SAN BLAS. 17 



beach here is composed entirely of shingle, and this was our first view of 

 that great shingle formation which is everywhere found covering the Pata- 

 gonian plains to a depth of from a few to more than one hundred feet. 

 The great extent and uniform nature of this has been remarked by many 

 and has not yet been satisfactorily explained. 



From the beach a low ridge rises to a height of perhaps thirty feet. 

 On ascending this there appeared at a distance of perhaps a half mile a 

 substantial farm house and outbuildings belonging to a gentleman whose 

 acquaintance we had made in Buenos Aires. As we approached the 

 estaucia, we were surprised to meet this gentleman himself, who at once 

 recognized us and made us welcome. We remained at San Bias for 

 the rest of the day, most of which I spent in studying the surface of 

 the surrounding country, which seemed to be made up of a succession of 

 low parallel ridges, separated one from the other by only a few rods, in 

 most instances, and with no great difference in altitude. These ridges I 

 decided were the remnants of old beaches thrown up and left by the sea 

 during the slow process of elevation by which the land has been brought 

 above sea level. Late in the evening we went aboard the Villarino, and 

 a little later we were joined by an Italian engineer employed by the 

 Argentine government to inspect the different harbors of the coast, in 

 order to determine which of them would be most suitable as a naval port 

 for Argentina. Together with our host he had preceded our arrival at 

 San Bias by a day or two, having come down from Buenos Aires in a 

 small government steamer that lay at anchor in the bay. Our friend, who 

 owned all the land in the immediate vicinity of the harbor, was very 

 profuse in proclaiming to us the special advantages offered by San Bias 

 as the seat of a great naval port, and had no doubt, with characteristic 

 Irish shrewdness, employed much of the time since his arrival here in 

 pointing out to the aforementioned engineer these highly praised, though 

 to my mind somewhat doubtful advantages. After waiting for the tide to 

 rise, late in the evening our anchor was hoisted and the little steamer 

 moved slowly toward the harbor's mouth. As we were passing through 

 the narrow channel at the entrance, there was first a slight jar, imme- 

 diately followed by an almost deafening noise, caused by the grating of 

 the ship's keel on the coarse shingle at the bottom. Almost immediately 

 we were brought to a standstill at the very entrance of the harbor, which, 

 we had just been told, possessed so many and such excellent advantages 



