The Megatherium, or that one of
the fossil monkeys was few in number compared with one of the
now living monkeys? and yet in this comparative rarity, we
should have the plainest evidence of less favourable conditions
for their existence. To admit that species generally become
rare before they become extinct - to feel no surprise at the
comparative rarity of one species with another, and yet to
call in some extraordinary agent and to marvel greatly when
a species ceases to exist, appears to me much the same as
to admit that sickness in the individual is the prelude to
death - to feel no surprise at sickness - but when the
sick man dies to wonder, and to believe that he died through
violence.
[1] Mr. Waterhouse has drawn up a detailed description of this
head, which I hope he will publish in some Journal.
[2] A nearly similar abnormal, but I do not know whether
hereditary, structure has been observed in the carp, and
likewise in the crocodile of the Ganges: Histoire des Anomalies,
par M. Isid. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, tom. i. p. 244.
[3] M. A. d'Orbigny has given nearly a similar account of these
dogs, tom. i. p. 175.
[4] I must express my obligations to Mr. Keane, at whose house
I was staying on the Berquelo, and to Mr. Lumb at Buenos Ayres,
for without their assistance these valuable remains would never
have reached England.
[5] Lyell's Principles of Geology, vol. iii. p. 63.
[6] The flies which frequently accompany a ship for some days
on its passage from harbour to harbour, wandering from the
vessel, are soon lost, and all disappear.
[7] Mr. Blackwall, in his Researches in Zoology, has many
excellent observations on the habits of spiders.
[8] An abstract is given in No. IV. of the Magazine of Zoology
and Botany.
[9] I found here a species of cactus, described by Professor
Henslow, under the name of Opuntia Darwinii (Magazine of
Zoology and Botany, vol. i. p. 466), which was remarkable
for the irritability of the stamens, when I inserted either a
piece of stick or the end of my finger in the flower. The
segments of the perianth also closed on the pistil, but more
slowly than the stamens. Plants of this family, generally
considered as tropical, occur in North America (Lewis and
Clarke's Travels, p. 221), in the same high latitude as here,
namely, in both cases, in 47 degs.
[10] These insects were not uncommon beneath stones. I found
one cannibal scorpion quietly devouring another.
[11] Shelley, Lines on Mt. Blanc.
[12] I have lately heard that Capt. Sulivan, R.N., has found
numerous fossil bones, embedded in regular strata, on the banks
of the R. Gallegos, in lat. 51 degs. 4'. Some of the bones
are large; others are small, and appear to have belonged to
an armadillo. This is a most interesting and important
discovery.
[13] See the excellent remarks on this subject by Mr. Lyell,
in his Principles of Geology.
CHAPTER IX
SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA, AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
Santa Cruz - Expedition up the River - Indians - Immense
Streams of Basaltic Lava - Fragments not transported by the
River - Excavations of the Valley - Condor, Habits of -
Cordillera - Erratic Boulders of great size - Indian Relics -
Return to the Ship - Falkland Islands - Wild Horses, Cattle,
Rabbits - Wolf-like Fox - Fire made of Bones - Manner of
Hunting Wild Cattle - Geology - Streams of Stones - Scenes
of Violence - Penguins - Geese - Eggs of Doris - Compound
Animals.
APRIL 13, 1834. - The Beagle anchored within the mouth of the
Santa Cruz. This river is situated about sixty miles south of
Port St. Julian. During the last voyage Captain Stokes proceeded
thirty miles up it, but then, from the want of provisions, was
obliged to return. Excepting what was discovered at that time,
scarcely anything was known about this large river. Captain Fitz
Roy now determined to follow its course as far as time would
allow. On the 18th three whale-boats started, carrying three
weeks' provisions; and the party consisted of twenty-five
souls - a force which would have been sufficient to have
defied a host of Indians. With a strong flood-tide and a fine
day we made a good run, soon drank some of the fresh water,
and were at night nearly above the tidal influence.
The river here assumed a size and appearance which, even at
the highest point we ultimately reached, was scarcely
diminished. It was generally from three to four hundred yards
broad, and in the middle about seventeen feet deep. The
rapidity of the current, which in its whole course runs at
the rate of from four to six knots an hour, is perhaps its
most remarkable feature. The water is of a fine blue colour,
but with a slight milky tinge, and not so transparent as at
first sight would have been expected. It flows over a bed of
pebbles, like those which compose the beach and the surrounding
plains. It runs in a winding course through a
valley, which extends in a direct line westward. This valley
varies from five to ten miles in breadth; it is bounded by
step-formed terraces, which rise in most parts, one above the
other, to the height of five hundred feet, and have on the
opposite sides a remarkable correspondence.
April 19th. - Against so strong a current it was, of
course, quite impossible to row or sail: consequently the
three boats were fastened together head and stern, two hands
left in each, and the rest came on shore to track. As the
general arrangements made by Captain Fitz Roy were very
good for facilitating the work of all, and as all had a share
in it, I will describe the system. The party including every
one, was divided into two spells, each of which hauled at the
tracking line alternately for an hour and a half.
