356 



PERU. 



[CHAP, xvr, 



from the Cordillera, the rising there may have been slower than 

 here. At Bahia Blanca, the elevation has been only a few feet 

 since the numerous gigantic quadrupeds were there entombed ; 

 and, according to the generally received opinion, when these ex- 

 tinct animals were living, man did not exist. But the rising of 

 that part of the coast of Patagonia, is perhaps no way connected 

 with the Cordillera, but rather with a line of old volcanic rocks 

 in Banda Oriental, so that it may have been infinitely slower than 

 on the shores of Peril. All these speculations, however, must be 

 vague ; for who will pretend to say that there may not have been 

 several periods of subsidence, intercalated between the movements 

 of elevation ; for we know that along the whole coast of Patagonia, 

 there have certainly been many and long pauses in the upward 

 action of the elevatory forces. 



