CHAP. Ill 
ESTUARY OF THE PLATA 
4i 
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 2 6 th .—We anchored at Monte Video. The Beagle 
was employed in surveying the extreme southern 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 
