316 PATAGONIA 



far as has yet been discovered, for more than a thousand miles. 

 On the west the}^ are invaded by a labja'inth of ba3's, channels, 

 sounds, and inland watercourses which for beauty and intricacy 

 are unsurpassed and probably unequaled on any other coast. 



The intensely rugged nature of these mountains and of the 

 Pacific coast is doubtless largely due to the comparative! 3' recent 

 age of the former, for from the highly inclined position of the 

 Miocene strata (Supra-Patagonian beds) all along the eastern base 

 of the mountains it is evident that while the actual birth of the 

 latter may have taken place during Mesozoic times, yet their 

 greatest development was not accomplished until the Miocene, 

 and hence they now present numerous sharp peaks, bold lines, 

 and rigid angles, which the eroding elements in nature have not 

 yet had sufficient time to soften ; yet it cannot be said that they 

 do not harmonize Avell with their surroundings, for only that 

 which is rugged in the extreme could comport with the perpetual 

 storms which forever rage about the summits and the terrific 

 onslaughts of waves that constantly attack the bases. Nature 

 alwa3''s produces most perfect harm on}'' ; and as these lofty peaks 

 are lowered and their sharp angles rounded by erosion, just so 

 will the causes of the truly terrible storms that now prevail here 

 be removed and equally harmonious conditions preserved, per- 

 haps even more pleasing, if not so startling, increasing in beauty, 

 like the splendid canvas or mural painting, as the brighter and 

 more vivid colors are gradually softened with age. 



According to its flora, Patagonia may be divided into three 

 regions, characterized not so much by differences in species rep- 

 resented (for one of these regions may be fairly considered as 

 furnishing all the species of plants found in the other two) as by 

 the quantity and quality of the vegetation. The first of these 

 may be designated as the eastern coast region, and consists of a 

 narrow belt of fairly good grazing lands, extending along the 

 coast from the Strait of Magellan to Port Desire. All the avail- 

 able land is here taken up by sheep farmers, mostly from the 

 Falkland islands and Scotland, with a few English, Germans, 

 French, Spaniards, and native Argentinians and Chilinos. The 

 second region consists of almost barren high pampas and usually 

 equally barren river valleys. It extends from the western border 

 of the first region to the base of the Cordilleras, and is entirely 

 uninhabited, so that while the vegetation is indeed exceedingly 

 scanty it nevertheless suffices for the support of considerable 

 bands of the guanaco and the rhea, the so-called ostrich of South 



