192 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



jigged rocks, and white and grey slime, in which live the puma, 

 the wild-cat, and the fox; the air inhabited by birds of prey. 

 What do they live upon, these creatures, there are so many of 

 them ? How do they eke out existence ? Sparse herds of guanaco 

 (I am now alluding to the sterile portions of the country, such as 

 lie about the north shore of Lake Buenos Aires and also part of the 

 north shore of Lake Argentine), a few small birds, and abundant 

 rodent life of the smaller species — ^that is all. Curiously enough, 

 in the richer lands of Patagonia, it seemed to me that, though 

 there was more game, there were fewer birds and beasts of prey. 



In the winter and in the spring the country, as far as wild life 

 is concerned, is but a thin and gaunt place. Nothing that wanders 

 carries any fat, for the food has been reduced to a minimum. It 

 is on this sterile battlefield of nature that livino- creatures enter 

 into a death-grapple with the conditions of life, and swing to and 

 fro in a contest whose outcome is onlv decided when the dark davs 

 of storm are over ; for at this season the richer lands are often 

 under snow, and it is about the bare margins of lakes and lagoons 

 that the orame orathers and remains. 



All the way up the River Santa Cruz we were able to recognise 

 the points marked and named by Darwin, until finally his party 

 was forced through lack of provisions to turn back just when he 

 had arrived within reasonable distance of the great lake. He 

 named this last prospect he looked out over in Patagonia, 

 " Mystery Plain." Now it no longer is mysterious, but Darwin's 

 map remains to this day the best chart made of the river. 



His description and his opinion of the country are sufficiently 

 dismal, but he passed through a waste and empty land, before 

 colonising on the coasts had reached its present state, or much of 

 the country within reach of the sea had been partitioned, as it now 

 is, into sheep farms. And it must be admitted that the neighbour- 

 hood of the Santa Cruz is somewhat sterile, and would be likely 

 to ofive a false idea of Pataoonia as a forbiddini>" land to a straneer 

 who knew no more of the country than the coast and this boulder 

 and sand-strewn river valley. This cahadon is, in fact, covered 

 with "lacial detritus. 



Leaving the shore of the lake well to our right we rode parallel 



