The Voyage of the Beagle - The Original Classic Edition. Darwin Charles

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">       them a chain of minute holes. A part of the wall was shattered as

       if by gunpowder, and the fragments had been blown off with force sufficient to dent the wall on the opposite side of the room. The frame of a looking-glass was blackened, and the gilding must have been volatilised, for a smelling-bottle, which stood on the

       chimney-piece, was coated with bright metallic particles, which

       adhered as firmly as if they had been enamelled.

       (PLATE 17. HALT AT A PULPERIA ON THE PAMPAS.)

       CHAPTER IV.

       (PLATE 18. EL CARMEN, OR PATAGONES, RIO NEGRO.)

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       Rio Negro.

       Estancias attacked by the Indians. Salt Lakes.

       Flamingoes.

       R. Negro to R. Colorado. Sacred Tree.

       Patagonian Hare. Indian Families. General Rosas.

       Proceed to Bahia Blanca. Sand Dunes.

       Negro Lieutenant. Bahia Blanca.

       Saline Incrustations. Punta Alta.

       Zorillo.

       RIO NEGRO TO BAHIA BLANCA.

       JULY 24, 1833.

       The "Beagle" sailed from Maldonado, and on August the 3rd she arrived off the mouth of the Rio Negro. This is the principal river on the whole line of coast between the Strait of Magellan and the Plata. It enters the sea about three hundred miles south of the estuary of the Plata. About fifty years ago, under the old Spanish government, a small colony was established here; and it is still

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       the most southern position (latitude 41 degrees) on this eastern coast of America inhabited by civilised man.

       The country near the mouth of the river is wretched in the extreme: on the south side a long line of perpendicular cliffs commences, which exposes a section of the geological nature of the country.

       The strata are of sandstone, and one layer was remarkable from

       being composed of a firmly-cemented conglomerate of pumice pebbles, which must have travelled more than four hundred miles, from the Andes. The surface is everywhere covered up by a thick bed of

       gravel, which extends far and wide over the open plain. Water is extremely scarce, and, where found, is almost invariably brackish. The vegetation is scanty; and although there are bushes of many kinds, all are armed with formidable thorns, which seem to warn the stranger not to enter on these inhospitable regions.

       The settlement is situated eighteen miles up the river. The road follows the foot of the sloping cliff, which forms the northern boundary of the great valley in which the Rio Negro flows. On the way we passed the ruins of some fine estancias, which a few years since had been destroyed by the Indians. They withstood several attacks. A man present at one gave me a very lively description of what took place. The inhabitants had sufficient notice to drive all the cattle and horses into the corral which surrounded the house, and likewise to mount some small cannon. (4/1. The corral is an enclosure made of tall and strong stakes. Every estancia, or

       farming estate, has one attached to it.)

       The Indians were Araucanians from the south of Chile; several

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       hundreds in number, and highly disciplined. They first appeared in

       two bodies on a neighbouring hill; having there dismounted, and

       taken off their fur mantles, they advanced naked to the charge. The

       only weapon of an Indian is a very long bamboo or chuzo, ornamented

       with ostrich feathers, and pointed by a sharp spear-head. My

       informer seemed to remember with the greatest horror the quivering of these chuzos as they approached near. When close, the cacique Pincheira hailed the besieged to give up their arms, or he would

       cut all their throats. As this would probably have been the result

       of their entrance under any circumstances, the answer was given by a volley of musketry. The Indians, with great steadiness, came to

       the very fence of the corral: but to their surprise they found the posts fastened together by iron nails instead of leather thongs, and, of course, in vain attempted to cut them with their knives.

       This saved the lives of the Christians: many of the wounded Indians were carried away by their companions, and at last, one of the

       under caciques being wounded, the bugle sounded a retreat. They retired to their horses, and seemed to hold a council of war. This was an awful pause for the Spaniards, as all their ammunition, with

       the exception of a few cartridges, was expended. In an instant the

       Indians mounted their horses, and galloped out of sight. Another attack was still more quickly repulsed. A cool Frenchman managed the gun; he stopped till the Indians approached close, and then raked their line with grape-shot: he thus laid thirty-nine of them

       on the ground; and, of course, such a blow immediately routed the

       whole party.

       The town is indifferently called El Carmen or Patagones. It is built on the face of a cliff which fronts the river, and many of

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       the houses are excavated even in the sandstone. The river is about

       two or three hundred yards wide, and is deep and rapid. The many islands, with their willow-trees, and the flat headlands, seen one behind the other on the northern boundary of the broad green valley, form, by the aid of a bright sun, a view almost

       picturesque. The number of inhabitants does not exceed a few hundreds. These Spanish colonies do not, like our British ones, carry within themselves the elements of growth. Many Indians of pure blood reside here: the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee constantly have their Toldos on the outskirts of the town. (4/2. The hovels of the Indians are thus called.) The local government partly supplies them with provisions, by giving them all the old worn-out horses, and they earn a little by making horse-rugs and other articles of riding-gear. These Indians are considered civilised; but what their character may have gained by a lesser degree of ferocity, is almost

       counterbalanced by their entire immorality. Some of the younger men

       are, however, improving; they are willing to labour, and a short

       time since a party went on a sealing-voyage, and behaved very well. They were now enjoying the fruits of their labour, by being dressed in very gay, clean clothes, and by being very idle. The taste they showed in their dress was admirable; if you could have turned one of these young Indians into a statue of bronze, his drapery would have been perfectly graceful.

       One day I rode to a large salt-lake, or Salina, which is distant fifteen miles from the town. During the winter it consists of a shallow lake of brine, which in summer is converted into a field of snow-white salt. The layer near СКАЧАТЬ