182 



WHAT MR. DARWIN SAW. 



PATAGONIA. 



century ago in Europe, namely, whether or not they had 

 been thus "born by nature/' 



AN OLD SEA-BED. 



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 



CAPE FROWARD (PATAGONIA), STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 



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

 eastward of this curved line lies the basin of the compara- 

 tively 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; 



