1834. 



LEVEL OF RTVER— BONES. 



355 



Reference to the accompanying plan will shew our position 

 when we halted, and I decided to return, not having explored, 

 I should think, more than one-third of its course. At that place 

 the level of the river was found to be four hundred feet higher 

 than that of the sea at the entrance ; and as the distance is 

 about two hundred miles,* the average descent or fall of the 

 water must be near two feet in a mile, which, I apprehend, is 

 unusually great. I could not, indeed, believe that the compu- 

 tation and data were correct, until after repeated examination. -f* 

 Two barometers were used at the river-side, and a very good 

 one was carefully watched on board the Beagle.J Certainly, 

 the rapid descent of the river, in many places, was such, that 

 even to the eye it appeared to be running down-hill ; and this 

 remark was often made in the course of our journey. 



Two days before we reached our westernmost point, many 

 traces of an old Indian encampment were seen ; but excepting 

 at that place and at the spot which we passed on the 22d, no 

 signs of inhabitants were any where found. Scarcity of pas- 

 ture, and the badness of the ground for their horses'* feet, 

 must deter Indians from remaining in this neighbourhood; 

 but that they frequently cross the river, when travelling, 

 is well known. 



The quantities of bones heaped together, or scattered near 

 the river, in so many places which we passed, excited conjec- 

 tures as to what had collected them. Do guanacoes approach the 

 river to drink when they are dying ? or are the bones remains 

 of animals eaten by lions or by Indians ? or are they washed 

 together by floods ? Certain it is they are remarkably numerous 

 near. the banks of the river ; but not so elsewhere. 



I can hardly think that the guanaco is often allowed to die 

 a natural death ; for pumas are always on the alert to seize 

 invalid stragglers from the herd. At night the guanacoes choose 

 the clearest places for sleeping, lying down together like sheep ; 

 and in the day they avoid thickets, and all such places as might 



* Following the course of the river. 



t The data will be found in the Appendix. X At the level of the sea. 



2 A 2 



