HATCHER'S UOliK IX I'.ir.K.OM.i 321 



on the paini)as for two days and two iiiirhts. Ife recovered suf- 

 ficiently to rejoin his companion, but the wound and exposure 

 produced erysipehis, by whicli lie was incai)acitate(l for weeks. 

 The difficulty of travel was greatly enhanced l>y the nearly uni- 

 form foulness of the weather ; cold. drizzlin<r rains and dense fogs 

 are characteristic of Patagonia, with temperature but little al)ove 

 the freezing point for months at a time. Fortunately game was 

 easily taken, and supplied the chief part of the camp fare. 



Returning from the trip into the interior, Mr llatcher, with 

 his companion, made a voyage through the Strait of Magellan 

 and about Tierra del Fuego, in the course of which many m-w 

 observations were made on the natural history, geology, paleon- 

 tology, and ethnology of the region. The various routes traversed 

 are indicated on Mr Hatcher's map, through which an idea of the 

 extent of the journeys may be gained. He returned to Princeton 

 in July, 1897. 



As indicated by his article, Mr Hatcher's energies were l)y no 

 means limited to the collection of specimens ; indeed, he utilized 

 his opportunities for geographic, geologic, and ethnologic study 

 in a notal)ly successful manner. The geographic results are 

 stated summarily, though with excess of modesty, in tiie para- 

 graphs prepared for this magazine, while the preliminary results 

 of the geologic and paleontologic researches ap[)ear in several 

 articles in the American Journal of Science and the American 

 Geologist. 



Certain features of southern .South America l)rouglit out through 

 Mr Hatcher's observations are especially significant to students 

 of geographic development. One of the characteristics of the 

 region is the dearth of soil ; another is the paucity of the flora, 

 both in individuals and species, and the fact that the flt)ra of the 

 pampas is evidently derived from that of the Cordillera ; still an- 

 other is the presence of saline lakes, of residuary character, scat- 

 tered over the pampas. These features indicate conclusively 

 that the Patagonian [)ampas have l)ut recently been raised from 

 ocean bottom to form dry land. Certain other features give 

 hardly less decisive indication of the manner of lifting. The 

 Pacific coast passes from a lofty archii)elago into a liord-marked 

 sierra, the configuration, on the whole, suggesting recent subsi- 

 dence ; the great Cordillera is trenched by the gorges of rivers 

 (notably the newly discovered Rio Mayer), which have evidently 

 retrogressed through the range so completely that water-parting 

 and mountain-crest no longer coincide; while there is a line of 



