CHAP. Ill ESTUARY OF THE PLATA 41 



greatest ease, and then dash away right ahead. As soon as 

 we entered the estuary of the Plata, the weather was very 

 unsettled. One dark night we were surrounded by numerous 

 seals and penguins, which made such strange noises, that the 

 officer on watch reported he could hear the cattle bellowing 

 on shore. On a second night we witnessed a splendid 

 scene of natural fireworks ; the mast-head and yard-arm 

 ends shone with St. Elmo's light ; and the form of the vane 

 could almost be traced, as if it had been rubbed with phos- 

 phorus. The sea was so highly luminous, that the tracks 

 of the penguins were marked by a fiery wake, and the dark- 

 ness of the sky was momentarily illuminated by the most vivid 

 lightning. 



When within the mouth of the river, I was interested 

 by observing how slowly the waters of the sea and river 

 mixed. The latter, muddy and discoloured, from its less 

 specific gravity, floated on the surface of the salt water. 

 This was curiously exhibited in the wake of the vessel, where a 

 line of blue water was seen mingling in little eddies with the 

 adjoining fluid. 



July 26th. — We anchored at Monte Video. The Beagle 

 was employed in surveying the extreme^^o^thern and eastern 

 coasts of America, south of the Plata, during the two suc- 

 ceeding years. To prevent useless repetitions, I will extract 

 those parts of my journal which refer to the same districts, 

 without always attending to the order in which we visited 

 them. 



Maldonado is situated on the northern bank of the Plata, 

 and not very far from the mouth of the estuary. It is a most 

 quiet, forlorn, little town ; built, as is universally the case in 

 these countries, with the streets running at right angles to each 

 other, and having in the middle a large plaza or square, which, 

 from its size, renders the scantiness of the population more 

 evident. It possesses scarcely any trade ; the exports being 

 confined to a few hides and living cattle. The inhabitants are 

 chiefly landowners, together with a few shopkeepers and the 

 necessary tradesmen, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, who 

 do nearly all the business for a circuit of fifty miles round. 

 The town is separated from the river by a band of sand-hillocks, 

 about a mile broad : it is surrounded on all other sides by an 



