only abuts against its steep sides, but likewise separates the parallel
ranges. The uniformity of the colouring gives an extreme quietness to
the view,--the whitish grey of the quartz rock, and the light brown of
the withered grass of the plain, being unrelieved by any brighter tint.
From custom, one expects to see in the neighbourhood of a lofty and
bold mountain, a broken country strewed over with huge fragments. Here
nature shows that the last movement before the bed of the sea is
changed into dry land may sometimes be one of tranquillity. Under these
circumstances I was curious to observe how far from the parent rock any
pebbles could be found. On the shores of Bahia Blanca, and near the
settlement, there were some of quartz, which certainly must have come
from this source: the distance is forty-five miles.
The dew, which in the early part of the night wetted the saddle-cloths
under which we slept, was in the morning frozen. The plain, though
appearing horizontal, had insensibly sloped up to a height of between
800 and 900 feet above the sea. In the morning (9th of September) the
guide told me to ascend the nearest ridge, which he thought would lead
me to the four peaks that crown the summit. The climbing up such rough
rocks was very fatiguing; the sides were so indented, that what was
gained in one five minutes was often lost in the next. At last, when I
reached the ridge, my disappointment was extreme in finding a
precipitous valley as deep as the plain, which cut the chain
transversely in two, and separated me from the four points. This
valley is very narrow, but flat-bottomed, and it forms a fine
horse-pass for the Indians, as it connects the plains on the northern
and southern sides of the range. Having descended, and while crossing
it, I saw two horses grazing: I immediately hid myself in the long
grass, and began to reconnoitre; but as I could see no signs of Indians
I proceeded cautiously on my second ascent. It was late in the day,
and this part of the mountain, like the other, was steep and rugged. I
was on the top of the second peak by two o'clock, but got there with
extreme difficulty; every twenty yards I had the cramp in the upper
part of both thighs, so that I was afraid I should not have been able
to have got down again. It was also necessary to return by another
road, as it was out of the question to pass over the saddle-back. I
was therefore obliged to give up the two higher peaks. Their altitude
was but little greater, and every purpose of geology had been answered;
so that the attempt was not worth the hazard of any further exertion. I
presume the cause of the cramp was the great change in the kind of
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