Trip up the Santa Cruz River. 77 



dies, to wonder, and to believe that he died through 

 violence." 



An interesting trip made in this country was up 

 the Santa Cruz River, concerning which very little 

 was known, Europeans having gone but thirty miles 

 from the mouth in previous voyages. The expedi- 

 tion into the unknown land was composed of three 

 whale-boats provisioned for three weeks and manned 

 by Darwin, an officer, and twenty-five men as a 

 guard against Indians. The river was about one 

 third of a mile wide, seventeen feet deep, and very 

 rapid, terraces rising on either side, forming a valley 

 nearly ten miles in width. It was hard and tedious 

 work, as canal tactics had to be adopted ; the boats 

 were fastened together, the men walking along the 

 banks and hauling them by a rope. A few days out 

 they saw smoke, and found evidences of a camp. 

 Puma tracks were seen everywhere, and an occasional 

 guanaco with its neck broken told of the power of this 

 great cat. The geology of the region was carefully 

 studied by the naturalist and was of no little inter- 

 est. He found deposits of lava one hundred and 

 twenty feet in thickness, and later two hundred feet 

 thicker, showing that a mighty volcanic eruption had 

 taken place at some early time. 



When well up the river our hero shot his first 

 condor, the bird measuring from tip to tip of wings 

 eight and a half feet. Near the river, among the 

 basaltic cliffs, he discovered a rookery of the noble 

 birds, and as he approached the edge of the preci- 

 pice he saw thirty or more fly away at once, present- 

 ing a magnificent spectacle. He was particularly 



