ASPECTS OF THE VALLEY 53 



or six minutes, then the crimson color grew 

 darker by degrees until it disappeared. I have 

 frequently read and heard of such a phenomenon, 

 and many persons have assured me that they have 

 witnessed it "with their own eyes." But what 

 they have witnessed one does not know. I have 

 often seen the surface of water, of the ocean, or 

 a lake, or river, flushed with a rosy color at sunset ; 

 but to see, some time after sunset, the waters of 

 a river changed to blood and crimson fire, this 

 appearance lasting until the twilight drew on, 

 and the earth and trees looked black by contrast, 

 has been my lot once only on this occasion; and 

 I imagine that if any river on the globe was known 

 to take such an appearance frequently, it would 

 become as celebrated, and draw pilgrims as far 

 to see it, as Chimborazo and the Falls of Niagara. 

 Between the town and the sea, a distance of 

 about twenty miles, the valley is mostly on the 

 south side of the river ; on the north side the cur- 

 rent comes very near, and in many places washes 

 the upland. I visited the sea by both ways, and 

 rode for some distance' along the coast on both 

 sides of the river. North of the river the beach 

 was shingle and sand, backed by low sand dunes 

 extending away into infinitude; but on the south 

 side, outside the valley, a sheer stupendous preci- 

 pice faced the ocean. A slight adventure I had 

 with a condor, the only bird of that species I 

 met with in Patagonia, will give some idea of the 

 height of this sheer wall of rock. I was riding 



