1S3.4.] ZOOLOGY OF CHILE. 269 



bottomed valleys ; both of which circumstances, a^ in 

 Patagonia, bespeak the action of the sea on gently rising 

 land. In the steep cliffs bordering these valleys, there are 

 some large caves, which no doubt were originally formed 

 by the waves : one of these is celebrated under the name of 

 Cueva del Obispo, having formerly been consecrated. 

 During the day 1 felt very unwell, and from that time to 

 the end of October did not recover. 



September 22nd. — We continued to pass over green plains 

 without a tree. The next day we arrived at a house near 

 Navedad, on the sea-coast, where a rich Haciendero gave 

 us lodgings. I stayed here the two ensuing days, and 

 although very unwell, managed to collect from the tertiary 

 formation some marine shells. 



September 2^th. — Our course was now directed towards 

 Valparaiso, which with great difficulty I reached on the 

 27th, and was there confined to my bed till the end of 

 October. During this time I was an inmate in Mr. 

 Corfield's house, whose kindness to me I do not know how 

 to express. 



I will here add a few observations on some of the animals 

 and birds of Chile. The Puma, or South American lion, 

 is not uncommon. This animal has a wide geographical 

 range ; being found from the equatorial forests, throughout 

 the deserts of Patagonia, as far south as the damp and cold 

 latitudes (53* to 54°) of Tierra del Fuego. I have seen its 

 footsteps in the Cordillera of Central Chile, at an elevation 

 of at least 10,000 feet. In La Plata the puma preys chiefly 

 on deer, ostriches, bizcacha, and other small quadrupeds ; 

 it there seldom attacks cattle or horses, and most rarely 

 man. In Chile, however, it destroys many young horses 

 and cattle, owing probably to the scarcity of other quad- 

 rupeds ; I heard, likewise, of two men and a woman who 

 had been thus killed. It is asserted that the puma always 

 kills its prey by springing on the shoulders, and then 

 drawing back the head with one of its paws, until the 

 vertebrae break ; I have seen in Patagonia, the skeletons 

 of guanacos, with their necks thus dislocated. 



The puma, after eating its fill, covers the carcass with 

 many large bushes, and lies down to watch it. This habit 

 is often the cause of its being discovered ; for the condor- 

 wheeling in the air, every now and then descend to partal. 

 of the feast, and being angrily driven ;i\vny, rise :i1l inj^^fthn 



