AUSTRAL-AMERICAN REGIONS. 



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the Desert, we met with what seemed at first a tuft of animal wool ; 

 on closer examination, it proved to be a growing plant, gen. Compos., 

 diminutive and having a slight root as if annual, the leaves and 

 stem concealed from view amid long white woolly hairs. Something 

 of the same tendency was remarked in (jen. Portulacac?, and in a 

 Plantago ; the latter, growing not in the Desert, but in situations 

 kept moist by melting snow. 



Towards sunset, the upper portion of the Andes opposite changed 

 in color, as on the preceding evening, to clear yellow. But there was 

 a practical question before us : in the increasing cold, and the coming 

 on of night; the only shelter being a circular wall a foot high, built 

 of loose stones. A fire was indispensable, and we began to collect 

 material ; wondering in the mean time at the composure of our guide, 

 with whom we could not readily communicate. At length, he pro- 

 duced an axe; and, much to my astonishment, attacked the floor-like 

 patches of Alpine UmheUiferce; disclosing large, woody, underground 

 branches, with lumps of resin copiously interspersed ; the living plant, 

 as we soon perceived, making excellent and long-enduring fuel. The 

 circular wall, eked out with saddles and horse-gear, proved at night 

 extremely serviceable in keeping off the wind ; and, having the addi- 

 tional protection of blankets, we did not suffer from the cold. The 

 moon was bright and clear ; and the stillness interrupted only by the 

 champing of the horses, and now and then a strange muttering, as 

 the wind swept the crags and surface of the Desert. 



The morning of the 21st proved extremely cold, the trickling rills 

 from the bank of accumulated snow being all frozen solid ; this wea- 

 ther was perhaps exceptional, for we learned subsequently, that the 

 same morning was regarded as " a cold one," at Santiago. The bank 

 covering several acres under a Southern exposure, and for "many 

 years" proving the most accessible source of supply for the city, 

 probably marks the least elevation in tbis Latitude of the perpetual 

 snow. Similar patches, but much more extensive, were frequent on 

 the Andes opposite; the ground continuing bare at intervals almost 

 to their summits; many of which were five or six thousand feet 

 higher than the spot on which we were standing. In the distance, 

 the snow-patches resembled those of Terra del Fuego; their consis- 

 tence was now ascertained to be very similar, firmly impacted, but 

 drier and more friable. There were no signs of glaciers ; and in this 

 elevated arid district, rain is perhaps unknown. 



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