Il6 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS! NARRATIVE. 



an hour or two spent in collecting from these exposures, we resumed our 

 journey, travelling northward all day and surrounded by a landscape with 

 the same general features as that of the previous day. The high basalt- 

 capped cliff on our left would extend due north in places for several miles 

 and then sweep around far to the west, almost enclosing a great bay or 

 gulf, so to speak, across the mouth of which our course would lead us. 

 The low plain across which we were traveling supported a much better 

 growth of grass than the high pampas to the south of the Rivers Chalia 

 and Santa Cruz. The animal life was likewise more abundant. Bands 

 of guanaco numbering from sixty to two hundred were common, while 

 the Rhea darwini, either singly or in flocks of from ten to twelve, were 

 scattered about everywhere over the plain. Perched in conspicuous 

 places along the lofty basalt cliffs were numerous condors, while carran- 

 chas were, of course, not wanting. In addition to all these and many 

 other birds and mammals, which had been our daily companions ever 

 since our arrival in Patagonia, there was one curious little mammal 

 belonging to an entirely different order, representatives of which we 

 had not met with south of the Santa Cruz River. I refer to the little 

 armadillo, Tatusia hybrida. Frequent examples of these were to be 

 seen running about over the pampa or lying prone upon the ground. 

 Immediately on touching one of these little animals, they roll them- 

 selves up into a compact ball in much the same manner as do some of 

 the leeches or species of chitons, on being detached from the stones to 

 the surface of which they are usually fixed. When in this position, 

 the bony covering of the carapace serves to protect them from their 

 ordinary enemies. They live in shallow holes excavated in the sur- 

 face of the pampa, and if by any chance they succeed in reaching the 

 mouth of one of these before being captured, they force the serrated edges 

 of the carapace into the surrounding dirt in such a manner that they can 

 be extracted only with the greatest difficulty. At this latitude they 

 hibernate in winter and prefer a warm sandy soil and sheltered locality. 

 In such places they are fairly abundant north of the Santa Cruz River, but 

 we never observed a specimen south of that stream, nor after careful 

 enquiries could I discover that they had ever been seen by others in the 

 region lying south of this river. It seems probable, therefore, that this 

 stream has afforded an effective barrier to their further distribution to the 

 southward, for not only are there many localities to the south that would 



