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.
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