1835.] SWARM OF LOCUSTS. 315 



very little water in this "traversia," and in our second day's journey 

 we found only one little pool. Little water flows from the moun- 

 tains, and it soon becomes absorbed by the dry and porous soil; so 

 that, although we travelled at the distance of only ten or fifteen 

 miles from the outer range of the Cordillera, we did not cross a 

 single stream. In many parts the ground was incrusted with 

 a saline efflorescence; hence we had the same salt-loving plants, 

 which are common near Bahia Blanca. The landscape has a uniform 

 character from the Strait of Magellan, along the whole eastern 

 coast of Patagonia, to the Rio Colorado ; and it appears that the 

 same kind of country extends inland from this river, in a sweeping 

 line as far as San Luis, and perhaps even further north. To the 

 eastward of this curved line, lies the basin of the comparatively 

 damp and green plains of Buenos Ayres. The sterile plains of 

 Mendoza and Patagonia consist of a bed of shingle, worn smooth 

 and accumulated by the waves of the sea; while the Pampas, 

 covered by thistles, clover, and grass, have been formed by the 

 ancient estuary mud of the Plata. 



After our two days' tedious journey, it was refreshing to see in 

 the distance the rows of poplars and willows growing round the 

 village and river of Luxan. Shortly before we arrived at this place, 

 we observed to the south a ragged cloud of a dark reddish-brown 

 colour. At first we thought that it was smoke from some great 

 fire on the plains; but we soon found that it was a swarm of 

 locusts. They were flying northward ; and with the aid of a light 

 breeze, they overtook us at a rate of ten or fifteen miles an hour. 

 The main body filled the air from a height of twenty feet, to that, 

 as it appeared, of two or three thousand above the ground ; " and 

 the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many 

 horses running to battle : " or rather, I should say, like a strong 

 breeze passing through the rigging of a ship. The sky, seen through 

 tbe advanced guard, appeared like a mezzotinto engraving, but the 

 main body was impervious to sight ; they were not, however, so 

 thick together, but that they could escape a stick waved backwards 

 and forwards. When they alighted, they were more numerous 

 than the leaves in the field, and the surface became reddish instead 

 of being green : the swarm having once alighted, the individuals 

 flew from side to side in all directions. Locusts are not an un- 

 common pest in this country : already during this season, several 

 smaller swarms had come up from the south, where, as apparently 



