50 [chap. 



CHAPTER III. 



MALDONADO. 



Monte Video — Maldonado — Excursion to R. Polanco — Lazo and 

 Solas — Partridges — Absence of Trees — Deer — Capybara, or 

 River Hog- — Tucutuco — Molotlirus, cuckoo-like habits — 

 Tyrant-flycatcher — Mocking--bird — Carrion Hawks — Tubes 

 formed by Lightning — House. Stiuck. 



ina 



July ^th, 1832. — In the morning we got under way, an< 

 stood out of the splendid harbour of Rio de Janeiro. In 

 our passage to the Plata, we saw nothing particular, 

 excepting on one day a great shoal of porpoises, many 

 hundreds in number. The whole sea was in places fur- 

 rowed by them ; and a most extraordinary spectacle was 

 presented, as hundreds, proceeding together by jumps, 

 in which their whole bodies were exposed, thus cut the 

 water. When the ship was running nine knots an hour, 

 these animals could cross and recross the bows with the 

 greatest ease, and then dash away right ahead. As soon 

 as we entered the estuary of the Plata, the weather was 

 very unsettled. One dark night we were surrounded by 

 numerous seals and penguin's, which made such strange 

 noises, that the officer on watch reported he could hear 

 the cattle bellowing on shore. On a second night we 

 witnessed a splendid scene of natural fireworks ; the mast- 

 head and yard-arm-ends shone with St. Elmo's light ; and 

 the form of the vane could almost be traced, as if it had 

 been rubbed with phosphorus. The sea was so highly 

 luminous, that the tracks of the penguins were marked by 

 a fiery wake, and the darkness of the sky was momentarily 

 illuminated by the most vivid lightning. 



When within the mouth of the river, I was interested by 

 observing how slowly the waters of the sea and river 

 mixed. The latter, muddy and discoloured, from its less 

 specific gravity, floated on the surface of the salt water. 

 This was curiously exhibited in the wake of the vessel, 

 where a line of blue water was seen mingling in little 

 eddies, with the adjoining fluid. 



July 26th. — We anchored at Monte Video. The Beagle 

 was employed in surveying the extreme southern and 

 eastern coasts of America, south of the Plata, dui.mg 



