CHAPTEE Xin 

 THE PLAINS OF PATAGONIA 



NEAE the end of Darwin's famous narrative of 

 the voyage of the Beagle there is a passage 

 which, for me, has a very special interest and sig- 

 nificance. It is as follows, and the italicization is 

 mine : * ' In calling up images of the past, I find 

 the plains of Patagonia frequently cross before my 

 eyes ; yet these plains are pronounced by all to be 

 most wretched and useless. They are character- 

 ized only by negative possessions ; without habita- 

 tions, without water, without trees, without moun- 

 tains, they support only a few dwarf plants. Why, 

 then and the case is not peculiar to myself 

 have these arid wastes taken so firm possession 

 of my mind? Why have not the still more level, 

 the greener and more fertile pampas, which are 

 serviceable to mankind, produced an equal impres- 

 sion 1 I can scarcely analyze these feelings, but it 

 must be partly owing to the free scope given to the 

 imagination. The plains of Patagonia are bound- 

 less, for they are scarcely practicable, and hence 

 unknown; they bear the stamp of having thus 

 lasted for ages, and there appears no limit to their 

 duration through future time. If, as the ancients 



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