52 



MALDONADO. 



1832-3. 



in the morning we ascended the Sierra de las Animas. By 

 the aid of the rising sun the scenery was almost picturesque. 

 To the westward the view extended over an immense level 

 plain as far as the mount^ at Monte Video^ and to the east- 

 ward, over the mammillated country of Maldonado. On the 

 summit of the mountain there were several small heaps of 

 stones, which evidently had lain there for many years. My 

 companion assured me that they were the work of the 

 Indians in the old time. The heaps were similar, but on a 

 much smaller scale, to those so commonly found on the 

 mountains of Wales. The desire to signalize any event, on 

 the highest point of the neighbouring land, seems an uni- 

 versal passion with mankind. At the present day, not a , 

 single Indian, either civilized or wild, exists in this part of 

 the province; nor am I aware that the former inhabitants 

 have left behind them any more permanent records, than 

 these insignificant piles on the summit of the Sierra de las 

 Animas. 



The geological structure Of the country is very simple. 

 On the crest of every hill, granitic or ancient schistose rocks 

 protrude ; the intervening spaces being concealed by a great 

 thickness of a red argillaceous earth. This at first sight 

 would be mistaken for ordinary detritus ; but on closer ex- 

 amination it is found to contain small concretionary balls of 

 a friable limestone or marl, and to possess other peculiar 

 characters. It extends over the whole province, and in 

 some places is very remarkable, from containing the remains 

 of several great extinct animals. This red earthy substance 

 is part of the formation which composes those immense 

 plains of Buenos Ayres, denominated the Pampas. For its 

 origin, we must look to a period when the estuary of the 

 Plata, occupying far wider limits, covered all the surround- 

 ing low countries with its brackish waters. Signs of the 

 gradual elevation of the land can in many places be dis- 

 covered on the shores of the river ; and it is probable that 

 the red earthy mass is, geologically speaking, of no very 

 ancient date. 



