DARWIN S ACCOUNT. IO5 



due east to the Atlantic, one hundred and seventy miles away. Through- 

 out its course it does not receive a single tributary of any importance. 



As I galloped along rapidly on my return to camp, I noted the great 

 constriction in the valley a few miles below and recalled Darwin's descrip- 

 tion of the valley of this same river at the highest point gained by Captain 

 FitzRoy, when on the morning of May the fifth, 1834, he turned back after 

 tracking three large whale boats for seventeen days up the river. From 

 the topography of the surrounding country and Darwin's description it 

 was evident that their party had stopped at the bend in the river a little 

 below and directly opposite our camp. Describing the valley from their 

 uppermost landing on the evening of May the fourth, 1834, he says, 

 "The valley in this upper part expanded into a wide basin, bounded on 

 the north and south by the basaltic platforms and fronted by the long 

 range of the snow-clad Cordillera." Although not more than twenty 

 miles away lay the magnificent Lake Argentino, so near in fact that it 

 would have been easily visible to Darwin and his companions had they 

 ascended any of the surrounding elevations, yet they entirely missed it, 

 and this pearl of the Andes remained for many years undiscovered, along 

 with Lakes Maravillo, Viedma, San Martin, Nansen, Pueyrredon and a 

 host of others, that combine to form a chain of mountain lakes that for size 

 and beauty are unsurpassed, if not unrivalled, elsewhere in the world, and 

 of which I shall speak more particularly when I come to treat of the lake- 

 systems of Patagonia. 



I had been delayed longer in the valley than I had thought, so that it 

 was late in the afternoon when I returned to camp and changed my 

 thoroughly drenched and cold garments for others dry and warm. For- 

 tunately I experienced no ill effects from my unwilling bath in the river, 

 and the following morning, January the third, we descended with the cart 

 and our belongings to the valley by the route I had selected, and en- 

 camped near the mouth of the Rio Bota, a small stream emptying into 

 the river some twelve miles below the lake. We found this stream 

 abundantly stocked with fish ranging in size from a half to one and a 

 half pounds. As these fish were of excellent flavor and took the 

 hook readily, they afforded us a most desirable addition to our menu. 

 This genus, Galaxias, we afterward found to be common in all the streams 

 of Patagonia. It is about the size and shape of the brook-trout, of a light 

 brown color, and with scales similar to but somewhat smaller than our 



