138 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES. 



sides, but likewise separates the parallel ranges. 

 The uniformity of the colouring gives an extreme 

 quietness to the view ; the whitish grey of the 

 quartz rock, and the light brown of the withered 

 grass of the plain, being unrelieved by any bright- 

 er tint. From custom, one expects to see in the 

 neighbourhood of a lofty and bold mountain, a bro- 

 ken country strewed over with huge fragments. 

 Here nature shows that the last movement before 

 the bed of the sea is changed into dry land may 

 sometimes be one of tranquillity. Under these 

 circumstances, I was curious to obsei-ve how far 

 from the parent rock any j^ebbles could be found. 

 On the shores of Bahia Blanca, and near the set- 

 tlement, there were some of quartz, which certain- 

 ly must have come from this source : the distance 

 is forty-five miles. 



The dew, which in the early part of the night 

 wetted the saddle-cloths under which we slept, 

 was in the morning frozen. The plain, though ap- 

 pearing horizontal, had insensibly sloped up to a 

 height of between 800 and 900 feet above the sea. 

 In the morning (9th of September) the guide told 

 me to ascend the nearest ridge, which he thought 

 would lead me to the four peaks that crown the 

 summit. The climbing up such rough rocks was 

 very fatiguing; the sides were so indented, that 

 what was gained in one five minutes was often lost 

 in the next. At last, when I reached the ridge, 

 my disappointment was extreme in finding a pre- 

 cipitous valley as deep as the plain, which cut the 

 chain transversely in two, and separated me from 

 the four points. This valley is very naiTow, but 

 flat-bottomed, and it forms a fine horse-pass for the 

 Indians, as it connects the plains on the northern 

 and southern sides of the range. Having descend- 

 ed, and while crossing it, I saw two horses gra- 



