A COLLECTING TRIP TO PATAGONIA, SOUTH AMERICA. 



By H. T. Martin, University of Kansas, Lawrence. 

 Read (by title) before the Academy, at Topeka, December 31, 1904. 



O INGE Darwin's description, in 1843, of the fossils discovered by 

 ^ Captain Sullivan in the Santa Cruz formation near Grallegos, 

 Patagonia, very little has been known of the fossils of that country, 

 until the publication of Doctor Ameghino's work, in 1889, fully de- 

 scribing and figuring the then known fossils from these beds. Un- 

 fortunately very little, if any, of this highly interesting and unique 

 fossil fauna had reached this country, either for study or publication, 

 until in 1896 my late lamented friend. Dr. J. B. Hatcher, then at 

 Princeton University, determined on a trip to this far-off country in 

 search of the hidden treasures deposited in the clay-banks and on the 

 beach at the base of the bluffs forming the coast of the Atlantic. 

 This was tlie first of a series of three trips made by him to this rich 

 collecting ground, and the first sent out for systematic work by any 

 institution from North America. The success of these trips is plainly 

 to be seen in the valuable collections brought back by his party, and 

 the geological and stratigraphical information obtained and published 

 by Princeton University. 



After carefully reading over the narrative of the above trips, I de- 

 termined to make a trip to this Mecca of fossils ; so, making all ar- 

 rangements to this end, I left New York, on steamer "Afghan Prince," 

 in September, 1903, accompanied by Mr. S. Adams, of Topeka, who 

 went along to collect zoological material, and reached Buenos Ayres 

 September 20, where we disembarked. "While here we visited the 

 National Museum, at this city, and were very courteously treated by 

 its director, Doctor Ameghino. Leaving Buenos Ayres, we traveled 

 overland via the Southern railroad to Bahia Blanca, a distance of 

 some 500 miles, where we were unfortunately detained for two months 

 awaiting our camping outfit. However, January 2, 1904, saw us again 

 aboard ship, this time the steamer "Chubut," bound for Gallegos, 

 Patagonia, which we reached the 23d of the same month. 



Between Bahia Blanca and Gallegos we called at the following 

 points of interest, from each of which a small collection of whatever 

 material available was secured: San Bias, Port Madrin (port of entry 

 for the Welsh colony), Caboroso, St. Elena, Camarones, Commodore 

 Rivadavia (port of entry for the Boer colony), Cabo Blanco, Deseado 

 (so graphically described by Darwin), San Julian (or Darwin station), 



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