1832. ENTER RIVER PLATA. 85 



vicinity of Cape Sta Maria to avoid being drifted about by irre- 

 gular currents. For upwards of an hour St. Elmo fires were 

 seen at each mast-head, and at some of the yard-arms : the 

 mast-head vane also, fixed horizontally, and framed with cop- 

 per, had an illuminated border round it. Heavy rain, much 

 thunder, and a fresh southerly wind followed ; but as we were 

 prepared for bad weather, and the sea did not rise much, we 

 maintained our position till daylight next morning, notwith- 

 standing an officer of the watch startling me by reporting that 

 we must be very near the land, because he heard bullocks 

 bellowing."* 



On the 23d we entered the great estuary of this shallow 

 though wide river, a hundred and twenty miles across at this 

 part, yet averaging less than ten fathoms in depth ; and above 

 fifty miles wide between Monte Video and the opposite point, 

 called Piedras, where the average depth is not more than three 

 fathoms. Very great care is required by vessels navigating 

 the Plata, because of its exceedingly dangerous shoals, its 

 strong and irregular currents, and the sudden temjiests to which 

 it is subject. The shoals and currents may be guarded against 

 by a very careful attention to the lead, and a ground-log ; but 

 the fury of a violent pampero-|- must be endui'ed. The land on 

 each side of the Plata is so low, and those extraordinary plains 

 called pampas, hundreds of miles in extent, are so perfectly 

 free from a single obstacle which might offer any check to the 

 storm, that a pampero sweeps over land and water with the 

 weight of a rushing hurricane. Captain King has already de- 

 scribed one, by which the Beagle suffered severely, in 1829 ;+ 

 but having, to my sorrow, been more immediately concerned, 

 I will endeavour to give a brief account of that disastrous 

 affair, as a warning to others. 



On the 30th of January 1829, the Beagle was standing in, 



* These noises must have been the discordant ' braying' of the bird 

 called by seamen 'jack-ass penpfuin.' 



t So called because it appears to come from the vast plains called 

 ' pampas.' 



J Vol. i. pp. 189, VM, 101. 



