32 Cruise of the "Alert" 



The next day, being fine, I determined to devote to an inspec- 

 tion of the " stone runs," which have been rendered so famous 

 in the geology of the Falklands by the writings of Darwin, 

 Wyville Thompson, and others. In this excursion I was fortu- 

 nate in having the assistance of Dr. Watts, the colonial surgeon, 

 a gentleman who, from his long experience of the group, was 

 well acquainted with all the salient points in its natural history. 

 The "run" which we visited lay in the hollow of a winding 

 valley, situated about two miles to the westward of the settlement 

 of Stanley. The rocks, heaped together confusedly, formed a 

 so-called "stone river," varying in width from fifty to two hundred 

 yards, and extending up the valley as a single "stream" for about 

 one mile and a half, to a point where it seemed as if originated 

 by a confluence of tributary streams flowing from the surrounding 

 hills. The stones, composed of quartzite, presented a roughly 

 rounded appearance, which was seemingly due to excessive 

 weathering ; and they were so covered with lichens, as to appear 

 of a uniform grey colour. Those which lay below the surface 

 were of a rust colour, and, by all accounts, the upturned stones 

 required an exposure of many years to assume the uniform grey 

 tint of the surface layer. The margin of the "run" was distinctly 

 defined by an abrupt edge of swampy soil, with its tangled 

 vegetation of diddle-dee, tea-plant, and balsam bog. Now, why 

 are the stones of the " run " so entirely destitute of soil ? and 

 why do they exhibit a margin so sharp and well defined, yet 

 without the elevated, rounded appearance of a river bank ? Sir 

 Wyville Thompson's theory, it seems to me, falls short of explain- 

 ing this. I have as yet seen too little of the country to justify 

 me in forming a fixed opinion ; but I am, so far, inclined to 

 think that these " streams of stones " are of a date anterior to the 

 existence of peat on the island, and that the peat has been 

 approaching the valleys from the elevated land by growth and 

 slippage, and in its descent has encountered difficulty in obtaining 

 a footing in those places where the stones are large, and being 



