considering the abundance of the guanacos, I was surprised at this; but
it is explained by the stony nature of the plains, which would soon
disable an unshod horse from taking part in the chase. Nevertheless,
in two places in this very central region, I found small heaps of
stones, which I do not think could have been accidentally thrown
together. They were placed on points, projecting over the edge of the
highest lava cliff, and they resembled, but on a small scale, those
near Port Desire.
May 4th.--Captain Fitz Roy determined to take the boats no higher. The
river had a winding course, and was very rapid; and the appearance of
the country offered no temptation to proceed any further. Everywhere we
met with the same productions, and the same dreary landscape. We were
now one hundred and forty miles distant from the Atlantic and about
sixty from the nearest arm of the Pacific. The valley in this upper
part expanded into a wide basin, bounded on the north and south by the
basaltic platforms, and fronted by the long range of the snow-clad
Cordillera. But we viewed these grand mountains with regret, for we
were obliged to imagine their nature and productions, instead of
standing, as we had hoped, on their summits. Besides the useless loss
of time which an attempt to ascend the river and higher would have cost
us, we had already been for some days on half allowance of bread. This,
although really enough for reasonable men, was, after a hard day's
march, rather scanty food: a light stomach and an easy digestion are
good things to talk about, but very unpleasant in practice.
5th.--Before sunrise we commenced our descent. We shot down the stream
with great rapidity, generally at the rate of ten knots an hour. In
this one day we effected what had cost us five-and-a-half hard days'
labour in ascending. On the 8th, we reached the Beagle after our
twenty-one days' expedition. Every one, excepting myself, had cause to
be dissatisfied; but to me the ascent afforded a most interesting
section of the great tertiary formation of Patagonia.
On March 1st, 1833, and again on March 16th, 1834, the Beagle anchored
in Berkeley Sound, in East Falkland Island. This archipelago is
situated in nearly the same latitude with the mouth of the Strait of
Magellan; it covers a space of one hundred and twenty by sixty
geographical miles, and is little more than half the size of Ireland.
After the possession of these miserable islands had been contested by
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