April, 1834. 



SANTA CRUZ. 



215 



bourhood. On the next morning (21st) tracks of a party of 

 horse, and marks left by the traihng of the chuzos were ob- 

 served on the ground. It was generally thought they must 

 have reconnoitred us during the night. Shortly afterwards 

 we came to a spot, where from the fresh footsteps of men, 

 children, and horses, it was evident the party had crossed the 

 river. 



April 22d. — The country remained the same, and was 

 extremely uninteresting. The complete similarity of the pro- 

 ductions throughout Patagonia, is one of its most striking- 

 characters. The level plains of arid shingle support the same 

 stunted and dwarf plants ; and in the valleys the same thorn- 

 bearing bushes grow. Every where we see the same birds 

 and insects. Even the very banks of the river, and of the 

 clear streamlets which entered it, were scarcely enlivened 

 by a brighter tint of green. The curse of sterility is on the 

 land, and the water flowing over a bed of pebbles partakes of 

 the same curse. Hence the number of waterfowl is very 

 scanty ; for what is there to support life in the stream of this 

 barren river ? 



Patagonia, poor as she is in some respects, can, however, 

 boast of a greater stock of small rodents* than, perhaps, any 

 other country in the world. Several species of mice are 

 externally characterized by large thin ears and a very fine far. 

 These little animals swarm amongst the thickets in the val- 

 leys, where they cannot for months together taste a drop of 

 water. They all seem to be cannibals, for no sooner was a 

 mouse caught in one of my traps than it was devoured by 

 others. A small and delicately-shaped fox, which is like- 

 wise very abundant, probably derives its entire support from 

 these small animals. The guanaco is also in his proper dis- 

 trict ; herds of fifty or a hundred were common ; and, as I 

 have said, we saw one which must have contained at least 



* The deserts of Syria are characterized, according to Volney (vol. i., 

 p. 351), by woody bushes, numerous rats, gazelles, and hares. In the 

 landscape of Patagonia, the guanaco replaces the gazelle, and the agouti 

 the hare. 



