170 S. CRUZ, PATAGONIA. [CHAI>. is. 



wards we came to a spot where, from the fresh footsteps of men, 

 children, and horses, it was evident that the party had crossed the 



river. 



April Z2nd. The country remained the same, and was extremely 

 uninteresting. The complete similarity of the productions through- 

 out Patagonia is one of its most striking characters. The level 

 plains of arid shingle support the same stunted and dwarf plants ; 

 and in the valleys the same thorn-bearing bushes grow. Every- 

 where we see the same birds and insects. Even the very banks of 

 the river and of the clear streamlets which entered it, were scarcely 

 enlivened by a brighter tint of green. The curse of sterility is on 

 the land, and the water flowing over a bed of pebbles partakes of 

 the same curse. Hence the number of waterfowl is very scanty ; 

 for there is nothing to support life in the stream of this barren 

 river. 



Patagonia, poor as she is in some respects, can however boast of 

 a greater stock of small rodents * than perhaps any other country 

 in the world. Several species of mice are externally characterized 

 by large thin ears and a very fine fur. These little animals swarm 

 amongst the thickets in the valleys, 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 

 entire support from these small animals. The guanaco is also in 

 his proper 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 almost everywhere on the 

 banks of the rivers ; and the remains of several guanacos, with 

 their necks disclocated and bones broken, showed how they had 

 their death. 



April 24^. 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 



* Tho deserts of Syria are characterized, according to Yoluey (torn. i. 

 p. 351), by woody bushes, numerous rats, gazelles, and bares. In the land- 

 scape of Patagonia, the guanaco replaces the gazelle, and the agouti the 

 hart'. 



