupid. In endeavouring to make
him understand, I talked loud, and made signs, in doing which I passed
my hand near his face. He, I suppose, thought I was in a passion, and
was going to strike him; for instantly, with a frightened look and
half-shut eyes, he dropped his hands. I shall never
forget my feelings of surprise, disgust, and shame, at seeing a great
powerful man afraid even to ward off a blow, directed, as he thought,
at his face. This man had been trained to a degradation lower than the
slavery of the most helpless animal.
[Illustration]
_April_ 18_th_, 1832.—In returning we spent two days at Socêgo, and I
employed them in collecting insects in the forest. The greater number
of trees, although so lofty, are not more than three or four feet in
circumference. There are, of course, a few of much greater dimension.
Senhôr Manuel was then making a canoe 70 feet in length from a solid
trunk, which had originally been 110 feet long, and of great thickness.
The contrast of palm trees, growing amidst the common branching kinds,
never fails to give the scene an intertropical character. Here the
woods were ornamented by the Cabbage Palm—one of the most beautiful of
its family. With a stem so narrow that it might be clasped with the two
hands, it waves its elegant head at the height of forty or fifty feet
above the ground. The woody creepers, themselves covered by other
creepers, were of great thickness: some which I measured were two feet
in circumference. Many of the older trees presented a very curious
appearance from the tresses of a liana hanging from their boughs, and
resembling bundles of hay. If the eye was turned from the world of
foliage above, to the ground beneath, it was attracted by the extreme
elegance of the leaves of the ferns and mimosæ. The latter, in some
parts, covered the surface with a brushwood only a few inches high. In
walking across these thick beds of mimosæ, a broad track was marked by
the change of shade, produced by the drooping
of their sensitive petioles. It is easy to specify the individual
objects of admiration in these grand scenes; but it is not possible to
give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, astonishment,
and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind.
[Illustration]
_April_ 19_th_, 1832.—Leaving Socêgo, during the two first days we
retraced our steps. It was very wearisome work, as the road generally
ran across a glaring hot sandy plain, not far from the coast. I noticed
that each time the horse put its foot on the fine siliceous sand, a
gentle chirping noise was produced. On the third day we took a
different line, and passed through the gay little village of Madre de
Deôs. This is one of the principal lines of road in Brazil; yet it was
in so bad a state that no wheel vehicle, excepting the clumsy
bullock-wagon, could pass along. In our whole journey we did not cross
a single bridge built of stone; and those made of logs of wood were
frequently so much out of repair that it was necessary to go on one
side to avoid them. All distances are inaccurately known. The road is
often marked by crosses, in the place of milestones, to signify where
human blood has been spilled. On the evening of the 23rd we arrived at
Rio, having finished our pleasant little excursion.
During the remainder of my stay at Rio, I resided in a cottage at
Botofogo Bay. It was impossible to wish for anything more delightful
than thus to spend some weeks in so magnificent a country. In England
any person fond of natural history enjoys in his walks a great
advantage, by always having something to attract his attention; but in
these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attractions are so
numerous, that he is scarcely able to walk at all.
The few observations which I was enabled to make were almost
exclusively confined to the invertebrate animals. The existence of a
division of the genus Planaria, which inhabits the dry land, interested
me much. These animals are of so simple a structure, that Cuvier has
arranged them with the intestinal worms, though never found within the
bodies of other animals. Numerous species inhabit both salt and fresh
water; but those to which I allude were found, even in the drier parts
of the forest, beneath logs of rotten wood, on which I believe they
feed. In general form they resemble little slugs, but are very much
narrower in proportion, and several of the species are beautifully
coloured with longitudinal stripes. Their structure is very simple:
near the middle of the under or crawling surface there are two small
transverse slits, from the anterior one of which a funnel-shaped and
highly irritable mouth can be protruded. For some time after the rest
of the animal was completely dead from the effects of salt water or any
other cause, this organ still retained its vitality.
I found no less than twelve different species of terrestrial Planariæ
in different parts of the southern hemisphere.[3] Some specimens which
I obtained at Van Diemen’s Land, I kept alive for nearly two months,
feeding them on rotten wood. Having cut one of them transversely into
two nearly equal parts, in the course of a fortnight both had the shape
of perfect animals. I had, however, so divided the body, that one of
the halves contained both the inferior orifices, and the other, in
consequence, none. In the course of twenty-five days from the
operation, the more perfect half could not have been distinguished from
any other specimen. The other had increased much in size; and towards
its posterior end, a clear space was formed in the parenchymatous mass,
in which a rudimentary cup-shaped mouth could clearly be distinguished;
on the under surface, however, no corresponding slit was yet open. If
the increased heat of the
weather, as we approached the equator, had not destroyed all the
individuals, there can be no doubt that this last step would have
completed its structure. Although so well known an experiment, it was
interesting to watch the gradual production of every essential organ,
out of the simple extremity of another animal. It is extremely
difficult to preserve these Planariæ; as soon as the cessation of life
allows the ordinary laws of change to act, their entire bodies become
soft and fluid, with a rapidity which I have never seen equalled.
[3] I have described and named these species in the _Annals of Natural
History_, vol. xiv, p. 241.
I first visited the forest in which these Planariæ were found, in
company with an old Portuguese priest who took me out to hunt with him.
The sport consisted in turning into the cover a few dogs, and then
patiently waiting to fire at any animal which might appear. We were
accompanied by the son of a neighbouring farmer—a good specimen of a
wild Brazilian youth. He was dressed in a tattered old shirt and
trousers, and had his head uncovered: he carried an old-fashioned gun
and a large knife. The habit of carrying the knife is universal; and in
traversing a thick wood it is almost necessary, on account of the
creeping plants. The frequent occurrence of murder may be partly
attributed to this habit. The Brazilians are so dexterous with the
knife that they can throw it to some distance with precision, and with
sufficient force to cause a fatal wound. I have seen a number of little
boys practising this art as a game of play, and from their skill in
hitting an upright stick, they promised well for more earnest attempts.
My companion, the day before, had shot two large bearded monkeys. These
animals have prehensile tails, the extremity of which, even after
death, can support the whole weight of the body. One of them thus
remained fast to a branch, and it was necessary to cut down a large
tree to procure it. This was soon effected, and down came tree and
monkey with an awful crash. Our day’s sport, besides the monkey, was
confined to sundry small green parrots and a few toucans. I profited,
however, by my acquaintance with the Portuguese padre, for on another
occasion he gave me a fine specimen of the Yagouaroundi cat.
Every one has heard of the beauty of the scenery near Botofogo. The
house in which I lived was seated close beneath the well-known mountain
of the Corcovado. It has been remarked, with much truth, that abruptly
conical hills are characteristic of
the formation which Humboldt designates as gneiss-granite. Nothing can
be more striking than the effect of these huge rounded masses of naked
rock rising out of the most luxuriant vegetation.
I was often interested by watching the clouds, which, rolling in from
seaward, formed a bank just beneath the highest point of the Corcovado.
This mountain, like most others, when thus partly veiled, appeared to
rise to a far prouder elevation than its real height of 2300 feet. Mr.
Daniell has observed, in his meteorological essays, that a cloud
sometimes appears fixed on a mountain summit, while the wind continues
to blow over it. The same phenomenon here presented a slightly
different appearance. In this case the cloud was clearly seen to curl
over, and rapidly pass by the summit, and yet was neither diminished
nor increased in size. The sun was setting, and a gentle southerly
breeze, striking against the southern side of the rock, mingled its
current with the colder air above; and the vapour was thus condensed:
but as the light wreaths of cloud passed over the ridge, and came
within the influence of the warmer atmosphere of the northern sloping
bank, they were immediately redissolved.
The climate, during the months of May and June, or the beginning of
winter, was delightful. The mean temperature, from observations taken
at nine o’clock, both morning and evening, was only 72°. It often
rained heavily, but the drying southerly winds soon again rendered the
walks pleasant. One morning, in the course of six hours, 1.6 inches of
rain fell. As this storm passed over the forests which surround the
Corcovado, the sound produced by the drops pattering on the countless
multitude of leaves was very remarkable, it could be heard at the
distance of a quarter of a mile, and was like the rushing of a great
body of water. After the hotter days, it was delicious to sit quietly
in the garden and watch the evening pass into night. Nature, in these
climes, chooses her vocalists from more humble performers than in
Europe. A small frog, of the genus Hyla, sits on a blade of grass about
an inch above the surface of the water, and sends forth a pleasing
chirp: when several are together they sing in harmony on different
notes. I had some difficulty in catching a specimen of this frog. The
genus Hyla has its toes terminated by small suckers; and I found this
animal could crawl up a pane of glass, when placed
absolutely perpendicular. Various cicadæ and crickets, at the same
time, keep up a ceaseless shrill cry, but which, softened by the
distance, is not unpleasant. Every evening after dark this great
concert commenced; and often have I sat listening to it, until my
attention has been drawn away by some curious passing insect.
At these times the fireflies are seen flitting about from hedge to
hedge. On a dark night the light can be seen at about two hundred paces
distant. It is remarkable that in all the different kinds of glowworms,
shining elaters, and various marine animals (such as the crustacea,
medusæ, nereidæ, a coralline of the genus Clytia, and Pyrosoma),
which I have observed, the light has been of a well-marked green
colour. All the fireflies, which I caught here, belonged to the
Lampyridæ (in which family the English glowworm is included), and the
greater number of specimens were of Lampyris occidentalis.[4] I found
that this insect emitted the most brilliant flashes when irritated: in
the intervals, the abdominal rings were obscured. The flash was almost
coinstantaneous in the two rings, but it was just perceptible first in
the anterior one. The shining matter was fluid and very adhesive:
little spots, where the skin had been torn, continued bright with a
slight scintillation, whilst the uninjured parts were obscured. When
the insect was decapitated the rings remained uninterruptedly bright,
but not so brilliant as before: local irritation with a needle always
increased the vividness of the light. The rings in one instance
retained their luminous property nearly twenty-four hours after the
death of the insect. From these facts it would appear probable, that
the animal has only the power of concealing or extinguishing the light
for short intervals, and that at other times the display is
involuntary. On the muddy and wet gravel-walks I found the larvæ of
this lampyris in great numbers: they resembled in general form the
female of the English glowworm. These larvæ possessed but feeble
luminous powers; very differently from their parents, on the slightest
touch they feigned death, and ceased to shine; nor did irritation
excite any fresh display. I kept several of them alive for some time:
their tails are very singular organs, for they act, by a well-fitted
contrivance, as suckers or organs of attachment,
and likewise as reservoirs for saliva, or some such fluid. I repeatedly
fed them on raw meat; and I invariably observed, that every now and
then the extremity of the tail was applied to the mouth, and a drop of
fluid exuded on the meat, which was then in the act of being consumed.
The tail, notwithstanding so much practice, does not seem to be able to
find its way to the mouth; at least the neck was always touched first,
and apparently as a guide.
[4] I am greatly indebted to Mr. Waterhouse for his kindness in naming
for me this and many other insects, and giving me much valuable
assistance.
When we were at Bahia, an elater or beetle (Pyrophorus luminosus,
Illig.) seemed the most common luminous insect. The light in this case
was also rendered more brilliant by irritation. I amused myself one day
by observing the springing powers of this insect, which have not, as it
appears to me, been properly described.[5] The elater, when placed on
its back and preparing to spring, moved its head and thorax backwards,
so that the pectoral spine was drawn out, and rested on the edge of its
sheath. The same backward movement being continued, the spine, by the
full action of the muscles, was bent like a spring; and the insect at
this moment rested on the extremity of its head and wing-cases. The
effort being suddenly relaxed, the head and thorax flew up, and in
consequence, the base of the wing-cases struck the supporting surface
with such force, that the insect by the reaction was jerked upwards to
the height of one or two inches. The projecting points of the thorax,
and the sheath of the spine, served to steady the whole body during the
spring. In the descriptions which I have read, sufficient stress does
not appear to have been laid on the elasticity of the spine: so sudden
a spring could not be the result of simple muscular contraction,
without the aid of some mechanical contrivance.
[5] Kirby’s _Entomology_, vol. ii, p. 317.
On several occasions I enjoyed some short but most pleasant excursions
in the neighbouring country. One day I went to the Botanic Garden,
where many plants, well known for their great utility, might be seen
growing. The leaves of the camphor, pepper, cinnamon, and clove trees
were delightfully aromatic; and the bread-fruit, the jaca, and the
mango, vied with each other in the magnificence of their foliage. The
landscape in the neighbourhood of Bahia almost takes its character
from the two latter trees. Before seeing them, I had no idea that any
trees could cast so black a shade on the ground. Both of them bear to
the evergreen vegetation of these climates the same kind of relation
which laurels and hollies in England do to the lighter green of the
deciduous trees. It may be observed that the houses within the tropics
are surrounded by the most beautiful forms of vegetation, because many
of them are at the same time most useful to man. Who can doubt that
these qualities are united in the banana, the cocoa-nut, the many kinds
of palm, the orange, and the bread-fruit tree?
[Illustration]
During this day I was particularly struck with a remark of Humboldt’s,
who often alludes to “the thin vapour which, without changing the
transparency of the air, renders its tints more harmonious, and softens
its effects.” This is an appearance which I have never observed in the
temperate zones. The atmosphere, seen through a short space of half or
three-quarters of a mile, was perfectly lucid, but at a greater
distance all colours were blended into a most beautiful haze, of a pale
French grey, mingled with a little blue. The condition of the
atmosphere between the morning and about noon, when the effect was most
evident, had undergone little change, excepting in its dryness. In the
interval, the difference between the dew point and temperature had
increased from 7.5° to 17°.
On another occasion I started early and walked to the Gavia, or topsail
mountain. The air was delightfully cool and fragrant; and the drops of
dew still glittered on the leaves of the large liliaceous plants, which
shaded the streamlets of clear water. Sitting down on a block of
granite, it was delightful to watch the various insects and birds as
they flew past. The humming-bird seems particularly fond of such shady
retired spots. Whenever I saw these little creatures buzzing round a
flower, with their wings vibrating so rapidly as to be scarcely
visible, I was reminded of the sphinx moths: their movements and habits
are indeed in many respects very similar.
Following a pathway I entered a noble forest, and from a height of five
or six hundred feet, one of those splendid views was presented, which
are so common on every side of Rio. At this elevation the landscape
attains its most brilliant tint; and every form, every shade, so
completely surpasses in magnificence all that the European has ever
beheld in his own country, that
he knows not how to express his feelings. The general effect frequently
recalled to my mind the gayest scenery of the Opera-house or the great
theatres. I never returned from these excursions empty-handed. This day
I found a specimen of a curious fungus, called Hymenophallus. Most
people know the English Phallus, which in autumn taints the air with
its odious smell: this, however, as the entomologist is aware, is to
some of our beetles a delightful fragrance. So was it here; for a
Strongylus, attracted by the odour, alighted on the fungus as I carried
it in my hand. We here see in two distant countries a similar relation
between plants and insects of the same families, though the species of
both are different. When man is the agent in introducing into a country
a new species this relation is often broken: as one instance of this I
may mention that the leaves of the cabbages and lettuces, which in
England afford food to such a multitude of slugs and caterpillars, in
the gardens near Rio are untouched.
During our stay at Brazil I made a large collection of insects. A few
general observations on the comparative importance of the different
orders may be interesting to the English entomologist. The large and
brilliantly-coloured Lepidoptera bespeak the zone they inhabit, far
more plainly than any other race of animals. I allude only to the
butterflies; for the moths, contrary to what might have been expected
from the rankness of the vegetation, certainly appeared in much fewer
numbers than in our own temperate regions. I was much surprised at the
habits of Papilio feronia. This butterfly is not uncommon, and
generally frequents the orange-groves. Although a high flier, yet it
very frequently alights on the trunks of trees. On these occasions its
head is invariably placed downwards; and its wings are expanded in a
horizontal plane, instead of being folded vertically, as is commonly
the case. This is the only butterfly which I have ever seen that uses
its legs for running. Not being aware of this fact, the insect, more
than once, as I cautiously approached with my forceps, shuffled on one
side just as the instrument was on the point of closing, and thus
escaped. But a far more singular fact is the power which this species
possesses of making a noise.[6] Several times when a pair,
probably male and female, were chasing each other in an irregular
course, they passed within a few yards of me; and I distinctly heard a
clicking noise, similar to that produced by a toothed wheel passing
under a spring catch. The noise was continued at short intervals, and
could be distinguished at about twenty yards’ distance: I am certain
there is no error in the observation.
[6] Mr. Doubleday has lately described (before the Entomological
Society, March 3rd, 1845) a peculiar structure in the wings of this
butterfly, which seems to be the means of its making its noise. He
says, “It is remarkable for having a sort of drum at the base of the
fore wings, between the costal nervure and the subcostal. These two
nervures, moreover, have a peculiar screw-like diaphragm or vessel in
the interior.” I find in Langsdorff’s travels (in the years 1803-7, p.
74) it is said, that in the island of St. Catherine’s on the coast of
Brazil, a butterfly called Februa Hoffmanseggi, makes a noise, when
flying away, like a rattle.
I was disappointed in the general aspect of the Coleoptera. The number
of minute and obscurely coloured beetles is exceedingly great.[7] The
cabinets of Europe can, as yet, boast only of the larger species from
tropical climates. It is sufficient to disturb the composure of an
entomologist’s mind, to look forward to the future dimensions of a
complete catalogue. The carnivorous beetles, or Carabidæ, appear in
extremely few numbers within the tropics: this is the more remarkable
when compared to the case of the carnivorous quadrupeds, which are so
abundant in hot countries. I was struck with this observation both on
entering Brazil, and when I saw the many elegant and active forms of
the Harpalidæ reappearing on the temperate plains of La Plata. Do the
very numerous spiders and rapacious Hymenoptera supply the place of the
carnivorous beetles? The carrion-feeders and Brachelytra are very
uncommon; on the other hand, the Rhyncophora and Chrysomelidæ, all of
which depend on the vegetable world for subsistence, are present in
astonishing numbers. I do not here refer to the number of different
species, but to that of the individual insects; for on this it is that
the most striking character in the entomology of different countries
depends. The orders Orthoptera and Hemiptera are particularly numerous;
as likewise is the stinging division of the Hymenoptera; the bees,
perhaps, being excepted. A person, on first entering a tropical
forest, is astonished at the labours of the ants: well-beaten paths
branch off in every direction, on which an army of never-failing
foragers may be seen, some going forth, and others returning, burdened
with pieces of green leaf, often larger than their own bodies.
[7] I may mention, as a common instance of one day’s (June 23rd)
collecting, when I was not attending particularly to the Coleoptera,
that I caught sixty-eight species of that order. Among these, there
were only two of the Carabidæ, four Brachelytra, fifteen Rhyncophora,
and fourteen of the Chrysomelidæ. Thirty-seven species of Arachnidæ,
which I brought home, will be sufficient to prove that I was not
paying overmuch attention to the generally favoured order of
Coleoptera.
A small dark-coloured ant sometimes migrates in countless numbers. One
day, at Bahia, my attention was drawn by observing many spiders,
cockroaches, and other insects, and some lizards, rushing in the
greatest agitation across a bare piece of ground. A little way behind,
every stalk and leaf was blackened by a small ant. The swarm having
crossed the bare space, divided itself, and descended an old wall. By
this means many insects were fairly enclosed; and the efforts which the
poor little creatures made to extricate themselves from such a death
were wonderful. When the ants came to the road they changed their
course, and in narrow files reascended the wall. Having placed a small
stone so as to intercept one of the lines, the whole body attacked it,
and then immediately retired. Shortly afterwards another body came to
the charge, and again having failed to make any impression, this line
of march was entirely given up. By going an inch round, the file might
have avoided the stone, and this doubtless would have happened, if it
had been originally there: but having been attacked, the lion-hearted
little warriors scorned the idea of yielding.
Certain wasp-like insects, which construct in the corners of the
verandahs clay cells for their larvæ, are very numerous in the
neighbourhood of Rio. These cells they stuff full of half-dead spiders
and caterpillars, which they seem wonderfully to know how to sting to
that degree as to leave them paralysed but alive, until their eggs are
hatched; and the larvae feed on the horrid mass of powerless,
half-killed victims—a sight which has been described by an enthusiastic
naturalist[8] as curious and pleasing! I was much interested one day by
watching a deadly contest between a Pepsis and a large spider of the
genus Lycosa. The wasp made a sudden dash at its prey, and then flew
away: the spider was evidently wounded, for, trying to escape, it
rolled down a little slope, but had still strength
sufficient to crawl into a thick tuft of grass. The wasp soon returned,
and seemed surprised at not immediately finding its victim. It then
commenced as regular a hunt as ever hound did after fox; making short
semicircular casts, and all the time rapidly vibrating its wings and
antennæ. The spider, though well concealed, was soon discovered, and
the wasp, evidently still afraid of its adversary’s jaws, after much
manœuvring, inflicted two stings on the under side of its thorax. At
last, carefully examining with its antennæ the now motionless spider,
it proceeded to drag away the body. But I stopped both tyrant and
prey.[9]
[8] In a Manuscript in the British Museum by Mr. Abbott, who made his
observations in Georgia; see Mr. A. White’s paper in the _Annals of
Natural History_, vol. vii, p. 472. Lieutenant Hutton has described a
sphex with similar habits in India, in the _Journal of the Asiatic
Society_, vol. i, p. 555.
[9] Don Felix Azara (vol. i, p. 175), mentioning a hymenopterous
insect, probably of the same genus, says he saw it dragging a dead
spider through tall grass, in a straight line to its nest, which was
one hundred and sixty-three paces distant. He adds that the wasp, in
order to find the road, every now and then made “demi-tours d’environ
trois palmes.”
The number of spiders, in proportion to other insects, is here compared
with England very much larger; perhaps more so than with any other
division of the articulate animals. The variety of species among the
jumping spiders appears almost infinite. The genus, or rather family of
Epeira, is here characterized by many singular forms; some species have
pointed coriaceous shells, others enlarged and spiny tibiæ. Every path
in the forest is barricaded with the strong yellow web of a species,
belonging to the same division with the Epeira clavipes of Fabricius,
which was formerly said by Sloane to make, in the West Indies, webs so
strong as to catch birds. A small and pretty kind of spider, with very
long fore-legs, and which appears to belong to an undescribed genus,
lives as a parasite on almost every one of these webs. I suppose it is
too insignificant to be noticed by the great Epeira, and is therefore
allowed to prey on the minute insects, which, adhering to the lines,
would otherwise be wasted. When frightened, this little spider either
feigns death by extending its front legs, or suddenly drops from the
web. A large Epeira of the same division with Epeira tuberculata and
conica is extremely common, especially in dry situations. Its web,
which is generally placed among the great leaves of the common agave,
is sometimes strengthened near the centre by a pair or even four zigzag
ribbons, which connect two adjoining rays. When any large insect, as a
grasshopper or wasp, is caught, the spider, by a dexterous movement,
makes it revolve
very rapidly, and at the same time emitting a band of threads from its
spinners, soon envelops its prey in a case like the cocoon of a
silkworm. The spider now examines the powerless victim, and gives the
fatal bite on the hinder part of its thorax; then retreating, patiently
waits till the poison has taken effect. The virulence of this poison
may be judged of from the fact that in half a minute I opened the mesh,
and found a large wasp quite lifeless. This Epeira always stands with
its head downwards near the centre of the web. When disturbed, it acts
differently according to circumstances: if there is a thicket below, it
suddenly falls down; and I have distinctly seen the thread from the
spinners lengthened by the animal while yet stationary, as preparatory
to its fall. If the ground is clear beneath, the Epeira seldom falls,
but moves quickly through a central passage from one to the other side.
When still further disturbed, it practises a most curious manœuvre:
standing in the middle, it violently jerks the web, which is attached
to elastic twigs, till at last the whole acquires such a rapid
vibratory movement, that even the outline of the spider’s body becomes
indistinct.
It is well known that most of the British spiders, when a large insect
is caught in their webs, endeavour to cut the lines and liberate their
prey, to save their nets from being entirely spoiled. I once, however,
saw in a hot-house in Shropshire a large female wasp caught in the
irregular web of a quite small spider; and this spider, instead of
cutting the web, most perseveringly continued to entangle the body, and
especially the wings, of its prey. The wasp at first aimed in vain
repeated thrusts with its sting at its little antagonist. Pitying the
wasp, after allowing it to struggle for more than an hour, I killed it
and put it back into the web. The spider soon returned; and an hour
afterwards I was much surprised to find it with its jaws buried in the
orifice through which the sting is protruded by the living wasp. I
drove the spider away two or three times, but for the next twenty-four
hours I always found it again sucking at the same place. The spider
became much distended by the juices of its prey, which was many times
larger than itself.
I may here just mention, that I found, near St. Fé Bajada, many large
black spiders, with ruby-coloured marks on their backs, having
gregarious habits. The webs were placed
vertically, as is invariably the case with the genus Epeira: they were
separated from each other by a space of about two feet, but were all
attached to certain common lines, which were of great length, and
extended to all parts of the community. In this manner the tops of some
large bushes were encompassed by the united nets. Azara[10] has
described a gregarious spider in Paraguay, which Walckanaer thinks must
be a Theridion, but probably it is an Epeira, and perhaps even the same
species with mine. I cannot, however, recollect seeing a central nest
as large as a hat, in which, during autumn, when the spiders die, Azara
says the eggs are deposited. As all the spiders which I saw were of the
same size, they must have been nearly of the same age. This gregarious
habit, in so typical a genus as Epeira, among insects, which are so
bloodthirsty and solitary that even the two sexes attack each other, is
a very singular fact.
[10] Azara’s _Voyage_, vol. 1, p. 213.
In a lofty valley of the Cordillera, near Mendoza, I found another
spider with a singularly-formed web. Strong lines radiated in a
vertical plane from a common centre, where the insect had its station;
but only two of the rays were connected by a symmetrical mesh-work; so
that the net, instead of being, as is generally the case, circular,
consisted of a wedge-shaped segment. All the webs were similarly
constructed.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Chapter III
Monte Video—Maldonado—Excursion to R. Polanco—Lazo and
Bolas—Partridges—Absence of Trees—Deer—Capybara, or River
Hog—Tucutuco—Molothrus, cuckoo-like
habits—Tyrant-flycatcher—Mocking-bird—Carrion Hawks—Tubes formed by
Lightning—House struck.
MALDONADO
_July_ 5_th_, 1832.—In the morning we got under way, and stood out of
the splendid harbour of Rio de Janeiro. In our passage to the Plata, we
saw nothing particular, excepting on one day a great shoal of
porpoises, many hundreds in number. The whole sea was in places
furrowed by them; and a most extraordinary spectacle was presented, as
hundreds, proceeding together by jumps, in which their whole bodies
were exposed, thus cut the water. When the ship was running nine knots
an hour, these animals could cross and recross the bows with the
greatest ease, and then dash away right ahead. As soon as we entered
the estuary of the Plata, the weather was very unsettled. One dark
night we were surrounded by numerous seals and penguins, which made
such strange noises, that the officer on watch reported he could hear
the cattle bellowing on shore. On a second night we witnessed a
splendid scene of natural fireworks; the mast-head and yard-arm ends
shone with St. Elmo’s light; and the form of the vane could almost be
traced, as if it had been rubbed with phosphorus. The sea was so highly
luminous, that the tracks of the penguins were marked by a fiery wake,
and the darkness of the sky was momentarily illuminated by the most
vivid lightning.
When within the mouth of the river, I was interested by observing how
slowly the waters of the sea and river mixed. The latter, muddy and
discoloured, from its less specific gravity, floated on the surface of
the salt water. This was curiously exhibited in the wake of the vessel,
where a line of blue water was seen mingling in little eddies with the
adjoining fluid.
_July_ 26_th_, 1832.—We anchored at Monte Video. The _Beagle_ was
employed in surveying the extreme southern and eastern coasts of
America, south of the Plata, during the two succeeding years. To
prevent useless repetitions, I will extract those parts of my journal
which refer to the same districts, without always attending to the
order in which we visited them.
MALDONADO is situated on the northern bank of the Plata, and not very
far from the mouth of the estuary. It is a most quiet, forlorn, little
town; built, as is universally the case in these countries, with the
streets running at right angles to each other, and having in the middle
a large plaza or square, which, from its size, renders the scantiness
of the population more evident. It possesses scarcely any trade; the
exports being confined to a few hides and living cattle. The
inhabitants are chiefly landowners, together with a few shopkeepers and
the necessary tradesmen, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, who do
nearly all the business for a circuit of fifty miles round. The town is
separated from the river by a band of sand-hillocks, about a mile
broad: it is surrounded on all other sides by an
open slightly-undulating country, covered by one uniform layer of fine
green turf, on which countless herds of cattle, sheep, and horses
graze. There is very little land cultivated even close to the town. A
few hedges made of cacti and agave mark out where some wheat or Indian
corn has been planted. The features of the country are very similar
along the whole northern bank of the Plata. The only difference is,
that here the granitic hills are a little bolder. The scenery is very
uninteresting; there is scarcely a house, an enclosed piece of ground,
or even a tree, to give it an air of cheerfulness. Yet, after being
imprisoned for some time in a ship, there is a charm in the unconfined
feeling of walking over boundless plains of turf. Moreover, if your
view is limited to a small space, many objects possess beauty. Some of
the smaller birds are brilliantly coloured; and the bright green sward,
browsed short by the cattle, is ornamented by dwarf flowers, among
which a plant, looking like the daisy, claimed the place of an old
friend. What would a florist say to whole tracts, so thickly covered by
the Verbena melindres, as, even at a distance, to appear of the most
gaudy scarlet?
I stayed ten weeks at Maldonado, in which time a nearly perfect
collection of the animals, birds, and reptiles, was procured. Before
making any observations respecting them, I will give an account of a
little excursion I made as far as the river Polanco, which is about
seventy miles distant, in a northerly direction. I may mention, as a
proof how cheap everything is in this country, that I paid only two
dollars a day or eight shillings, for two men, together with a troop of
about a dozen riding-horses. My companions were well armed with pistols
and sabres; a precaution which I thought rather unnecessary; but the
first piece of news we heard was, that, the day before, a traveller
from Monte Video had been found dead on the road, with his throat cut.
This happened close to a cross, the record of a former murder.
On the first night we slept at a retired little country-house; and
there I soon found out that I possessed two or three articles,
especially a pocket compass, which created unbounded astonishment. In
every house I was asked to show the compass, and by its aid, together
with a map, to point out the direction
of various places. It excited the liveliest admiration that I, a
perfect stranger, should know the road (for direction and road are
synonymous in this open country) to places where I had never been. At
one house a young woman who was ill in bed, sent to entreat me to come
and show her the compass. If their surprise was great, mine was
greater, to find such ignorance among people who possessed their
thousands of cattle, and “estancias” of great extent. It can only be
accounted for by the circumstance that this retired part of the country
is seldom visited by foreigners. I was asked whether the earth or sun
moved; whether it was hotter or colder to the north; where Spain was,
and many other such questions. The greater number of the inhabitants
had an indistinct idea that England, London, and North America, were
different names for the same place; but the better informed well knew
that London and North America were separate countries close together,
and that England was a large town in London! I carried with me some
promethean matches, which I ignited by biting; it was thought so
wonderful that a man should strike fire with his teeth, that it was
usual to collect the whole family to see it: I was once offered a
dollar for a single one. Washing my face in the morning caused much
speculation at the village of Las Minas; a superior tradesman closely
cross-questioned me about so singular a practice; and likewise why on
board we wore our beards; for he had heard from my guide that we did
so. He eyed me with much suspicion; perhaps he had heard of ablutions
in the Mahomedan religion, and knowing me to be a heretic, probably he
came to the conclusion that all heretics were Turks. It is the general
custom in this country to ask for a night’s lodging at the first
convenient house. The astonishment at the compass, and my other feats
of jugglery, was to a certain degree advantageous, as with that, and
the long stories my guides told of my breaking stones, knowing venomous
from harmless snakes, collecting insects, etc., I repaid them for their
hospitality. I am writing as if I had been among the inhabitants of
Central Africa: Banda Oriental would not be flattered by the
comparison; but such were my feelings at the time.
The next day we rode to the village of Las Minas. The country was
rather more hilly, but otherwise continued the
same; an inhabitant of the Pampas no doubt would have considered it as
truly alpine. The country is so thinly inhabited, that during the whole
day we scarcely met a single person. Las Minas is much smaller even
than Maldonado. It is seated on a little plain, and is surrounded by
low rocky mountains. It is of the usual symmetrical form, and with its
whitewashed church standing in the centre, had rather a pretty
appearance. The outskirting houses rose out of the plain like isolated
beings, without the accompaniment of gardens or courtyards. This is
generally the case in the country, and all the houses have, in
consequence, an uncomfortable aspect. At night we stopped at a
pulperia, or drinking-shop. During the evening a great number of
Gauchos came in to drink spirits and smoke cigars: their appearance is
very striking; they are generally tall and handsome, but with a proud
and dissolute expression of countenance. They frequently wear their
moustaches, and long black hair curling down their backs. With their
brightly coloured garments, great spurs clanking about their heels, and
knives stuck as daggers (and often so used) at their waists, they look
a very different race of men from what might be expected from their
name of Gauchos, or simple countrymen. Their politeness is excessive;
they never drink their spirits without expecting you to taste it; but
whilst making their exceedingly graceful bow, they seem quite as ready,
if occasion offered, to cut your throat.
On the third day we pursued rather an irregular course, as I was
employed in examining some beds of marble. On the fine plains of turf
we saw many ostriches (Struthio rhea). Some of the flocks contained as
many as twenty or thirty birds. These, when standing on any little
eminence, and seen against the clear sky, presented a very noble
appearance. I never met with such tame ostriches in any other part of
the country: it was easy to gallop up within a short distance of them;
but then, expanding their wings, they made all sail right before the
wind, and soon left the horse astern.
At night we came to the house of Don Juan Fuentes, a rich landed
proprietor, but not personally known to either of my companions. On
approaching the house of a stranger, it is usual to follow several
little points of etiquette: riding up slowly to the door, the
salutation of Ave Maria is given, and
until somebody comes out and asks you to alight, it is not customary
even to get off your horse: the formal answer of the owner is, “sin
pecado concebida”—that is, conceived without sin. Having entered the
house, some general conversation is kept up for a few minutes, till
permission is asked to pass the night there. This is granted as a
matter of course. The stranger then takes his meals with the family,
and a room is assigned him, where with the horsecloths belonging to his
recado (or saddle of the Pampas) he makes his bed. It is curious how
similar circumstances produce such similar results in manners. At the
Cape of Good Hope the same hospitality, and very nearly the same points
of etiquette, are universally observed. The difference, however,
between the character of the Spaniard and that of the Dutch boor is
shown, by the former never asking his guest a single question beyond
the strictest rule of politeness, whilst the honest Dutchman demands
where he has been, where he is going, what is his business, and even
how many brothers, sisters, or children he may happen to have.
Shortly after our arrival at Don Juan’s one of the largest herds of
cattle was driven in towards the house, and three beasts were picked
out to be slaughtered for the supply of the establishment. These
half-wild cattle are very active; and knowing full well the fatal lazo,
they led the horses a long and laborious chase. After witnessing the
rude wealth displayed in the number of cattle, men, and horses, Don
Juan’s miserable house was quite curious. The floor consisted of
hardened mud, and the windows were without glass; the sitting-room
boasted only of a few of the roughest chairs and stools, with a couple
of tables. The supper, although several strangers were present,
consisted of two huge piles, one of roast beef, the other of boiled,
with some pieces of pumpkin: besides this latter there was no other
vegetable, and not even a morsel of bread. For drinking, a large
earthenware jug of water served the whole party. Yet this man was the
owner of several square miles of land, of which nearly every acre would
produce corn, and, with a little trouble, all the common vegetables.
The evening was spent in smoking, with a little impromptu singing,
accompanied by the guitar. The signoritas all sat together in one
corner of the room, and did not sup with the men.
[Illustration]
So many works have been written about these countries,
that it is almost superfluous to describe either the lazo or the bolas.
The lazo consists of a very strong, but thin, well-plaited rope, made
of raw hide. One end is attached to the broad surcingle, which fastens
together the complicated gear of the recado, or saddle used in the
Pampas; the other is terminated by a small ring of iron or brass, by
which a noose can be formed. The Gaucho, when he is going to use the
lazo, keeps a small coil in his bridle-hand, and in the other holds the
running noose, which is made very large, generally having a diameter of
about eight feet. This he whirls round his head, and by the dexterous
movement of his wrist keeps the noose open; then, throwing it, he
causes it to fall on any particular spot he chooses. The lazo, when not
used, is tied up in a small coil to the after part of the recado. The
bolas, or balls, are of two kinds: the simplest, which is chiefly used
for catching ostriches, consists of two round stones, covered with
leather, and united by a thin plaited thong, about eight feet long. The
other kind differs only in having three balls united by the thongs to a
common centre. The Gaucho holds the smallest of the three in his hand,
and whirls the other two round and round his head; then, taking aim,
sends them like chain shot revolving through the air. The balls no
sooner strike any object, than, winding round it, they cross each
other, and become firmly hitched. The size and weight of the balls
varies, according to the purpose for which they are made: when of
stone, although not larger than an apple, they are sent with such force
as sometimes to break the leg even of a horse. I have seen the balls
made of wood, and as large as a turnip, for the sake of catching these
animals without injuring them. The balls are sometimes made of iron,
and these can be hurled to
the greatest distance. The main difficulty in using either lazo or
bolas is to ride so well as to be able at full speed, and while
suddenly turning about, to whirl them so steadily round the head, as to
take aim: on foot any person would soon learn the art. One day, as I
was amusing myself by galloping and whirling the balls round my head,
by accident the free one struck a bush, and its revolving motion being
thus destroyed, it immediately fell to the ground, and, like magic
caught one hind leg of my horse; the other ball was then jerked out of
my hand, and the horse fairly secured. Luckily he was an old practised
animal, and knew what it meant; otherwise he would probably have kicked
till he had thrown himself down. The Gauchos roared with laughter; they
cried out that they had seen every sort of animal caught, but had never
before seen a man caught by himself.
During the two succeeding days, I reached the farthest point which I
was anxious to examine. The country wore the same aspect, till at last
the fine green turf became more wearisome than a dusty turnpike road.
We everywhere saw great numbers of partridges (Nothura major). These
birds do not go in coveys, nor do they conceal themselves like the
English kind. It appears a very silly bird. A man on horseback by
riding round and round in a circle, or rather in a spire, so as to
approach closer each time, may knock on the head as many as he pleases.
The more common method is to catch them with a running noose, or little
lazo, made of the stem of an ostrich’s feather, fastened to the end of
a long stick. A boy on a quiet old horse will frequently thus catch
thirty or forty in a day. In Arctic North America[1] the Indians catch
the Varying Hare by walking spirally round and round it, when on its
form: the middle of the day is reckoned the best time, when the sun is
high, and the shadow of the hunter not very long.
[1] Hearne’s _Journey_, p. 383.
On our return to Maldonado, we followed rather a different line of
road. Near Pan de Azucar, a landmark well known to all those who have
sailed up the Plata, I stayed a day at the house of a most hospitable
old Spaniard. Early in the morning we ascended the Sierra de las
Animas. By the aid of the rising sun the scenery was almost
picturesque. To the westward
the view extended over an immense level plain as far as the Mount, at
Monte Video, and to the eastward, over the mammillated country of
Maldonado. On the summit of the mountain there were several small heaps
of stones, which evidently had lain there for many years. My companion
assured me that they were the work of the Indians in the old time. The
heaps were similar, but on a much smaller scale, to those so commonly
found on the mountains of Wales. The desire to signalise any event, on
the highest point of the neighbouring land, seems a universal passion
with mankind. At the present day, not a single Indian, either civilised
or wild, exists in this part of the province; nor am I aware that the
former inhabitants have left behind them any more permanent records
than these insignificant piles on the summit of the Sierra de las
Animas.
The general, and almost entire absence of trees in Banda Oriental is
remarkable. Some of the rocky hills are partly covered by thickets, and
on the banks of the larger streams, especially to the north of Las
Minas, willow-trees are not uncommon. Near the Arroyo Tapes I heard of
a wood of palms; and one of these trees, of considerable size, I saw
near the Pan de Azucar, in lat. 35°. These, and the trees planted by
the Spaniards, offer the only exceptions to the general scarcity of
wood. Among the introduced kinds may be enumerated poplars, olives,
peach, and other fruit trees: the peaches succeed so well, that they
afford the main supply of firewood to the city of Buenos Ayres.
Extremely level countries, such as the Pampas, seldom appear favourable
to the growth of trees. This may possibly be attributed either to the
force of the winds, or the kind of drainage. In the nature of the land,
however, around Maldonado, no such reason is apparent; the rocky
mountains afford protected situations; enjoying various kinds of soil;
streamlets of water are common at the bottoms of nearly every valley;
and the clayey nature of the earth seems adapted to retain moisture. It
has been inferred, with much probability, that the presence of woodland
is generally determined[2] by the annual amount of moisture; yet in
this province abundant and heavy rain falls during the winter; and the
summer, though
dry, is not so in any excessive degree.[3] We see nearly the whole of
Australia covered by lofty trees, yet that country possesses a far more
arid climate. Hence we must look to some other and unknown cause.
[2] Maclaren, article “America,” _Encyclopedia Britannica._
[3] Azara says “Je crois que la quantité annuelle des pluies est, dans
toutes ces contrées, plus considérable qu’en Espagne.”—Vol. i, p. 36.
Confining our view to South America, we should certainly be tempted to
believe that trees flourished only under a very humid climate; for the
limit of the forest-land follows, in a most remarkable manner, that of
the damp winds. In the southern part of the continent, where the
western gales, charged with moisture from the Pacific, prevail, every
island on the broken west coast, from lat. 38° to the extreme point of
Tierra del Fuego, is densely covered by impenetrable forests. On the
eastern side of the Cordillera, over the same extent of latitude, where
a blue sky and a fine climate prove that the atmosphere has been
deprived of its moisture by passing over the mountains, the arid plains
of Patagonia support a most scanty vegetation. In the more northern
parts of the continent, within the limits of the constant south-eastern
trade-wind, the eastern side is ornamented by magnificent forests;
whilst the western coast, from lat. 4° S. to lat. 32° S., may be
described as a desert; on this western coast, northward of lat. 4° S.,
where the trade-wind loses its regularity, and heavy torrents of rain
fall periodically, the shores of the Pacific, so utterly desert in
Peru, assume near Cape Blanco the character of luxuriance so celebrated
at Guayaquil and Panama. Hence in the southern and northern parts of
the continent, the forest and desert lands occupy reversed positions
with respect to the Cordillera, and these positions are apparently
determined by the direction of the prevalent winds. In the middle of
the continent there is a broad intermediate band, including central
Chile and the provinces of La Plata, where the rain-bringing winds have
not to pass over lofty mountains, and where the land is neither a
desert nor covered by forests. But even the rule, if confined to South
America, of trees flourishing only in a climate rendered humid by
rain-bearing winds, has a strongly marked exception in the case of the
Falkland Islands. These islands, situated in the same latitude with
Tierra del Fuego and only between two and three hundred miles distant
from it, having a nearly similar
climate, with a geological formation almost identical, with favourable
situations and the same kind of peaty soil, yet can boast of few plants
deserving even the title of bushes; whilst in Tierra del Fuego it is
impossible to find an acre of land not covered by the densest forest.
In this case, both the direction of the heavy gales of wind and of the
currents of the sea are favourable to the transport of seeds from
Tierra del Fuego, as is shown by the canoes and trunks of trees drifted
from that country, and frequently thrown on the shores of the Western
Falkland. Hence perhaps it is, that there are many plants in common to
the two countries: but with respect to the trees of Tierra del Fuego,
even attempts made to transplant them have failed.
During our stay at Maldonado I collected several quadrupeds, eighty
kinds of birds, and many reptiles, including nine species of snakes. Of
the indigenous mammalia, the only one now left of any size, which is
common, is the Cervus campestris. This deer is exceedingly abundant,
often in small herds, throughout the countries bordering the Plata and
in Northern Patagonia. If a person crawling close along the ground,
slowly advances towards a herd, the deer frequently, out of curiosity,
approach to reconnoitre him. I have by this means, killed from one
spot, three out of the same herd. Although so tame and inquisitive, yet
when approached on horseback, they are exceedingly wary. In this
country nobody goes on foot, and the deer knows man as its enemy only
when he is mounted and armed with the bolas. At Bahia Blanca, a recent
establishment in Northern Patagonia, I was surprised to find how little
the deer cared for the noise of a gun: one day I fired ten times from
within eighty yards at one animal; and it was much more startled at the
ball cutting up the ground than at the report of the rifle. My powder
being exhausted, I was obliged to get up (to my shame as a sportsman be
it spoken, though well able to kill birds on the wing) and halloo till
the deer ran away.
The most curious fact with respect to this animal, is the
overpoweringly strong and offensive odour which proceeds from the buck.
It is quite indescribable: several times whilst skinning the specimen
which is now mounted at the Zoological Museum, I was almost overcome by
nausea. I tied up the
skin in a silk pocket-handkerchief, and so carried it home: this
handkerchief, after being well washed, I continually used, and it was
of course as repeatedly washed; yet every time, for a space of one year
and seven months, when first unfolded, I distinctly perceived the
odour. This appears an astonishing instance of the permanence of some
matter, which nevertheless in its nature must be most subtile and
volatile. Frequently, when passing at the distance of half a mile to
leeward of a herd, I have perceived the whole air tainted with the
effluvium. I believe the smell from the buck is most powerful at the
period when its horns are perfect, or free from the hairy skin. When in
this state the meat is, of course, quite uneatable; but the Gauchos
assert, that if buried for some time in fresh earth, the taint is
removed. I have somewhere read that the islanders in the north of
Scotland treat the rank carcasses of the fish-eating birds in the same
manner.
The order Rodentia is here very numerous in species: of mice alone I
obtained no less than eight kinds.[4] The largest gnawing animal in the
world, the Hydrochærus capybara (the water-hog), is here also common.
One which I shot at Monte Video weighed ninety-eight pounds: its
length, from the end of the snout to the stump-like tail, was three
feet two inches; and its girth three feet eight. These great Rodents
occasionally frequent the islands in the mouth of the Plata, where the
water is quite salt, but are far more abundant on the borders of
fresh-water lakes and rivers. Near Maldonado three or four generally
live together. In the daytime they either lie among the aquatic plants,
or openly feed on the turf plain.[5] When viewed at a distance, from
their manner of walking and colour they resemble pigs: but when seated
on their haunches, and attentively watching any object with one eye,
they reassume the appearance of their congeners, cavies and rabbits.
Both the front and side view of their head has quite a ludicrous
aspect, from the great depth of their jaw. These animals, at Maldonado,
were very tame; by cautiously walking, I approached within three yards
of four old ones. This tameness may probably be accounted for, by the
Jaguar having been banished for some years, and by the Gaucho not
thinking it worth his while to hunt them. As I approached nearer and
nearer they frequently made their peculiar noise, which is a low abrupt
grunt, not having much actual sound, but rather arising from the sudden
expulsion of air: the only noise I know at all like it, is the first
hoarse bark of a large dog. Having watched the four from almost within
arm’s length (and they me) for several minutes, they rushed into the
water at full gallop with the greatest impetuosity, and emitted at the
same time their bark. After diving a short distance they came again to
the surface, but only just showed the upper part of their heads. When
the female is swimming in the water, and has young ones, they are said
to sit on her back. These animals are easily killed in numbers; but
their skins are of trifling value, and the meat is very indifferent. On
the islands in the Rio Parana they are exceedingly abundant, and afford
the ordinary prey to the Jaguar.
[4] In South America I collected altogether twenty-seven species of
mice, and thirteen more are known from the works of Azara and other
authors. Those collected by myself have been named and described by
Mr. Waterhouse at the meetings of the Zoological Society. I must be
allowed to take this opportunity of returning my cordial thanks to Mr.
Waterhouse, and to the other gentleman attached to that Society, for
their kind and most liberal assistance on all occasions.
[5] In the stomach and duodenum of a capybara which I opened, I found
a very large quantity of a thin yellowish fluid, in which scarcely a
fibre could be distinguished. Mr. Owen informs me that a part of the
œsophagus is so constructed that nothing much larger than a crowquill
can be passed down. Certainly the broad teeth and strong jaws of this
animal are well fitted to grind into pulp the aquatic plants on which
it feeds.
The Tucutuco (Ctenomys Brasiliensis) is a curious small animal, which
may be briefly described as a Gnawer, with the habits of a mole. It is
extremely numerous in some parts of the country, but it is difficult to
be procured, and never, I believe, comes out of the ground. It throws
up at the mouth of its burrows hillocks of earth like those of the
mole, but smaller. Considerable tracts of country are so completely
undermined by these animals that horses, in passing over, sink above
their fetlocks. The tucutucos appear, to a certain degree, to be
gregarious: the man who procured the specimens for me had caught six
together, and he said this was a common occurrence. They are nocturnal
in their habits; and their principal food is the roots of plants, which
are the object of their extensive and superficial burrows. This animal
is universally known by a very peculiar noise which it makes when
beneath the ground. A person, the first time he hears it, is much
surprised; for it is not easy to tell whence it comes, nor is it
possible to guess what
kind of creature utters it. The noise consists in a short, but not
rough, nasal grunt, which is monotonously repeated about four times in
quick succession:[6] the name Tucutuco is given in imitation of the
sound. Where this animal is abundant, it may be heard at all times of
the day, and sometimes directly beneath one’s feet. When kept in a
room, the tucutucos move both slowly and clumsily, which appears owing
to the outward action of their hind legs; and they are quite incapable,
from the socket of the thigh-bone not having a certain ligament, of
jumping even the smallest vertical height. They are very stupid in
making any attempt to escape; when angry or frightened they utter the
tucu-tuco. Of those I kept alive, several, even the first day, became
quite tame, not attempting to bite or to run away; others were a little
wilder.
[6] At the R. Negro, in Northern Patagonia, there is an animal of the
same habits, and probably a closely allied species, but which I never
saw. Its noise is different from that of the Maldonado kind; it is
repeated only twice instead of three or four times, and is more
distinct and sonorous: when heard from a distance it so closely
resembles the sound made in cutting down a small tree with an axe,
that I have sometimes remained in doubt concerning it.
The man who caught them asserted that very many are invariably found
blind. A specimen which I preserved in spirits was in this state; Mr.
Reid considers it to be the effect of inflammation in the nictitating
membrane. When the animal was alive I placed my finger within half an
inch of its head, and not the slightest notice was taken: it made its
way, however, about the room nearly as well as the others. Considering
the strictly subterranean habits of the tucu-tuco, the blindness,
though so common, cannot be a very serious evil; yet it appears strange
that any animal should possess an organ frequently subject to be
injured. Lamarck would have been delighted with this fact, had he known
it, when speculating[7] (probably with more truth than usual with him)
on the gradually-_acquired_ blindness of the Aspalax, a Gnawer living
under ground, and of the Proteus, a reptile living in dark caverns
filled with water; in both of which animals the eye is in an almost
rudimentary state, and is covered by a tendinous membrane and skin. In
the common mole the eye is extraordinarily small but perfect, though
many anatomists doubt whether it is connected with the true optic
nerve; its vision must certainly be imperfect, though
probably useful to the animal when it leaves its burrow. In the
tucu-tuco, which I believe never comes to the surface of the ground,
the eye is rather larger, but often rendered blind and useless, though
without apparently causing any inconvenience to the animal; no doubt
Lamarck would have said that the tucu-tuco is now passing into the
state of the Aspalax and Proteus.
[7] _Philosoph. Zoolog._ tome i, p. 242.
Birds of many kinds are extremely abundant on the undulating grassy
plains around Maldonado. There are several species of a family allied
in structure and manners to our Starling: one of these (Molothrus
niger) is remarkable from its habits. Several may often be seen
standing together on the back of a cow or horse; and while perched on a
hedge, pluming themselves in the sun, they sometimes attempt to sing,
or rather to hiss; the noise being very peculiar, resembling that of
bubbles of air passing rapidly from a small orifice under water, so as
to produce an acute sound. According to Azara, this bird, like the
cuckoo, deposits its eggs in other birds’ nests. I was several times
told by the country people that there certainly is some bird having
this habit; and my assistant in collecting, who is a very accurate
person, found a nest of the sparrow of this country (Zonotrichia
matutina), with one egg in it larger than the others, and of a
different colour and shape. In North America there is another species
of Molothrus (M. pecoris), which has a similar cuckoo-like habit, and
which is most closely allied in every respect to the species from the
Plata, even in such trifling peculiarities as standing on the backs of
cattle; it differs only in being a little smaller, and in its plumage
and eggs being of a slightly different shade of colour. This close
agreement in structure and habits, in representative species coming
from opposite quarters of a great continent, always strikes one as
interesting, though of common occurrence.
Mr. Swainson has well remarked,[8] that with the exception of the
Molothrus pecoris, to which must be added the M. niger, the cuckoos are
the only birds which can be called truly parasitical; namely, such as
“fasten themselves, as it were, on another living animal, whose animal
heat brings their young into life, whose food they live upon, and whose
death would
cause theirs during the period of infancy.” It is remarkable that some
of the species, but not all, both of the Cuckoo and Molothrus should
agree in this one strange habit of their parasitical propagation,
whilst opposed to each other in almost every other habit: the
molothrus, like our starling, is eminently sociable, and lives on the
open plains without art or disguise: the cuckoo, as every one knows, is
a singularly shy bird; it frequents the most retired thickets, and
feeds on fruit and caterpillars. In structure also these two genera are
widely removed from each other. Many theories, even phrenological
theories, have been advanced to explain the origin of the cuckoo laying
its eggs in other birds’ nests. M. Prévost alone, I think, has thrown
light by his observations[9] on this puzzle: he finds that the female
cuckoo, which, according to most observers, lays at least from four to
six eggs, must pair with the male each time after laying only one or
two eggs. Now, if the cuckoo was obliged to sit on her own eggs, she
would either have to sit on all together, and therefore leave those
first laid so long, that they probably would become addled; or she
would have to hatch separately each egg or two eggs, as soon as laid:
but as the cuckoo stays a shorter time in this country than any other
migratory bird, she certainly would not have time enough for the
successive hatchings. Hence we can perceive in the fact of the cuckoo
pairing several times, and laying her eggs at intervals, the cause of
her depositing her eggs in other birds’ nests, and leaving them to the
care of foster-parents. I am strongly inclined to believe that this
view is correct, from having been independently led (as we shall
hereafter see) to an analogous conclusion with regard to the South
American ostrich, the females of which are parasitical, if I may so
express it, on each other; each female laying several eggs in the nests
of several other females, and the male ostrich undertaking all the
cares of incubation, like the strange foster-parents with the cuckoo.
[8] _Magazine of Zoology and Botany_, vol. i, p. 217.
[9] Read before the Academy of Sciences in Paris. L’Institut, 1834, p.
418.
I will mention only two other birds, which are very common, and render
themselves prominent from their habits. The Saurophagus sulphuratus is
typical of the great American tribe of tyrant-flycatchers. In its
structure it closely approaches the true shrikes, but in its habits may
be compared to many birds. I have frequently observed it, hunting a
field, hovering over
one spot like a hawk, and then proceeding on to another. When seen thus
suspended in the air, it might very readily at a short distance be
mistaken for one of the Rapacious order; its stoop, however, is very
inferior in force and rapidity to that of a hawk. At other times the
Saurophagus haunts the neighbourhood of water, and there, like a
kingfisher, remaining stationary, it catches any small fish which may
come near the margin. These birds are not unfrequently kept either in
cages or in courtyards, with their wings cut. They soon become tame,
and are very amusing from their cunning odd manners, which were
described to me as being similar to those of the common magpie. Their
flight is undulatory, for the weight of the head and bill appears too
great for the body. In the evening the Saurophagus takes its stand on a
bush, often by the roadside, and continually repeats without change a
shrill and rather agreeable cry, which somewhat resembles articulate
words: the Spaniards say it is like the words “Bien te veo” (I see you
well), and accordingly have given it this name.
A mocking-bird (Mimus orpheus), called by the inhabitants Calandria, is
remarkable, from possessing a song far superior to that of any other
bird in the country: indeed, it is nearly the only bird in South
America which I have observed to take its stand for the purpose of
singing. The song may be compared to that of the Sedge warbler, but is
more powerful; some harsh notes and some very high ones, being mingled
with a pleasant warbling. It is heard only during the spring. At other
times its cry is harsh and far from harmonious. Near Maldonado these
birds were tame and bold; they constantly attended the country houses
in numbers, to pick the meat which was hung up on the posts or walls:
if any other small bird joined the feast, the Calandria soon chased it
away. On the wide uninhabited plains of Patagonia another closely
allied species, O. Patagonica of d’Orbigny, which frequents the valleys
clothed with spiny bushes, is a wilder bird, and has a slightly
different tone of voice. It appears to me a curious circumstance, as
showing the fine shades of difference in habits, that judging from this
latter respect alone, when I first saw this second species, I thought
it was different from the Maldonado kind. Having afterwards procured a
specimen, and comparing the two without particular care, they appeared
so very similar,
that I changed my opinion; but now Mr. Gould says that they are
certainly distinct; a conclusion in conformity with the trifling
difference of habit, of which, however, he was not aware.
The number, tameness, and disgusting habits of the carrion-feeding
hawks of South America make them pre-eminently striking to any one
accustomed only to the birds of Northern Europe. In this list may be
included four species of the Caracara or Polyborus, the Turkey buzzard,
the Gallinazo, and the Condor. The Caracaras are, from their structure,
placed among the eagles: we shall soon see how ill they become so high
a rank. In their habits they well supply the place of our
carrion-crows, magpies, and ravens; a tribe of birds widely distributed
over the rest of the world, but entirely absent in South America. To
begin with the Polyborus Brasiliensis: this is a common bird, and has a
wide geographical range; it is most numerous on the grassy savannahs of
La Plata (where it goes by the name of Carrancha), and is far from
unfrequent throughout the sterile plains of Patagonia. In the desert
between the rivers Negro and Colorado, numbers constantly attend the
line of road to devour the carcasses of the exhausted animals which
chance to perish from fatigue and thirst. Although thus common in these
dry and open countries, and likewise on the arid shores of the Pacific,
it is nevertheless found inhabiting the damp impervious forests of West
Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The Carranchas, together with the
Chimango, constantly attend in numbers the estancias and
slaughtering-houses. If an animal dies on the plain the Gallinazo
commences the feast, and then the two species of Polyborus pick the
bones clean. These birds, although thus commonly feeding together, are
far from being friends. When the Carrancha is quietly seated on the
branch of a tree or on the ground, the Chimango often continues for a
long time flying backwards and forwards, up and down, in a semicircle,
trying each time at the bottom of the curve to strike its larger
relative. The Carrancha takes little notice, except by bobbing its
head. Although the Carranchas frequently assemble in numbers, they are
not gregarious; for in desert places they may be seen solitary, or more
commonly by pairs.
The Carranchas are said to be very crafty, and to steal great
numbers of eggs. They attempt, also, together with the Chimango, to
pick off the scabs from the sore backs of horses and mules. The poor
animal, on the one hand, with its ears down and its back arched; and,
on the other, the hovering bird, eyeing at the distance of a yard the
disgusting morsel, form a picture, which has been described by Captain
Head with his own peculiar spirit and accuracy. These false eagles most
rarely kill any living bird or animal; and their vulture-like,
necrophagous habits are very evident to any one who has fallen asleep
on the desolate plains of Patagonia, for when he wakes, he will see, on
each surrounding hillock, one of these birds patiently watching him
with an evil eye: it is a feature in the landscape of these countries,
which will be recognised by every one who has wandered over them. If a
party of men go out hunting with dogs and horses, they will be
accompanied, during the day, by several of these attendants. After
feeding, the uncovered craw protrudes; at such times, and indeed
generally, the Carrancha is an inactive, tame, and cowardly bird. Its
flight is heavy and slow, like that of an English rook. It seldom
soars; but I have twice seen one at a great height gliding through the
air with much ease. It runs (in contradistinction to hopping), but not
quite so quickly as some of its congeners. At times the Carrancha is
noisy, but is not generally so: its cry is loud, very harsh and
peculiar, and may be likened to the sound of the Spanish guttural _g_,
followed by a rough double _r r_; when uttering this cry it elevates
its head higher and higher, till at last, with its beak wide open, the
crown almost touches the lower part of the back. This fact, which has
been doubted, is quite true; I have seen them several times with their
heads backwards in a completely inverted position. To these
observations I may add, on the high authority of Azara, that the
Carrancha feeds on worms, shells, slugs, grasshoppers, and frogs; that
it destroys young lambs by tearing the umbilical cord; and that it
pursues the Gallinazo, till that bird is compelled to vomit up the
carrion it may have recently gorged. Lastly, Azara states that several
Carranchas, five or six together, will unite in chase of large birds,
even such as herons. All these facts show that it is a bird of very
versatile habits and considerable ingenuity.
The Polyborus Chimango is considerably smaller than the
last species. It is truly omnivorous, and will eat even bread; and I
was assured that it materially injures the potato-crops in Chiloe, by
stocking up the roots when first planted. Of all the carrion-feeders it
is generally the last which leaves the skeleton of a dead animal, and
may often be seen within the ribs of a cow or horse, like a bird in a
cage. Another species is the Polyborus Novæ Zelandiæ, which is
exceedingly common in the Falkland Islands. These birds in many
respects resemble in their habits the Carranchas. They live on the
flesh of dead animals and on marine productions; and on the Ramirez
rocks their whole sustenance must depend on the sea. They are
extraordinarily tame and fearless, and haunt the neighbourhood of
houses for offal. If a hunting party kills an animal, a number soon
collect and patiently await, standing on the ground on all sides. After
eating, their uncovered craws are largely protruded, giving them a
disgusting appearance. They readily attack wounded birds: a cormorant
in this state having taken to the shore, was immediately seized on by
several, and its death hastened by their blows. The _Beagle_ was at the
Falklands only during the summer, but the officers of the _ Adventure_,
who were there in the winter, mention many extraordinary instances of
the boldness and rapacity of these birds. They actually pounced on a
dog that was lying fast asleep close by one of the party; and the
sportsmen had difficulty in preventing the wounded geese from being
seized before their eyes. It is said that several together (in this
respect resembling the Carranchas) wait at the mouth of a rabbit-hole,
and together seize on the animal when it comes out. They were
constantly flying on board the vessel when in the harbour; and it was
necessary to keep a good look-out to prevent the leather being torn
from the rigging, and the meat or game from the stern. These birds are
very mischievous and inquisitive; they will pick up almost anything
from the ground; a large black glazed hat was carried nearly a mile, as
was a pair of the heavy balls used in catching cattle. Mr. Usborne
experienced during the survey a more severe loss, in their stealing a
small Kater’s compass in a red morocco leather case, which was never
recovered. These birds are, moreover, quarrelsome and very passionate;
tearing up the grass with their bills from rage. They are not truly
gregarious; they do not soar, and their
flight is heavy and clumsy; on the ground they run extremely fast, very
much like pheasants. They are noisy, uttering several harsh cries, one
of which is like that of the English rook, hence the sealers always
call them rooks. It is a curious circumstance that, when crying out,
they throw their heads upwards and backwards, after the same manner as
the Carrancha. They build in the rocky cliffs of the sea-coast, but
only on the small adjoining islets, and not on the two main islands:
this is a singular precaution in so tame and fearless a bird. The
sealers say that the flesh of these birds, when cooked, is quite white,
and very good eating; but bold must the man be who attempts such a
meal.
We have now only to mention the turkey-buzzard (Vultur aura), and the
Gallinazo. The former is found wherever the country is moderately damp,
from Cape Horn to North America. Differently from the Polyborus
Brasiliensis and Chimango, it has found its way to the Falkland
Islands. The turkey-buzzard is a solitary bird, or at most goes in
pairs. It may at once be recognised from a long distance, by its lofty,
soaring, and most elegant flight. It is well known to be a true
carrion-feeder. On the west coast of Patagonia, among the
thickly-wooded islets and broken land, it lives exclusively on what the
sea throws up, and on the carcasses of dead seals. Wherever these
animals are congregated on the rocks, there the vultures may be seen.
The Gallinazo (Cathartes atratus) has a different range from the last
species, as it never occurs southward of lat. 41°. Azara states that
there exists a tradition that these birds, at the time of the conquest,
were not found near Monte Video, but that they subsequently followed
the inhabitants from more northern districts. At the present day they
are numerous in the valley of the Colorado, which is three hundred
miles due south of Monte Video. It seems probable that this additional
migration has happened since the time of Azara. The Gallinazo generally
prefers a humid climate, or rather the neighbourhood of fresh water;
hence it is extremely abundant in Brazil and La Plata, while it is
never found on the desert and arid plains of Northern Patagonia,
excepting near some stream. These birds frequent the whole Pampas to
the foot of the Cordillera, but I never saw or heard of one in Chile:
in Peru they are preserved as scavengers. These vultures certainly may
be called gregarious, for
they seem to have pleasure in society, and are not solely brought
together by the attraction of a common prey. On a fine day a flock may
often be observed at a great height, each bird wheeling round and round
without closing its wings, in the most graceful evolutions. This is
clearly performed for the mere pleasure of the exercise, or perhaps is
connected with their matrimonial alliances.
I have now mentioned all the carrion-feeders, excepting the condor, an
account of which will be more appropriately introduced when we visit a
country more congenial to its habits than the plains of La Plata.
In a broad band of sand-hillocks which separate the Laguna del Potrero
from the shores of the Plata, at the distance of a few miles from
Maldonado, I found a group of those vitrified, siliceous tubes, which
are formed by lightning entering loose sand. These tubes resemble in
every particular those from Drigg in Cumberland, described in the
_Geological Transactions._[10] The sand-hillocks of Maldonado, not
being protected by vegetation, are constantly changing their position.
From this cause the tubes projected above the surface; and numerous
fragments lying near, showed that they had formerly been buried to a
greater depth. Four sets entered the sand perpendicularly: by working
with my hands I traced one of them two feet deep; and some fragments
which evidently had belonged to the same tube, when added to the other
part, measured five feet three inches. The diameter of the whole tube
was nearly equal, and therefore we must suppose that originally it
extended to a much greater depth. These dimensions are however small,
compared to those of the tubes from Drigg, one of which was traced to a
depth of not less than thirty feet.
[10] _Geological Transactions_, vol. ii, p. 528. In the _Philosophical
Transactions_, 1790, p. 294, Dr. Priestley has described some
imperfect siliceous tubes and a melted pebble of quartz, found in
digging into the ground, under a tree, where a man had been killed by
lightning.
The internal surface is completely vitrified, glossy, and smooth. A
small fragment examined under the microscope appeared, from the number
of minute entangled air or perhaps steam bubbles, like an assay fused
before the blowpipe. The sand is entirely, or in greater part,
siliceous; but some points
are of a black colour, and from their glossy surface possess a metallic
lustre. The thickness of the wall of the tube varies from a thirtieth
to a twentieth of an inch, and occasionally even equals a tenth. On the
outside the grains of sand are rounded, and have a slightly glazed
appearance: I could not distinguish any signs of crystallisation. In a
similar manner to that described in the _ Geological Transactions_, the
tubes are generally compressed, and have deep longitudinal furrows, so
as closely to resemble a shrivelled vegetable stalk, or the bark of the
elm or cork tree. Their circumference is about two inches, but in some
fragments, which are cylindrical and without any furrows, it is as much
as four inches. The compression from the surrounding loose sand, acting
while the tube was still softened from the effects of the intense heat,
has evidently caused the creases or furrows. Judging from the
uncompressed fragments, the measure or bore of the lightning (if such a
term may be used) must have been about one inch and a quarter. At
Paris, M. Hachette and M. Beudant[11] succeeded in making tubes, in
most respects similar to these fulgurites, by passing very strong
shocks of galvanism through finely-powdered glass: when salt was added,
so as to increase its fusibility, the tubes were larger in every
dimension. They failed both with powdered feldspar and quartz. One
tube, formed with pounded glass, was very nearly an inch long, namely
.982, and had an internal diameter of .019 of an inch. When we hear
that the strongest battery in Paris was used, and that its power on a
substance of such easy fusibility as glass was to form tubes so
diminutive, we must feel greatly astonished at the force of a shock of
lightning, which, striking the sand in several places, has formed
cylinders, in one instance of at least thirty feet long, and having an
internal bore, where not compressed, of full an inch and a half; and
this in a material so extraordinarily refractory as quartz!
[11] _Annales de Chimie et de Physique_, tome xxxvii, p. 319.
The tubes, as I have already remarked, enter the sand nearly in a
vertical direction. One, however, which was less regular than the
others, deviated from a right line, at the most considerable bend, to
the amount of thirty-three degrees. From this same tube, two small
branches, about a foot apart, were sent off; one pointed downwards, and
the other upwards. This
latter case is remarkable, as the electric fluid must have turned back
at the acute angle of 26°, to the line of its main course. Besides the
four tubes which I found vertical, and traced beneath the surface,
there were several other groups of fragments, the original sites of
which without doubt were near. All occurred in a level area of shifting
sand, sixty yards by twenty, situated among some high sand-hillocks,
and at the distance of about half a mile from a chain of hills four or
five hundred feet in height. The most remarkable circumstance, as it
appears to me, in this case as well as in that of Drigg, and in one
described by M. Ribbentrop in Germany, is the number of tubes found
within such limited spaces. At Drigg, within an area of fifteen yards,
three were observed, and the same number occurred in Germany. In the
case which I have described, certainly more than four existed within
the space of the sixty by twenty yards. As it does not appear probable
that the tubes are produced by successive distinct shocks, we must
believe that the lightning, shortly before entering the ground, divides
itself into separate branches.
The neighbourhood of the Rio Plata seems peculiarly subject to electric
phenomena. In the year 1793,[12] one of the most destructive
thunderstorms perhaps on record happened at Buenos Ayres: thirty-seven
places within the city were struck by lightning, and nineteen people
killed. From facts stated in several books of travels, I am inclined to
suspect that thunderstorms are very common near the mouths of great
rivers. Is it not possible that the mixture of large bodies of fresh
and salt water may disturb the electrical equilibrium? Even during our
occasional visits to this part of South America, we heard of a ship,
two churches, and a house having been struck. Both the church and the
house I saw shortly afterwards: the house belonged to Mr. Hood, the
consul-general at Monte Video. Some of the effects were curious: the
paper, for nearly a foot on each side of the line where the bell-wires
had run, was blackened. The metal had been fused, and although the room
was about fifteen feet high, the globules, dropping on the chairs and
furniture, had drilled in them a chain of minute holes. A part of the
wall was shattered as if by gunpowder, and the fragments had been blown
off with force sufficient to dent the wall on the
opposite side of the room. The frame of a looking-glass was blackened,
and the gilding must have been volatilised, for a smelling-bottle,
which stood on the chimney-piece, was coated with bright metallic
particles, which adhered as firmly as if they had been enamelled.
[12] Azara’s _Voyage_, vol. i, p. 36.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Chapter IV
Rio Negro—Estancias attacked by the Indians—Salt Lakes—Flamingoes—R.
Negro to R. Colorado—Sacred Tree—Patagonian Hare—Indian
Families—General Rosas—Proceed to Bahia Blanca—Sand Dunes—Negro
Lieutenant—Bahia Blanca—Saline Incrustations—Punta Alta—Zorillo.
RIO NEGRO TO BAHIA BLANCA.
_July_ 24_th_, 1833.—The _Beagle_ sailed from Maldonado, and on August
the 3rd she arrived off the mouth of the Rio Negro. This is the
principal river on the whole line of coast between the Strait of
Magellan and the Plata. It enters the sea about three hundred miles
south of the estuary of the Plata. About fifty years ago, under the old
Spanish government, a small colony was established here; and it is
still the most southern position (lat. 41°) on this eastern coast of
America inhabited by civilised man.
The country near the mouth of the river is wretched in the extreme: on
the south side a long line of perpendicular cliffs commences, which
exposes a section of the geological nature of the country. The strata
are of sandstone, and one layer was remarkable from being composed of a
firmly-cemented conglomerate of pumice pebbles, which must have
travelled more than four hundred miles, from the Andes. The surface is
everywhere covered up by a thick bed of gravel, which extends far and
wide over the open plain. Water is extremely scarce, and, where found,
is almost invariably brackish. The vegetation is scanty; and although
there are bushes of many kinds, all are armed with formidable thorns,
which seem to warn the stranger not to enter on these inhospitable
regions.
The settlement is situated eighteen miles up the river. The road
follows the foot of the sloping cliff, which forms the northern
boundary of the great valley in which the Rio Negro flows. On the way
we passed the ruins of some fine estancias, which a few years since had
been destroyed by the Indians. They withstood several attacks. A man
present at one gave me a very lively description of what took place.
The inhabitants had sufficient notice to drive all the cattle and
horses into the “corral”[1] which surrounded the house, and likewise to
mount some small cannon.
[1] The corral is an enclosure made of tall and strong stakes. Every
estancia, or farming estate, has one attached to it.
The Indians were Araucanians from the south of Chile; several hundreds
in number, and highly disciplined. They first appeared in two bodies on
a neighbouring hill; having there dismounted, and taken off their fur
mantles, they advanced naked to the charge. The only weapon of an
Indian is a very long bamboo or chuzo, ornamented with ostrich
feathers, and pointed by a sharp spear-head. My informer seemed to
remember with the greatest horror the quivering of these chuzos as they
approached near. When close, the cacique Pincheira hailed the besieged
to give up their arms, or he would cut all their throats. As this would
probably have been the result of their entrance under any
circumstances, the answer was given by a volley of musketry. The
Indians, with great steadiness, came to the very fence of the corral:
but to their surprise they found the posts fastened
together by iron nails instead of leather thongs, and, of course, in
vain attempted to cut them with their knives. This saved the lives of
the Christians: many of the wounded Indians were carried away by their
companions, and at last, one of the under caciques being wounded, the
bugle sounded a retreat. They retired to their horses, and seemed to
hold a council of war. This was an awful pause for the Spaniards, as
all their ammunition, with the exception of a few cartridges, was
expended. In an instant the Indians mounted their horses, and galloped
out of sight. Another attack was still more quickly repulsed. A cool
Frenchman managed the gun; he stopped till the Indians approached
close, and then raked their line with grape-shot: he thus laid
thirty-nine of them on the ground; and, of course, such a blow
immediately routed the whole party.
The town is indifferently called El Carmen or Patagones. It is built on
the face of a cliff which fronts the river, and many of the houses are
excavated even in the sandstone. The river is about two or three
hundred yards wide, and is deep and rapid. The many islands, with their
willow-trees, and the flat headlands, seen one behind the other on the
northern boundary of the broad green valley, form, by the aid of a
bright sun, a view almost picturesque. The number of inhabitants does
not exceed a few hundreds. These Spanish colonies do not, like our
British ones, carry within themselves the elements of growth. Many
Indians of pure blood reside here: the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee
constantly have their Toldos[2] on the outskirts of the town. The local
government partly supplies them with provisions, by giving them all the
old worn-out horses, and they earn a little by making horse-rugs and
other articles of riding-gear. These Indians are considered civilised;
but what their character may have gained by a lesser degree of
ferocity, is almost counterbalanced by their entire immorality. Some of
the younger men are, however, improving; they are willing to labour,
and a short time since a party went on a sealing-voyage, and behaved
very well. They were now enjoying the fruits of their labour, by being
dressed in very gay, clean clothes, and by being very idle. The taste
they showed in their dress was admirable; if you could have turned one
of these young
Indians into a statue of bronze, his drapery would have been perfectly
graceful.
[2] The hovels of the Indians are thus called.
One day I rode to a large salt-lake, or Salina, which is distant
fifteen miles from the town. During the winter it consists of a shallow
lake of brine, which in summer is converted into a field of snow-white
salt. The layer near the margin is from four to five inches thick, but
towards the centre its thickness increases. This lake was two and a
half miles long, and one broad. Others occur in the neighbourhood many
times larger, and with a floor of salt, two and three feet in
thickness, even when under water during the winter. One of these
brilliantly white and level expanses, in the midst of the brown and
desolate plain, offers an extraordinary spectacle. A large quantity of
salt is annually drawn from the salina: and great piles, some hundred
tons in weight, were lying ready for exportation.
The season for working the salinas forms the harvest of Patagones; for
on it the prosperity of the place depends. Nearly the whole population
encamps on the bank of the river, and the people are employed in
drawing out the salt in bullock-waggons. This salt is crystallised in
great cubes, and is remarkably pure: Mr. Trenham Reeks has kindly
analysed some for me, and he finds in it only 0.26 of gypsum and 0.22
of earthy matter. It is a singular fact that it does not serve so well
for preserving meat as sea-salt from the Cape de Verd islands; and a
merchant at Buenos Ayres told me that he considered it as fifty per
cent less valuable. Hence the Cape de Verd salt is constantly imported,
and is mixed with that from these salinas. The purity of the Patagonian
salt, or absence from it of those other saline bodies found in all
sea-water, is the only assignable cause for this inferiority: a
conclusion which no one, I think, would have suspected, but which is
supported by the fact lately ascertained,[3] that those salts answer
best for preserving cheese which contain most of the deliquescent
chlorides.
[3] Report of the Agricultural Chemistry Association in the
_Agricultural Gazette_, 1845, p. 93.
The border of the lake is formed of mud: and in this numerous large
crystals of gypsum, some of which are three inches long, lie embedded;
whilst on the surface others of sulphate of soda lie scattered about.
The Gauchos call the former
the “Padre del sal,” and the latter the “Madre;” they state that these
progenitive salts always occur on the borders of the salinas, when the
water begins to evaporate. The mud is black, and has a fetid odour. I
could not at first imagine the cause of this, but I afterwards
perceived that the froth which the wind drifted on shore was coloured
green, as if by confervæ; I attempted to carry home some of this green
matter, but from an accident failed. Parts of the lake seen from a
short distance appeared of a reddish colour, and this perhaps was owing
to some infusorial animalcula. The mud in many places was thrown up by
numbers of some kind of worm, or annelidous animal. How surprising it
is that any creatures should be able to exist in brine, and that they
should be crawling among crystals of sulphate of soda and lime! And
what becomes of these worms when, during the long summer, the surface
is hardened into a solid layer of salt?
Flamingoes in considerable numbers inhabit this lake, and breed here,
throughout Patagonia, in Northern Chile, and at the Galapagos Islands,
I met with these birds wherever there were lakes of brine. I saw them
here wading about in search of food—probably for the worms which burrow
in the mud; and these latter probably feed on infusoria or confervæ.
Thus we have a little living world within itself, adapted to these
inland lakes of brine. A minute crustaceous animal (Cancer salinus) is
said[4] to live in countless numbers in the brine-pans at Lymington:
but only in those in which the fluid has attained, from evaporation,
considerable strength—namely, about a quarter of a pound of salt to a
pint of water. Well may we affirm that every part of the world is
habitable! Whether lakes of brine, or those subterranean ones hidden
beneath volcanic mountains—warm mineral springs—the wide expanse and
depths of the ocean—the
upper regions of the atmosphere, and even the surface of perpetual
snow—all support organic beings.
[4] _Linnæan Transactions_, vol. xi, p. 205. It is remarkable how all
the circumstances connected with the salt-lakes in Siberia and
Patagonia are similar. Siberia, like Patagonia, appears to have been
recently elevated above the waters of the sea. In both countries the
salt-lakes occupy shallow depressions in the plains; in both the mud
on the borders is black and fetid; beneath the crust of common salt,
sulphate of soda or of magnesia occurs, imperfectly crystallised; and
in both, the muddy sand is mixed with lentils of gypsum. The Siberian
salt-lakes are inhabited by small crustaceous animals; and flamingoes
(_Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal_, Jan. 1830) likewise frequent
them. As these circumstances, apparently so trifling, occur in two
distant continents, we may feel sure that they are the necessary
results of common causes.—See _Pallas’s Travels_, 1793 to 1794, pp.
129 to 134.
To the northward of the Rio Negro, between it and the inhabited country
near Buenos Ayres, the Spaniards have only one small settlement,
recently established at Bahia Blanca. The distance in a straight line
to Buenos Ayres is very nearly five hundred British miles. The
wandering tribes of horse Indians, which have always occupied the
greater part of this country, having of late much harassed the outlying
estancias, the government at Buenos Ayres equipped some time since an
army under the command of General Rosas for the purpose of
exterminating them. The troops were now encamped on the banks of the
Colorado; a river lying about eighty miles northward of the Rio Negro.
When General Rosas left Buenos Ayres he struck in a direct line across
the unexplored plains: and as the country was thus pretty well cleared
of Indians, he left behind him, at wide intervals, a small party of
soldiers with a troop of horses (_a posta_), so as to be enabled to
keep up a communication with the capital. As the _Beagle_ intended to
call at Bahia Blanca, I determined to proceed there by land; and
ultimately I extended my plan to travel the whole way by the postas to
Buenos Ayres.
_August_ 11_th_, 1833.—Mr. Harris, an Englishman residing at Patagones,
a guide, and five Gauchos who were proceeding to the army on business,
were my companions on the journey. The Colorado, as I have already
said, is nearly eighty miles distant: and as we travelled slowly, we
were two days and a half on the road. The whole line of country
deserves scarcely a better name than that of a desert. Water is found
only in two small wells; it is called fresh; but even at this time of
the year, during the rainy season, it was quite brackish. In the summer
this must be a distressing passage; for now it was sufficiently
desolate.
The valley of the Rio Negro, broad as it is, has merely been excavated
out of the sandstone plain; for immediately above the bank on which the
town stands, a level country commences, which is interrupted only by a
few trifling valleys and depressions. Everywhere the landscape wears
the same sterile aspect; a dry gravelly soil supports tufts of
brown withered grass, and low scattered bushes, armed with thorns.
Shortly after passing the first spring we came in sight of a famous
tree, which the Indians reverence as the altar of Walleechu. It is
situated on a high part of the plain; and hence is a landmark visible
at a great distance. As soon as a tribe of Indians come in sight of it,
they offer their adorations by loud shouts. The tree itself is low,
much branched, and thorny: just above the root it has a diameter of
about three feet. It stands by itself without any neighbour, and was
indeed the first tree we saw; afterwards we met with a few others of
the same kind, but they were far from common. Being winter the tree had
no leaves, but in their place numberless threads, by which the various
offerings, such as cigars, bread, meat, pieces of cloth, etc., had been
suspended. Poor Indians, not having anything better, only pull a thread
out of their ponchos, and fasten it to the tree. Richer Indians are
accustomed to pour spirits and maté into a certain hole, and likewise
to smoke upwards, thinking thus to afford all possible gratification to
Walleechu. To complete the scene, the tree was surrounded by the
bleached bones of horses which had been slaughtered as sacrifices. All
Indians of every age and sex make their offerings; they then think that
their horses will not tire, and that they themselves shall be
prosperous. The Gaucho who told me this, said that in the time of peace
he had witnessed this scene, and that he and others used to wait till
the Indians had passed by, for the sake of stealing from Walleechu the
offerings.
The Gauchos think that the Indians consider the tree as the god itself;
but it seems far more probable that they regard it as the altar. The
only cause which I can imagine for this choice, is its being a landmark
in a dangerous passage. The Sierra de la Ventana is visible at an
immense distance; and a Gaucho told me that he was once riding with an
Indian a few miles to the north of the Rio Colorado, when the Indian
commenced making the same loud noise, which is usual at the first sight
of the distant tree, putting his hand to his head, and then pointing in
the direction of the Sierra. Upon being asked the reason of this, the
Indian said in broken Spanish, “First see the Sierra.”
About two leagues beyond this curious tree we halted for the night: at
this instant an unfortunate cow was spied by the lynx-eyed Gauchos, who
set off in full chase, and in a few minutes dragged her in with their
lazos, and slaughtered her. We here had the four necessaries of life
“en el campo,”—pasture for the horses, water (only a muddy puddle),
meat and firewood. The Gauchos were in high spirits at finding all
these luxuries; and we soon set to work at the poor cow. This was the
first night which I passed under the open sky, with the gear of the
recado for my bed. There is high enjoyment in the independence of the
Gaucho life—to be able at any moment to pull up your horse, and say,
“Here we will pass the night.” The deathlike stillness of the plain,
the dogs keeping watch, the gipsy-group of Gauchos making their beds
round the fire, have left in my mind a strongly-marked picture of this
first night, which will never be forgotten.
The next day the country continued similar to that above described. It
is inhabited by few birds or animals of any kind. Occasionally a deer,
or a Guanaco (wild Llama) may be seen; but the Agouti (Cavia
Patagonica) is the commonest quadruped. This animal here represents our
hares. It differs, however, from that genus in many essential respects;
for instance, it has only three toes behind. It is also nearly twice
the size, weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds. The Agouti is a
true friend of the desert; it is a common feature of the landscape to
see two or three hopping quickly one after the other in a straight line
across these wild plains. They are found as far north as the Sierra
Tapalguen (lat. 37° 30′), where the plain rather suddenly becomes
greener and more humid; and their southern limit is between Port Desire
and St. Julian, where there is no change in the nature of the country.
It is a singular fact, that although the Agouti is not now found as far
south as Port St. Julian, yet that Captain Wood, in his voyage in 1670,
talks of them as being numerous there. What cause can have altered, in
a wide, uninhabited, and rarely-visited country, the range of an animal
like this? It appears also, from the number shot by Captain Wood in one
day at Port Desire, that they must have been considerably more abundant
there formerly than at present. Where the Bizcacha lives and makes its
burrows, the Agouti uses them;
but where, as at Bahia Blanca, the Bizcacha is not found, the Agouti
burrows for itself. The same thing occurs with the little owl of the
Pampas (Athene cunicularia), which has so often been described as
standing like a sentinel at the mouth of the burrows; for in Banda
Oriental, owing to the absence of the Bizcacha, it is obliged to hollow
out its own habitation.
The next morning, as we approached the Rio Colorado, the appearance of
the country changed; we soon came on a plain covered with turf, which,
from its flowers, tall clover, and little owls, resembled the Pampas.
We passed also a muddy swamp of considerable extent, which in summer
dries, and becomes incrusted with various salts; and hence is called a
salitral. It was covered by low succulent plants, of the same kind with
those growing on the sea-shore. The Colorado, at the pass where we
crossed it, is only about sixty yards wide; generally it must be nearly
double that width. Its course is very tortuous, being marked by
willow-trees and beds of reeds: in a direct line the distance to the
mouth of the river is said to be nine leagues, but by water
twenty-five. We were delayed crossing in the canoe by some immense
troops of mares, which were swimming the river in order to follow a
division of troops into the interior. A more ludicrous spectacle I
never beheld than the hundreds and hundreds of heads, all directed one
way, with pointed ears and distended snorting nostrils, appearing just
above the water like a great shoal of some amphibious animal. Mare’s
flesh is the only food which the soldiers have when on an expedition.
This gives them a great facility of movement; for the distance to which
horses can be driven over these plains is quite surprising: I have been
assured that an unloaded horse can travel a hundred miles a day for
many days successively.
The encampment of General Rosas was close to the river. It consisted of
a square formed by waggons, artillery, straw huts, etc. The soldiers
were nearly all cavalry; and I should think such a villainous,
banditti-like army was never before collected together. The greater
number of men were of a mixed breed, between Negro, Indian, and
Spaniard. I know not the reason, but men of such origin seldom have a
good expression of countenance. I called on the Secretary
to show my passport. He began to cross-question me in the most
dignified and mysterious manner. By good luck I had a letter of
recommendation from the government of Buenos Ayres[5] to the commandant
of Patagones. This was taken to General Rosas, who sent me a very
obliging message; and the Secretary returned all smiles and
graciousness. We took up our residence in the _rancho_, or hovel, of a
curious old Spaniard, who had served with Napoleon in the expedition
against Russia.
[5] I am bound to express, in the strongest terms, my obligation to
the government of Buenos Ayres for the obliging manner in which
passports to all parts of the country were given me, as naturalist of
the _Beagle._
We stayed two days at the Colorado; I had little to do, for the
surrounding country was a swamp, which in summer (December), when the
snow melts on the Cordillera, is overflowed by the river. My chief
amusement was watching the Indian families as they came to buy little
articles at the rancho where we stayed. It was supposed that General
Rosas had about six hundred Indian allies. The men were a tall, fine
race, yet it was afterwards easy to see in the Fuegian savage the same
countenance rendered hideous by cold, want of food, and less
civilisation.
[Illustration]
Some authors, in defining the primary races of mankind, have separated
these Indians into two classes; but this is certainly incorrect. Among
the young women or chinas, some deserve to be called even beautiful.
Their hair was coarse, but bright and black; and they wore it in two
plaits hanging down to the waist. They had a high colour, and eyes that
glistened with brilliancy; their legs, feet, and arms were small and
elegantly formed; their ankles, and sometimes their waists, were
ornamented by broad bracelets of blue beads. Nothing could be more
interesting than some of the family groups. A mother with one or two
daughters would often come to our rancho, mounted on the same horse.
They ride like men, but with their knees tucked up much higher. This
habit, perhaps, arises from their being accustomed, when travelling, to
ride the loaded horses. The duty of the women is to load and unload the
horses; to make the tents for the night; in short to be, like the wives
of all savages, useful slaves. The men fight, hunt, take care of the
horses, and
make the riding gear. One of their chief indoor occupations is to knock
two stones together till they become round, in order to make the bolas.
With this important weapon the Indian catches his game, and also his
horse, which roams free over the plain. In fighting, his first attempt
is to throw down the horse of his adversary with the bolas, and when
entangled by the fall to kill him with the chuzo. If the balls only
catch the neck or body of an animal, they are often carried away and
lost. As the making the stones round is the labour of two days, the
manufacture of the balls is a very common employment. Several of the
men and women had their faces painted red, but I never saw the
horizontal bands which are so common among the Fuegians. Their chief
pride consists in having everything made of silver; I have seen a
cacique with his spurs, stirrups, handle of his knife, and bridle made
of this metal: the head-stall and reins being of wire, were not thicker
than whipcord; and to see a fiery steed wheeling about under the
command of so light a chain, gave to the horsemanship a remarkable
character of elegance.
[Illustration]
General Rosas intimated a wish to see me; a circumstance which I was
afterwards very glad of. He is a man of an extraordinary character, and
has a most predominant influence in the country, which it seems
probable he will use
to its prosperity and advancement.[6] He is said to be the owner of
seventy-four square leagues of land, and to have about three hundred
thousand head of cattle. His estates are admirably managed, and are far
more productive of corn than those of others. He first gained his
celebrity by his laws for his own estancias, and by disciplining
several hundred men, so as to resist with success the attacks of the
Indians. There are many stories current about the rigid manner in which
his laws were enforced. One of these was, that no man, on penalty of
being put into the stocks, should carry his knife on a Sunday: this
being the principal day for gambling and drinking, many quarrels arose,
which from the general manner of fighting with the knife often proved
fatal.
[6] This prophecy has turned out entirely and miserably wrong. 1845.
One Sunday the Governor came in great form to pay the estancia a visit,
and General Rosas, in his hurry, walked out to receive him with his
knife, as usual, stuck in his belt. The steward touched his arm, and
reminded him of the law; upon which turning to the Governor, he said he
was extremely sorry, but that he must go into the stocks, and that till
let out, he possessed no power even in his own house. After a little
time the steward was persuaded to open the stocks, and to let him out,
but no sooner was this done, than he turned to the steward and said,
“You now have broken the laws, so you must take my place in the
stocks.” Such actions as these delighted the Gauchos, who all possess
high notions of their own equality and dignity.
General Rosas is also a perfect horseman—an accomplishment of no small
consequence in a country where an assembled army elected its general by
the following trial: A troop of unbroken horses being driven into a
corral, were let out through a gateway, above which was a cross-bar: it
was agreed whoever should drop from the bar on one of these wild
animals, as it rushed out, and should be able, without saddle or
bridle, not only to ride it, but also to bring it back to the door of
the corral, should be their general. The person who succeeded was
accordingly elected; and doubtless made a fit general for such an army.
This extraordinary feat has also been performed by Rosas.
By these means, and by conforming to the dress and habits
of the Gauchos, he has obtained an unbounded popularity in the country,
and in consequence a despotic power. I was assured by an English
merchant, that a man who had murdered another, when arrested and
questioned concerning his motive, answered, “He spoke disrespectfully
of General Rosas, so I killed him.” At the end of a week the murderer
was at liberty. This doubtless was the act of the general’s party, and
not of the general himself.
In conversation he is enthusiastic, sensible, and very grave. His
gravity is carried to a high pitch: I heard one of his mad buffoons
(for he keeps two, like the barons of old) relate the following
anecdote. “I wanted very much to hear a certain piece of music, so I
went to the general two or three times to ask him; he said to me, ‘Go
about your business, for I am engaged.’ I went a second time; he said,
‘If you come again I will punish you.’ A third time I asked, and he
laughed. I rushed out of the tent, but it was too late—he ordered two
soldiers to catch and stake me. I begged by all the saints in heaven he
would let me off; but it would not do,—when the general laughs he
spares neither mad man nor sound.” The poor flighty gentleman looked
quite dolorous, at the very recollection of the staking. This is a very
severe punishment; four posts are driven into the ground, and the man
is extended by his arms and legs horizontally, and there left to
stretch for several hours. The idea is evidently taken from the usual
method of drying hides. My interview passed away without a smile, and I
obtained a passport and order for the government post-horses, and this
he gave me in the most obliging and ready manner.
In the morning we started for Bahia Blanca, which we reached in two
days. Leaving the regular encampment, we passed by the toldos of the
Indians. These are round like ovens, and covered with hides; by the
mouth of each, a tapering chuzo was stuck in the ground. The toldos
were divided into separate groups, which belonged to the different
caciques’ tribes, and the groups were again divided into smaller ones,
according to the relationship of the owners. For several miles we
travelled along the valley of the Colorado. The alluvial plains on the
side appeared fertile, and it is supposed that they are well adapted to
the growth of corn.
Turning northward from the river, we soon entered on a country,
differing from the plains south of the river. The land still continued
dry and sterile: but it supported many different kinds of plants, and
the grass, though brown and withered, was more abundant, as the thorny
bushes were less so. These latter in a short space entirely
disappeared, and the plains were left without a thicket to cover their
nakedness. This change in the vegetation marks the commencement of the
grand calcareo-argillaceous deposit, which forms the wide extent of the
Pampas, and covers the granitic rocks of Banda Oriental. From the
Strait of Magellan to the Colorado, a distance of about eight hundred
miles, the face of the country is everywhere composed of shingle: the
pebbles are chiefly of porphyry, and probably owe their origin to the
rocks of the Cordillera. North of the Colorado this bed thins out, and
the pebbles become exceedingly small, and here the characteristic
vegetation of Patagonia ceases.
Having ridden about twenty-five miles, we came to a broad belt of
sand-dunes, which stretches, as far as the eye can reach, to the east
and west. The sand-hillocks resting on the clay, allow small pools of
water to collect, and thus afford in this dry country an invaluable
supply of fresh water. The great advantage arising from depressions and
elevations of the soil, is not often brought home to the mind. The two
miserable springs in the long passage between the Rio Negro and
Colorado were caused by trifling inequalities in the plain, without
them not a drop of water would have been found. The belt of sand-dunes
is about eight miles wide; at some former period, it probably formed
the margin of a grand estuary, where the Colorado now flows. In this
district, where absolute proofs of the recent elevation of the land
occur, such speculations can hardly be neglected by any one, although
merely considering the physical geography of the country. Having
crossed the sandy tract, we arrived in the evening at one of the
post-houses; and, as the fresh horses were grazing at a distance we
determined to pass the night there.
The house was situated at the base of a ridge between one and two
hundred feet high—a most remarkable feature in this country. This posta
was commanded by a negro lieutenant,
born in Africa: to his credit be it said, there was not a ranche
between the Colorado and Buenos Ayres in nearly such neat order as his.
He had a little room for strangers, and a small corral for the horses,
all made of sticks and reeds; he had also dug a ditch round his house
as a defence in case of being attacked. This would, however, have been
of little avail, if the Indians had come; but his chief comfort seemed
to rest in the thought of selling his life dearly. A short time before,
a body of Indians had travelled past in the night; if they had been
aware of the posta, our black friend and his four soldiers would
assuredly have been slaughtered. I did not anywhere meet a more civil
and obliging man than this negro; it was therefore the more painful to
see that he would not sit down and eat with us.
In the morning we sent for the horses very early, and started for
another exhilarating gallop. We passed the Cabeza del Buey, an old name
given to the head of a large marsh, which extends from Bahia Blanca.
Here we changed horses, and passed through some leagues of swamps and
saline marshes. Changing horses for the last time, we again began
wading through the mud. My animal fell, and I was well soused in black
mire—a very disagreeable accident, when one does not possess a change
of clothes. Some miles from the fort we met a man, who told us that a
great gun had been fired, which is a signal that Indians are near. We
immediately left the road, and followed the edge of a marsh, which when
chased offers the best mode of escape. We were glad to arrive within
the walls, when we found all the alarm was about nothing, for the
Indians turned out to be friendly ones, who wished to join General
Rosas.
Bahia Blanca scarcely deserves the name of a village. A few houses and
the barracks for the troops are enclosed by a deep ditch and fortified
wall. The settlement is only of recent standing (since 1828); and its
growth has been one of trouble. The government of Buenos Ayres unjustly
occupied it by force, instead of following the wise example of the
Spanish Viceroys, who purchased the land near the older settlement of
the Rio Negro, from the Indians. Hence the need of the fortifications;
hence the few houses and little cultivated land without the limits of
the walls; even the cattle are not safe from the
attacks of the Indians beyond the boundaries of the plain on which the
fortress stands.
The part of the harbour where the _Beagle_ intended to anchor being
distant twenty-five miles, I obtained from the Commandant a guide and
horses, to take me to see whether she had arrived. Leaving the plain of
green turf, which extended along the course of a little brook, we soon
entered on a wide level waste consisting either of sand, saline
marshes, or bare mud. Some parts were clothed by low thickets, and
others with those succulent plants which luxuriate only where salt
abounds. Bad as the country was, ostriches, deers, agoutis, and
armadilloes, were abundant. My guide told me, that two months before he
had a most narrow escape of his life: he was out hunting with two other
men, at no great distance from this part of the country, when they were
suddenly met by a party of Indians, who giving chase, soon overtook and
killed his two friends. His own horse’s legs were also caught by the
bolas, but he jumped off, and with his knife cut them free: while doing
this he was obliged to dodge round his horse, and received two severe
wounds from their chuzos. Springing on the saddle, he managed, by a
most wonderful exertion, just to keep ahead of the long spears of his
pursuers, who followed him to within sight of the fort. From that time
there was an order that no one should stray far from the settlement. I
did not know of this when I started, and was surprised to observe how
earnestly my guide watched a deer, which appeared to have been
frightened from a distant quarter.
We found the _Beagle_ had not arrived, and consequently set out on our
return, but the horses soon tiring, we were obliged to bivouac on the
plain. In the morning we had caught an armadillo, which, although a
most excellent dish when roasted in its shell, did not make a very
substantial breakfast and dinner for two hungry men. The ground at the
place where we stopped for the night was incrusted with a layer of
sulphate of soda, and hence, of course, was without water. Yet many of
the smaller rodents managed to exist even here, and the tucutuco was
making its odd little grunt beneath my head, during half the night. Our
horses were very poor ones, and in
the morning they were soon exhausted from not having had anything to
drink, so that we were obliged to walk. About noon the dogs killed a
kid, which we roasted. I ate some of it, but it made me intolerably
thirsty. This was the more distressing as the road, from some recent
rain, was full of little puddles of clear water, yet not a drop was
drinkable. I had scarcely been twenty hours without water, and only
part of the time under a hot sun, yet the thirst rendered me very weak.
How people survive two or three days under such circumstances, I cannot
imagine: at the same time, I must confess that my guide did not suffer
at all, and was astonished that one day’s deprivation should be so
troublesome to me.
I have several times alluded to the surface of the ground being
incrusted with salt. This phenomenon is quite different from that of
the salinas, and more extraordinary. In many parts of South America,
wherever the climate is moderately dry, these incrustations occur; but
I have nowhere seen them so abundant as near Bahia Blanca. The salt
here, and in other parts of Patagonia, consists chiefly of sulphate of
soda with some common salt. As long as the ground remains moist in the
salitrales (as the Spaniards improperly call them, mistaking this
substance for saltpetre), nothing is to be seen but an extensive plain
composed of a black, muddy soil, supporting scattered tufts of
succulent plants. On returning through one of these tracts, after a
week’s hot weather, one is surprised to see square miles of the plain
white, as if from a slight fall of snow, here and there heaped up by
the wind into little drifts. This latter appearance is chiefly caused
by the salts being drawn up, during the slow evaporation of the
moisture, round blades of dead grass, stumps of wood, and pieces of
broken earth, instead of being crystallised at the bottoms of the
puddles of water.
The salitrales occur either on level tracts elevated only a few feet
above the level of the sea, or on alluvial land bordering rivers. M.
Parchappe[7] found that the saline incrustation on the plain, at the
distance of some miles from the sea, consisted chiefly of sulphate of
soda, with only seven per cent of common salt; whilst nearer to the
coast, the
common salt increased to 37 parts in a hundred. This circumstance would
tempt one to believe that the sulphate of soda is generated in the
soil, from the muriate left on the surface during the slow and recent
elevation of this dry country. The whole phenomenon is well worthy the
attention of naturalists. Have the succulent, salt-loving plants, which
are well known to contain much soda, the power of decomposing the
muriate? Does the black fetid mud, abounding with organic matter, yield
the sulphur and ultimately the sulphuric acid?
[7] _Voyage dans l’Amérique Mérid._ par M. A. d’Orbigny. Part. Hist.,
tome i, p. 664.
Two days afterwards I again rode to the harbour: when not far from our
destination, my companion, the same man as before, spied three people
hunting on horseback. He immediately dismounted, and watching them
intently, said, “They don’t ride like Christians, and nobody can leave
the fort.” The three hunters joined company, and likewise dismounted
from their horses. At last one mounted again and rode over the hill out
of sight. My companion said, “We must now get on our horses: load your
pistol;” and he looked to his own sword. I asked, “Are they
Indians?”—“Quien sabe? (who knows?) if there are no more than three, it
does not signify.” It then struck me, that the one man had gone over
the hill to fetch the rest of his tribe. I suggested this; but all the
answer I could extort was, “Quien sabe?” His head and eye never for a
minute ceased scanning slowly the distant horizon. I thought his
uncommon coolness too good a joke, and asked him why he did not return
home. I was startled when he answered, “We are returning, but in a line
so as to pass near a swamp, into which we can gallop the horses as far
as they can go, and then trust to our own legs; so that there is no
danger.” I did not feel quite so confident of this, and wanted to
increase our pace. He said, “No, not until they do.” When any little
inequality concealed us, we galloped; but when in sight, continued
walking. At last we reached a valley, and turning to the left, galloped
quickly to the foot of a
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