The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
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Chapter 6 - Bahia Blanca to Buenos Ayres
SEPTEMBER 18th. -- I hired a Gaucho to accompany me on my ride to Buenos Ayres, though with some difficulty, as the father of one man was afraid to let him go, and another, who emed willing, was described to me as so fearful, that I was afraid to take him, for I was told that even if he saw an ostrich at a distance, he would mistake it for an Indian, and would fly like the wind away. The distance to Buenos Ayres is about four hundred miles, and nearly the whole way through an uninhabited country. We started early in the morning; ascending a few hundred feet from the basin of green turf
on which Bahia Blanca stands, we entered on a wide desolate plain.
It consists of a crumbling argillaceo-calcareous rock, which, from
the dry nature of the climate, supports only scattered tufts of withered grass, without a single bush or tr
ee to break the monotonous uniformity. The weather was fine, but the atmosphere remarkably hazy; I thought the appearance foreboded a gale, but the Gauchos said it was owing to the plain, at some great distance in
the interior, being on fire. After a long gallop, having changed hors twice, we reached the Rio Sauce: it is a deep, rapid, little stream, not above twenty-five feet wide. The cond posta on the
road to Buenos Ayres stands on its banks, a little above there is a ford for hors, where the water does not reach to the hors' belly; but from that point, in its cour to the a, it is quite impassable, and hence makes a most uful barrier against the Indians.
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Insignificant as this stream is, the Jesuit Falconer, who information is generally so very correct, figures it as a considerable river, rising at the foot of the Cordillera. With
总承包合同respect to its source, I do not doubt that this is the ca for the Gauchos assured me, that in the middle of the dry summer, this stream, at the same time with the Colorado has periodical floods; which can only originate in the snow melting on the Andes. It is extremely improbable that a stream so small as the Sauce then was,
should traver the entire width of the continent; and indeed, if it were the residue of a large river, its waters, as in other ascertained cas, would be saline. During the winter we must look
to the springs round the Sierra Ventana as the source of its pure
and limpid stream. I suspect the plains of Patagonia like tho of Australia, are traverd by many water-cours which only perform
their proper parts at certain periods. Probably this is the ca
with the water which flows into the head of Port Desire, and
likewi with the Rio Chupat, on the banks of which mass of highly cellular scoriae were found by the officers employed in the survey.
As it was early in the afternoon when we arrived, we took fresh hors, and a soldier for a guide, and started for the Sierra de la Ventana. This mountain is visible from the anchorage at Bahia Blanca; and Capt. Fitz Roy calculates its height to be 3340 feet -- an
altitude very remarkable on this eastern side of the continent. I am not aware that any foreigner, previous to my visit, had ascended
this mountain; and indeed very few of the soldiers at Bahia Blanca knew anything about it. Hence we heard of beds of coal, of gold and silver, of caves, and of forests, all of which inflamed my curiosity, only to disappoint it. The distance from the posta was about six leagues over a level plain of the same character as before. The ride was, however, interesting, as the mountain began to show its true form. When we reached the foot of the main ridge, we had much
difficulty in finding any water, and we thought we should have been obliged to have pasd the night without any. At last we discovered some by looking clo to the mountain, for at the distance even of a few hundred yards the streamlets were buried and entirely lost in
the friable calcareous stone and loo detritus. I do not think Nature ever made a more solitary, desolate pile of rock; -- it well derves its name of _Hurtado_, or parated. The mountain is steep, extremely rugged, and broken, and so entirely destitute of trees,
and even bushes, that we actually could not make a skewer to stretch out our meat over the fire of thistle- stalks. [1] The strange
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aspect of this mountain is contrasted by the a-like plain, which
not only abuts against its steep sides, but likewi parates the parallel ranges. The uniformity of the colouring gives an extreme quietness to the view, -- the whitish grey of the quartz rock, and
the light brown of the withered grass of the plain, being unrelieved by any brighter tint. From custom, one expects to e in the neighbourhood of a lofty and bold mountain, a broken country strewed over with huge fragments. Here nature shows that the last movement before the bed of the a is changed into dry land may sometimes be one of tranquillity. Under the circumstances I was curious to
obrve how far from the parent rock any pebbles could be found. On the shores of Bahia Blanca, and near the ttlement, there were some of quartz, which certainly must have come from this source: the distance is forty-five miles.
The dew, which in the early part of the night wetted the saddle-cloths under which we slept, was in the morning frozen. The plain, though appearing horizontal, had innsibly sloped up to a height of between 800 and 900 feet above the a. In the morning (9th of September) the guide told me to ascend the nearest ridge, which he thought would lead me to the four peaks that crown the summit. The climbing up such rough rocks was very fatiguing; the sides were so indented, that what was gain
ed in one five minutes was often lost in the next. At last, when I reached the ridge, my disappointment was extreme in finding a precipitous valley as deep as the plain, which cut the chain transverly in two, and parated me from the four points. This valley is very narrow, but flat-bottomed, and it forms a fine hor- pass for the Indians, as it connects the plains on the northern and southern sides of the range. Having descended, and while crossing it, I saw two hors grazing: I immediately hid mylf in the long grass, and began to reconnoitre; but as I could e no signs of Indians I proceeded cautiously on my cond ascent. It was late in the day, and this part of the mountain, like the other, was steep and rugged. I was on the top of the cond peak by two o'clock, but got there with extreme difficulty; every twenty yards I had the cramp in the upper part of both thighs, so that I was afraid I should not have been able to have got down again. It was also necessary to return by another road, as it was out of the question to pass over the saddle-back. I was therefore obliged to give up the two higher peaks. Their altitude was but little greater, and every purpo of geology had been answered; so that the attempt was not worth the hazard of any further exertion. I presume the cau of the cramp was the great change in the kind of muscular action, from that of hard riding to that of still harder climbing. It is a lesson worth. remembering, as in some cas it might cau much difficulty.
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I have already said the mountain is compod of white quartz rock, and with it a little glossy clay-slate is associated. At the height of a few hundred feet above the plain patches of conglomerate adhered in veral places to the solid rock. They rembled in hardness, and in the nature of the cement, the mass which may be en daily forming on some coasts. I do not doubt the pebbles were in a similar manner aggregated, at a period when the great
calcareous formation was depositing beneath the surrounding a. We may believe that the jagged and battered forms of the hard quartz麻将牌
yet show the effects of the waves of an open ocean.
I was, on the whole, disappointed with this ascent. Even the view
was insignificant; -- a plain like the a, but without its
beautiful colour and defined outline. The scene, however, was novel, and a little danger, like salt to meat, gave it a relish. That the danger was very little was certain, for my two companions made a
good fire -- a thing which is never done when it is suspected that Indians are near. I reached the place of our bivouac by sunt, and drinking much mate, and smoking veral cigaritos, soon made
up my bed for the night. The wind was very strong and cold, but I never slept more comfortably.
September 10th. -- In the morning, having fairly scudded before the gale, we arrived by the middle of the day at the Sauce posta. In the road we saw great numbers of deer, and near the mountain a guanaco. The plain, which abuts against the Sierra, is traverd by some curious gullies, of which one was about twenty feet wide, and at
least thirty deep; we were obliged in conquence to make a considerable circuit before we could find a pass. We stayed the
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night at the posta, the conversation, as was generally the ca, being about the Indians. The Sierra Ventana was formerly a great
place of resort; and three or four years ago there was much fighting there. My guide had been prent when many Indians were killed: the women escaped to the top of the ridge, and fought most desperately with great stones; many thus saving themlves.
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September 11th. -- Proceeded to the third posta in company with the lieutenant who commanded it. The distance is called fifteen leagues; but it is only guess-work, and is generally overstated. The roa
d was uninteresting, over a dry grassy plain; and on our left hand at a greater or less distance there were some low hills; a continuation
of which we crosd clo to the posta. Before our arrival we met a large herd of cattle and hors, guarded by fifteen soldiers; but we were told many had been lost. It is very difficult to drive animals across the plains; for if in the night a puma, or even a fox, approaches, nothing can prevent the hors dispersing in every direction; and a storm will have the same effect. A short time since, an officer left Buenos Ayres with five hundred hors, and when he arrived at the army he had under twenty.
Soon afterwards we perceived by the cloud of dust, that a party of hormen were coming towards us; when far distant my companions knew them to be Indians, by their long hair streaming behind their backs. The Indians generally have a fillet round their heads, but never any covering; and their black hair blowing across their swarthy faces, heightens to an uncommon degree the wildness of their appearance. They turned out to be a party of Bernantio's friendly tribe, going to a salina for salt. The Indians eat much salt, their children sucking it like sugar. This habit is very different from that of the Spanish Gauchos, who, leading the same kind of life, eat scarcely any; according to Mungo Park, [2] it is people who live on vegetable food who have an unconquerable desire for salt. The Indi
ans gave us good-humoured nods as they pasd at full gallop, driving before them a troop of hors, and followed by a train of lanky dogs.
病案September 12th and 13th. -- I stayed at this posta two days, waiting for a troop of soldiers, which General Rosas had the kindness to nd to inform me, would shortly travel to Buenos Ayres; and he advid me to take the opportunity of the escort. In the morning we rode to some neighbouring hills to view the country, and to examine the geology. After dinner the soldiers divided themlves into two parties for a trial of skill with the bolas. Two spears were stuck
in the ground twenty-five yards apart, but they were struck and entangled only once in four or five times. The balls can be thrown fifty or sixty yards, but with little certainty. This, however, does not apply to a man on horback; for when the speed of the hor is added to the force of the arm, it is said, that they can be whirled with effect to the distance of eighty yards. As a proof of their force, I may mention, that at the Falkland Islands, when the Spaniards murdered some of their own countrymen and all the Englishmen, a young friendly Spaniard was running away, when a great tall man, by name Luciano, came at full gallop after him, shouting to him to stop, and saying that he only wanted to speak to him. Just as the Spaniard was on the point of reaching the boat, Luciano threw the balls: they struck him on the legs with such a jerk, as to throw him down and to render him for so
me time innsible. The man, after Luciano had had his talk, was allowed to escape. He told us that his legs were marked by great weals, where the thong had wound round, as if he had been flogged with a whip. In the middle of the day two men arrived, who brought a parcel from the next posta to be forwarded to the general: so that besides the two, our party consisted this evening of my guide and lf, the lieutenant, and his four soldiers. The latter were strange beings; the first a fine young negro; the cond half Indian and negro; and the two others non- descripts;
