1834.] *Sm 



CHAPTER IX. 



SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA, AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



Santa Cruz — Expedition up the River — Indians — Immense 

 streams of basaltic lava — Fragments not transported by 

 the River — Excavation of the Valley — Condor, Habits of— 

 Cordillera — Erratic Boulders of g-reat size — Indian Relics — 

 Return to the ship — Falkland Islands — Wild horses, cattle, 

 rabbits — Wolf-like fox- --Fire made of bones — Manner of 

 hunting wild cattle — Geology — Streams of stones — Scenes 

 of violence — Penguin — Geese — Eggs of Doris — Compound 

 animals. 



April I'^thy 1834. — The Beagle anchored within the mouth 

 of the Santa Cruz. This river is situated about sixty miles 

 south of Port St. Julian. During the last voyage Captain 

 Stokes proceeded thirty miles up it, but then, from the want 

 of provisions, was obliged to return. Excepting what was 

 discovered at that time, scarcely anything was known about 

 this large river. Captain Fitz Roy now determined to 

 follow its course as far as time would allow. On the i8th 

 three whale-boats started, carrying three weeks' provisions ; 

 and the party consisted of twenty-five souls — a force which 

 would have been sufficient to have defied a host of Indians. 

 With a strong flood-tide and a fine day we made a good 

 run, soon drank some of the fresh water, and were at night 

 nearly above the tidal influence. 



The river here assumed a size and appearance which, 

 even at the highest point we ultimately reached, was 

 scarcely diminished. It was generally from three to four 

 hundred yards broad, and in the middle about seventeen 

 feet deep. The rapidity of the current, which in its whole 

 course runs at the rate of from four to six knots an hour, 

 is perhaps its most remarkable feature. The water is of 

 a fine blue colour, but with a slight milky tinge, and not 

 so transparent as at first sight would have been expected. 

 It flows over a bed of pebbles, like those which compose 

 the beach and the surrounding plains. It runs in a wind- 

 ing course through a valley, which extends in a direct line 

 westward. This valley varies from five to ten miles in 

 breadth ; it is bounded by step-formed terraces, which rise 

 in most parts, one above the other, to the height of five 



