230 SANTA CRIJZ, PATAGONIA. 



however, boast of a gi-eater stock of small rodents* 

 than perhaps any other country in the world. Sev- 

 eral species of mice are externally characterized 

 by large thin ears and a very fine fur. These lit- 

 tle animals swarm amongst the thickets in the val- 

 leys, where they cannot for months together taste 

 a drop of water excepting the dew. They all 

 seem to be cannibals ; for no sooner was a mouse 

 caught in one of my traps than it was devoured by 

 others. A small and delicately-shaped fox, which 

 is likewise very abundant, probably derives its en- 

 tire support from these small animals. The gua- 

 naco is also in his pro23er district ; herds of fifty or 

 a hundred were common ; and, as I have stated, 

 we saw one which must have contained at least five 

 hundred. The puma, with the condor and other 

 carrion-hawks in its train, follows and preys upon 

 these animals. The footsteps of the puma were 

 to be seen alinost everywhere on the banks of the 

 river; and the remains of several guanacos, with 

 their necks dislocated and bones broken, shoAved 

 how they had met their death. 



April 2ith. — Like the navigators of old when 

 approaching an unknown land, we examined and 

 watched for the most trivial sign of a change. The 

 drifted trunk of a tree, or a boulder of primitive 

 rock, was hailed with joy, as if we had seen a forest 

 growing on the flanks of the Cordillera. The top, 

 however, of a heavy bank of clouds, which remain- 

 ed almost constantly in one position, was the most 

 promising sign, and eventually turned out a true 

 harbinger. At first the clouds were mistaken for 

 the mountains themselves, instead of the masses of 

 vapour condensed by their icy summits. 



* The deserts of Syria are characterized, according to Volney 

 (torn, i., p. 351), by woody bushes, numerous rats, gazelles, and 

 hares. In the landscape of Patagonia, the guanaco replaces the 

 gazelle, and the agouti the hare. 



