■834. J ZOOLOGY. 179 



the night. Shortly afterwards we came to a dpot where, from 

 the fresh footsteps of men, children, and horses, it was evident 

 that the party had crossed the river. 



April 22d. — The country remained the same, and was ex- 

 tremely uninteresting-. The complete similarity of the produc- 

 tions throughout Patagonia is one of its most striking characters. 

 The level plains of arid shingle support the same stunted and 

 dwarf plants ; and in the valleys the same thorn-bearing bushes 

 grow. Everywhere we see the same birds and insects. Even 

 the very banks of the river and of the clear streamlets which 

 entered it, w^ere scarcely enlivened by a brighter tint of green. 

 The curse of sterility is on the land, and the water flowing over 

 a bed of pebbles partakes of the same curse. Hence the number 

 of waterfowl is very scanty ; for there is nothing to support 

 life in the stream of this barren river. 



Patagonia, poor as she is in some respects, can however boast 

 of a greater stock of small rodents * than perhaps any other 

 country in the world. Several species of mice are externally 

 characterized by large thin ears and a very fine fur. These 

 little animals swarm amongst the thickets in the valleys, where 

 they cannot for months together taste a drop of water excepting 

 the dew. They all seem to be cannibals ; for no sooner was a 

 mouse caught in one of my traps than it was devoured by others. 

 A small and delicately-shaped fox, which is likewise very abun- 

 dant, probably derives its entire support from these small animals. 

 The guanaco is also in his proper district ; herds of fifty or a 

 hundred were common ; and, as I have stated, we saw one which 

 must have contained at least five hundred. The puma, with the 

 condor and other carrion-hawks in its train, follows and preys 

 upon these animals. The footsteps of the puma were to be seen 

 almost everywhere on the banks of the river ; and the remains 

 of several guanacos, with their necks dislocated and bones broken, 

 showed how they had met their death. 



April 24th. — Like the navigators of old when approaching an 

 unknown land, we examined and watched for the most trivial 



* The deserts of Syria are characterized, according to Voluey (torn, i., 

 p. 35 1 ), by woody bushes, numerous rats, gazelles, and hares. In ihe land- 

 scape of Patagonia, the guanaco replaces the gazelle, and the agouti the 

 iiare 



