CHAPTER XIII. 



THE PLAINS OF PATAGONIA. 



NEAR 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 significance. 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 characterized only 

 by negative possessions ; without habitations, with- 

 out water, without trees, without mountains, they 

 support only a few dwarf plants. Why, then and 

 the case is not peculiar to mi/self 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 impression ? 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 boundless, 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 supposed, the flat earth 



