30th September 1833

[The Parana]

Buenos Ayres to St Fe
Crossed the Arrozo del Medio & entered the Province of St Fe. I had been forewarned that nearly all the good people in this province are most dexterous thieves; they soon proved it, by stealing my pistol. The road generally ran near the Parana, & we had some fine glimpses of it. We crossed several streams; the water of the Pabon in a good body formed a cascade 20 feet high. This must be a most unusual phenomenon in this country. At the Saladillo I saw the curious occurrence of a rapidly running brook with water too salt to drink. Entered Rozario, a large & striking looking town, built on a dead level plain which forms a cliff about 60 feet high over the Parana. The river here is very broard with many islands which are low & wooded, as is also the coast of the opposite shore. The view would resemble that of a great lake, if it were not for the linear shaped islands, which alone, give the idea of running water. The cliffs are the most picturesque part, sometimes absolutely perpendicular & of a red colour, at other times in large broken masses covered with Cacti & Mimosa trees. The real grandeur however of an immense river like this, is derived from reflecting how important a means of communication & commerce it forms between one nation & another — to what a distance it travels — from how vast a territory it drains the great body of fresh water which flows before your feet. At Rozario, I had a letter of introduction to a most hospitable Spaniard, who was kind enough to lend me a Pistol. Having obtained this most indispensable article; I galloped on as far as the Colegio de St Carlos. A town known by the size of its church & it is said, the hospitality & virtue of the friars. For many leagues to the North & South of St Nicholas & Rozario the country is really level; it deserves nearly all which travellers have written about these plains. Yet I have never seen a spot where by slowly turning round, objects could not be seen at a greater distance in some points than in others; and this manifestly proves an inequality in the plain. As at sea, the horizon is of course very limited; this entirely destroys a degree of grandeur which one would be apt to imagine a vast level plain would possess. On the sea, your eye being 6 feet above the water, the horizon is distant 2 4/5 miles.

29th September 1833

Buenos Ayres to St Fe
Arrived in the evening at the town of St Nicholas; it is situated on one of the branches of the Parana. I here first saw this noble river. There were some large vessels anchored at the foot of the cliff on which the town is built.

28th September 1833

Buenos Ayres to St Fe
We passed it; the town is small & pretty looking, but all the Spanish towns are built on exactly the same model. There is a fine wooden bridge over the R. Luxan, a most unusual luxury in this country. We passed Areco, another small town: The country appears level, but it is not so in fact; for in various places the horizon is extensive. The Estancias are wide apart; for there is little good pasture, the plains being covered by thistles & an acrid clover. The former was two thirds grown, reaching up to the horses back at this period; it grows in clumps & is of a brilliant green, resembling in miniature a fine forest. In many parts where the ground was dry, the thistles had not even sprung from the surface, but all was bare & dusty like a turnpike road. In summer, travelling is sufficiently dangerous for the thistles furnish an excellent retreat & home for numerous robbers, where they can live, rob & cut throats with perfect impunity. There is little interest in passing over this country, few animals except the Biscatche, & fewer birds inhabit these great thistle beds.

In the evening crossed the Arrecife, on a raft made of empty barrels lashed together. We slept at the Post house on the further side. I paid this day for 31 leagues, & with a burning sun, was but little fatigued. When the days are longer, & riding a little faster, 50 leagues, as mentioned by Head, might be managed with no very great difficulty. But then it must especially be remembered that a man, who pays for 50 leagues by the post, by no means rides 150 English miles, the distance is so universally exaggerated. My 31 leagues was only 76 English miles in a straight line; allowing 4 miles for curvatures in the road will give 80 miles; Heads days journey reduced by the same proportion gives 129 miles; a much more credible distance than 150 geographical ones.

27th September 1833

Buenos Ayres
At one oclock I managed to make a start. We rode for an hour in the dark & slept three leagues this side of the town of Luxan.

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(For Syms Covington's Journal of this time, see entry for 21st - 26th September below)

25th September 1833

Syms Covington’s Journal:

... the wind, shifting, we remained wind bound until the 25th when we sailed (in the brig Caroline).

23rd September 1833

[Sanborombon Bay - Image Google]

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:

... the Beagle sailed on the 23d, and after a close examination of Cape San Antonio and the great mud-bank, called Tuyu, which lies within it, we went to the neighbourhood of Cape Corrientes, and there looked about and sounded in every direction, but could find no shoal. We then returned to the river, and sounded Sanborombon Bay, laying its shores down on the chart as accurately as we could, considering that the water was every where so shoal, that even a boat could not get within half a mile of the land, except at particular times, for which we could not wait. The distance at which the Beagle was obliged to keep, varied from four miles to three (seldom less), and then she was sailing in about a foot more water than she drew.*

* The Beagle's draught of water was eleven feet and a half forward, and thirteen feet aft, when in ordinary loaded trim

22nd September 1833

Syms Covington’s Journal:

Anchored at Monte Video September 22nd. Left the ship solo THAT afternoon, GOING on board the brig Caroline for Buenos Ayres which was to sail the same evening.

21st - 26th September 1833

Buenos Ayres
These few days of rest were very pleasant; I had plenty of business to transact; & was employed in obtaining letters of introduction, passport &c for St Fe. — My servant having arrived from M. Video, I despatched him to an English Estancia to shoot & skin birds.

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Syms Covington’s Journal:
I resided a Mr. G's, who kept a large estancia, or farm, where by the kindness of him and his family I passed a month very comfortably. This estancia is situated on the bank of Río de la Plata. Here is the celebrated pampas, or plain that reaches to the Cordillera, where so many million head of cattle are fed both for consumption and FOR their hides and tallow for exportation. Here is a very fine prospect: the pampas as far as the eye can discern, shews its numerous estancias with its patches of cultivated ground, many thousand head of cattle, and the largest river in the world, on who's banks which are very muddy, I may say, ARE the most splendid birds in the world. In the small rivulets are found unbelievable numbers of ducks of different species and most beautiful plumage, also A wild turkey about the size of the domesticated, the ostrich, the mulita species of the armadillo, deers, lions, tigers, foxes, aperea or guinea pig, bizcacha, etc. The latter are in prodigious quantities, and do much injury to the dykes or ditches round abouts cultivated ground, where they are constantly burrowing, which is the occasion of a continual warfare between those animals and the labourers. These animals are of a greyish colour with very large whiskers and A tuft at the end of the tail, and somewhat resemble the rabbit, as they live in warrens, and feed upon herbs, and when young are very good eating.

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Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
A man-of-war requires strength, solidity, capacity; great buoyancy for supporting her heavy metal, durability, and tenacity; besides easiness as a sea-boat, and superiority of sailing. Vessels may easily be built to excel in any of these qualifications; but to excel in all is the climax, only to be obtained by genius, aided by extraordinary study and experience.

After running a few miles with the Snake, and finding that she steered towards Buenos Ayres, we altered our course to resume our easterly route, and early next morning were anchored alongside the Adventure.

As it was evident that another month must elapse before the schooner would be ready for her work, notwithstanding the zealous exertions of Lieut. Wickham and his crew, I decided to finish myself the survey, which I had intended he should begin with, namely, of the south shore of the Plata and a reported bank off Cape Corrientes—and defer the second visit to Tierra del Fuego until December or January.

20th September 1833

Buenos Ayres
In two more Postas reached the city; was much delayed on the road from the rain of yesterday the day before. Buenos Ayres looked quite pretty; with its Agave hedges, its groves of Olives, peaches & Willows, all just throwing out their fresh green leaves. I rode to the house of Mr Lumb, an English merchant, who gave me a most hospitable reception; & I soon enjoyed all the comforts of an English house.

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Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
On the 18th we weighed, hearing that H.M.S. Snake had brought stores and letters for us, and was at Maldonado, but had hardly lost sight of the town, when the Snake hove in sight. Knowing her to be one of the new build, I altered course, to sail a few miles with her, and see how much she would beat us; but, to my surprize, she gained on us but little while running free with a fresh breeze, just carrying top-mast studding-sails; and I was afterwards told by her officers, that though she sailed uncommonly well on a wind, and worked to windward wonderfully, she did nothing remarkable with a flowing sheet. I did not like her upper works; they 'tumbled home' too much (like some old French corvettes); narrowing her upper deck, giving less spread to the rigging, and offering a bad form to the stroke of a heavy sea, whether when plunging her bow into it, or receiving it abeam. However good such a form may be for large ships, which carry two or three tier of guns, I cannot think it advantageous for flush-decked vessels or small frigates, and am quite certain that it is bad for boats. I here allude particularly to that 'tumbling home' of the upper works, which some persons approved of a few years ago. This is not the place, however, for a discussion upon naval architecture (even if I were qualified to deal with the subject, which assuredly I am not); but I cannot pass over an opportunity of adding my mite of praise to the genius and moral courage of Sir William Symonds and Captain Hayes, who, undeterred by opposition, and difficulties of every description, have succeeded in infusing (if the metaphor may be allowed) so large a portion of Arab blood into the somewhat heavy, though stalwart coursers of our native breed. Amidst the natural contention of eager candidates for an honourable position, to which they have been accustomed to aspire, and for which some are doubtless admirably qualified, it is not surprising that due credit has not always been given to that originality and justifiable daring, of which the merits are attested by the Vanguard and Inconstant. Neither has it always been recollected, however men may have differed in their opinions of this or that individual, as a naval architect, that the two best ships built of late years were constructed by naval officers, self-educated chiefly during the practice of their profession. I am quite aware, that some of those eminent architects who have constructed good ships since 1810 — Sir Robert Seppings, Professor Inman, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Fincham, were very much restricted as to dimensions allowed with respect to guns to be carried; and that, therefore, no one can pretend to say what degree of excellence the ships might have attained, had their architects been unshackled; but taking things as they are—not as they might have been—to Symonds and Hayes (if not chiefly to the former) belongs the merit of having improved our navy materially. We are so apt to forget, during the heat of controversy, that even an approach to perfection is unattainable, and the utmost any one can hope for is to have fewer faults than his rivals—that we should not hastily condemn, in any case, only because we can detect deficiencies or errors.

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Many persons have remarked, that notwithstanding all the competition, all the trials of sailing, and all the reported improvements, which have taken place since the peace, our fastest ships have not excelled some of those built by France, England, or other countries, during the war. My own knowledge of those ships is only derived from the descriptions of persons who sailed in or chased them: but the conclusion I am led to draw from their accounts is that, with few exceptions,* those ships were very slightly built, often of unseasoned timber, and that their rapid rate of sailing only lasted so long as their frames would yield to the fluid, and were not water-sodden. Recently launched, light, and elastic, confined by few beams, knees, or riders, held together by trunnions more than by metal, and intended only to sail swiftly—for a short existence—those greyhound vessels were as different in their construction from the solid, heavy, durable ships of this day, as a light, active youth is from a well-set man trained to labour.

* The Malta (Guillaume Tell), Norge, and a few others, were splendid exceptions, but even in the construction of those ships far less iron and copper were used than is now customary in vessels of their class. By substituting so much metal in place of wood, for knees, braces, and bolts, solidity, strength, and capacity are acquired in modern ships at the expense, in most instances, of elasticity, and swift sailing.

19th September 1833

Guardia del Monte

This is a nice scattered little town, with many gardens full of peaches and quinces. — The camp here looked like that around B. Ayres. — the turf short & green (from the grazing & manuring by cattle?) with much clover, beds of thistles & Biscatcha holes. — I first noticed here two plants, which Botanists say have been introduced by the Spaniards. — Fennel which grows in the greatest abundance in all the hedge rows. — & a thistle looking plant which especially in Banda Oriental forms immense beds leagues in extent, & quite impenetrable by man or beast; it occurs in the most unfrequented places near Maldonado. — in the vallies near Rozario, in Entre Rios, &c &c. The whole country between the Uruguay & M. Video is choked up with it; yet Botanists say it is the common artichoke, run wild. — An intelligent farmer on the R. Uruguay told me that in a deserted garden he had seen the planted Artichokes degenerating into this plant. — Of course this man had never heard of the theories of Botanists. — I certainly never saw it South of R. Salado. — The true thistle, (variegated green & white like the sort called sow-thistles,) — & which chiefly abounds in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, I saw noticed in the valley of the R. Sauce.

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There is a very large fresh water Lake near the town, on the coast I found a perfect piece of the case of the Megatherium. — Whilst the postmaster sent for horses several people questioned me concerning the Army. — I never saw anything like the enthusiasm for Rosas & for the success of this "most just of all wars, because against Barbarians". — It is however natural enough, for even here neither man, woman, horse or cow was safe from the attacks of the Indians. The enthusiasm for Rosas was universal, & when some events which subsequently will be mentioned, happened, I was not at all surprised.
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To the 16th, 17th& 18th Posta. Country of one uniform appearance: rich green plain, abundance of cattle horses & sheep; here & there the solitary Estancia, with its Ombu tree. — In the evening torrents of rain, arrived after dark at the Posta; was told that if I travelled by the Post I might sleep there; if not I must pass on, for there were so many robbers about, he could trust nobody. — Upon reading my passport, & finding that I was a Naturalista, his respect & civility were as strong as his suspicions had been before. — What a Naturalista is, neither he or his countrymen had any idea; but I am not sure that my title loses any of its value from this cause.

18th September 1833

The Salado
To the 11th& 12th Posta, a long ride, through a country similar to the last stage: We passed a small tribe of Indians going from Tapalguen to the Guardia del Monte for commerce. The women rode the horses with goods, these are of hides & articles woven by hand of wool, such as cloths or yergas & garters. The patterns are very pretty & brilliantly coloured. The workmanship is so good that an English merchant in Buenos Ayres declared that the ones, which I had, were of English manufacture. He was not convinced to the contrary, untill he observed that the tassels were tied up with split sinew.

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12th to 13th to 14th Posta: we had to ride for a long distance in water above the horses knees. By crossing the stirrups & riding Arab like with the legs cocked up, we managed to keep pretty dry. As it was growing dark we crossed the Salado; at present this time it was about 40 yards wide, but very deep; in the summer it becomes nearly dry, the little water being as salt as the sea. I ought to have mentioned that the 12th Posta, about 7 leagues to the South of the Salado, was the first Estancia where we saw cattle & a white woman. Having crossed the Salado, we slept at the Posta, which was one of the great Estancias of General Rosas. It was fortified & of such extent that arriving in the dark I thought it was a Town & fortress. There were immense herds of cattle, as well there might be, the General here having 74 square leagues of land. He used to have three or four hundred Peons working here & defied all the efforts of the Indians. I was treated very hospitably, & the morning started for Guardia del Monte.

17th September 1833

Tapalguen
To the 9th Posta, followed the course of the R. Tapalguen, very fertile country. Tapalguen itself or the town of Tapalguen is a curious place. It is a perfectly flat plain, studded as far as the eye reaches with the Toldos or oven like huts of Indians. The greater part of the families of the men with Rosas live here. There are immense herds of horses & some sheep. We met & passed many young Indian women, riding by two's & three's on the same horse. These & many of the young men were strikingly handsome; their fine ruddy colour is the very picture of health. Besides the Toldos there are three Ranchos, one with a Commandante, & two others Pulperia's or shops.

We here bought some biscuit. I had now been several days without tasting anything except meat & drinking mattee. I found this new regimen agreed very well with me, but I at the same time felt hard exercise was necessary to make it do so. I have no doubt that the Gauchos living so much on meat is the cause that they, like other carnivorous animals, can go a long time without food & can withstand much exposure. I was told that some troops from Tandeel were in pursuit of some Indians, & that for three days they neither tasted water or food. What other troops would not have killed their horses?

To the 10th Posta; plain, partly swamp & partly good to the East of the R. Tapalguen.

16th September 1833

[Cottenham Fen]

Sierra Tapalken
To the 6th Posta; soil black & very soft, generally covered with long coarse herbage; laborious travelling. Rancho here very neat; the posts & rafters were made by a dozen dry stalks bound together with thongs of hide, by the aid of these Ionic looking columns the sides & roof were thatched with reeds. To the 7th Posta, country improving, like Cottenham Fen in Cambridgeshire, a great abundance of beautiful wild fowl. This posta is close to the Southern base of Sierra Tapalken; which Sierra is a low broken ridge of Quartz rock. 2 or 300 feet high, extending to the East to Cape Corrientes, but no great distance within the Interior. I was here told a fact, which, if I had not partly ocular proof, I could not credit. That in the previous night there had been a hailstorm (I saw lightning to the North) & that the pieces of ice were as large as small apples & very hard. They fell with such force as to kill almost all the small animals. These men had already found twenty deers & I saw their fresh hides; one of the party a few minutes after my arrival, brought in seven of them; now I well know that one man without dogs would hardly kill 7 in a week; They thought they had seen about 15 dead ostriches; part of one I eat, likewise saw a large partridge with great black mark on its back, where it had been struck. Many ducks & hawks were killed & ostriches were then running about, clearly evidently blind in one eye. My informer received a severe cut upon the head. This extraordinary storm extended was up but for a short distance.

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To the 8th Posta; galloped very fast over an extremely fine grass plain. Arrived at the Posta on the R. Tapalguen after it was dark. At supper I was suddenly struck with horror that I was eating one of the very favourite dishes of the country, viz a half formed calf long before its time of birth. It turned out to be the Lion or Puma; the flesh is very white & remarkably like Veal in its taste. Dr Shaw was laughed at for stating that "the flesh of the Lion (of Africa) is in great esteem, having no small affinity with veal, both in colour, taste & flavour". Yet the Puma & Lion are not, I believe, closer allied than any other two of the Cat genus. The Gouchos differ much whether the Jaguar is good eating; but all agree that the Cat is excellent.

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Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
(from 11th September) ... our doing any thing on the coast, and also hindered our reaching the Plata until the 16th, on which day we ran up to Monte Video, and anchored.

15th September 1833

Sierra de la Ventana
Rose very early in the morning; passed in the road the 4th Posta, where the men were murdered. The Lieutenant, when found, had 18 Chusa wounds in his body. Arrived in middle of the day at the 5th Posta. Here are 21 men, as it is the central & most exposed part of the line of Postas. The Rancho is built on the edge of a large lake, teeming with wild fowl, amongst which the black necked swan was conspicuous. There was some difficulty about horses so I determined to sleep here. In the evening the soldiers returned from hunting, bringing with them seven deer, 3 ostriches & 40 of their eggs, many partridges & Armadilloes. It is the constant habit of the soldiers wherever they go to fire the plain; we made several fires, which at night were seen burning with great brilliancy, they do this to improve the pasture & perhaps also to puzzle any straggling Indians. Slept in the open air, as the Rancho consisted only of an enclosure of reeds, without any roof.

14th September 1833

Sierra de la Ventana
As the men belonging to the next Posta meant to return, we should together make a party of five & all armed, I determined to start & not wait for the officer. After galloping some leagues, we came to a low swampy country which extends for nearly 80 miles to the Sierra Tapalken. In some parts there are fine damp grass plains; others black & rather peaty & very soft. Many extensive fresh water but shallow lakes, & large beds of reeds; it resembles the better part of the Cambridgeshire Fens. This Posta, being a very long one, each of us had two horses; Having passed many swamps, we found a dry spot & there passed the night.

13th September 1833

Sierra de la Ventana
We all sallied forth to hunt; we had no success. — there were however some animated chaces & good attempts to ball various animals. The plain here abounds with three sorts of partridges; two, very large, like hen-pheasants. Their destroyer, a small pretty Fox, is also singularly numerous; we could not in the course of the day have seen less [than] 40 or 50 of these animals. They were generally near their holes; but the dogs killed one. Two of our party had separated themselves from us; on our return we found they had been rather more successful, having killed a Lion & found an Ostriches nest with 16 eggs. These latter afforded us an excellent supper.

12th September 1833

Sierra de la Ventana
When at Bahia Bianca, General Rosas sent me a message to say that an officer with a party of men would in a day or two arrive there, & that they had orders to accompany me. As the Lieutenant of this Posta was a very hospitable person I determined to wait a couple of days for the soldiers. In the morning I rode to examine the neighbouring hills; we were disappointed in not being able from the haziness to see the Ventana. In coming to this Posta the day before, my guide showed what appeared to me a strong instance of the accuracy with which they know the bearings of different points. When under a hill, & many leagues distant, I asked him where the Posta was. After considering for some time, for he had nothing in front to guide him, he pointed out the direction; I marked it with a Katers Compass. Some time afterwards we were on an eminence, from whence he knew the country certainly, again showing me the direction it was the same within 3 degrees that is the 1/120th part of the horizon.

After dinner the soldiers divided themselves into two parties for a trial of skill with the balls; two spears were stuck in the ground 35 yards apart, they were struck & entangled about once in four or five throws. The balls can be thrown between 50 & 60 yards, but over 25 there is not much certainty. Our party had been increased by two men who brought a parcel from the next Posta to be forwarded to the General: there were now besides myself & guide the Lieutenant & his four soldiers. These latter were strange beings — the first a fine young Negro; the second half Indian & Negro; & the two others quite non descripts, one an old Chilian miner of the colour of mahogany, & the other partly a mulatto; but two such mongrels, with such detestable expressions I never saw before. At night, when they were sitting round the fire & playing at cards, I retired to view such a Salvator Rosa scene. They were seated under a low cliff, so that I could look down upon them; around the party were lying dogs, arms, remnants of Deer & Ostriches, & their long spears were struck in the ground; further, in the dark background, were horses tied up, ready for any sudden danger. If the stillness of the desolate plain was broken by one of the dogs barking, a soldier, leaving the fire, would place his head close to the ground & thus slowly scan the horizon. Even if the noisy Teni-tero uttered its scream, there would be a pause in the conversation, & every head, for a moment, a little inclined.

What a life of misery these men appear to us to lead! They are at least ten leagues from the Sauce Posta, & since the murder committed by the Indians, twenty from another. The Indians are supposed to have made their attack in the middle of the night; for very early in the morning, after the murder, they were luckily seen approaching this Posta. The whole party however escaped with the troop of horses, each one taking a line for himself, & driving with him as many horses as he was able. The little hovel, built of thistle stalks, in which they slept neither keeps out the wind or rain, indeed in the latter case, the only effect the roof had was to condense it into larger drops. They have nothing to eat excepting what they can catch, such as Ostriches, Deer, Armadilloes &c & their only fuel is the dry stalks of a small plant somewhat resembling an Aloe. The sole luxury, which these men enjoyed was smoking the little paper cigars & sucking Mattee. I used to think that the Carrion Vulture, the constant attendant on these dreary plains, whilst seated on some little eminence, seemed by his very patience to say, "Ah when the Indians come, we shall have a feast".

11th September 1833

Sierra de la Ventana
Proceeded on to the 3d Posta, in company with the Lieutenant who commands it. The distance is called fifteen leagues; but it is only guess-work & generally too much. The road was uninteresting over a dry grassy plain, & on our left hand at a greater or less distance were low hills, a chain of which we crossed close to the Posta. Before our arrival we met a large herd of cattle & horses, guarded by fifteen soldiers, we were told that many had been lost. It is very difficult to drive animals across these plains; if a lion or even a fox approaches the horses in the night, nothing can prevent their dispersing in every direction; and a storm will have the same effect. A short time since, an officer left Buenos Ayres with 500 horses; when he arrived at the army he had under twenty. Shortly afterwards we perceived by the cloud of dust that a party of horsemen were approaching; my companions perceived at a great distance, by the streaming hair, that they were Indians. The Indians often have a narrow fillet round their heads, but never any covering; the long black hair blowing across their faces heightens to an uncommon degree the wildness of their appearance. They turned out to be a part of Bernantio's tribe going to a Salina for salt. The Indians eat much salt, the children sucking it like sugar; it is a curious contrast with the Gauchos, who living the same life, eat scarcely any. My companions seemed to think there was not the slightest danger in meeting these gentlemen, & they know best, but I heard the Commandante of Bahia Blanca tell one of our officers, that he thought it unsafe for two or three to visit them, although they are professedly the most friendly Indians.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:

Off Starve Island we were obliged to weigh in a hurry, one night, owing to a gale coming on from the south-east, and during the 10th and 11th, we carried a press of sail, to get off the land; the wind then drew round by the south, and a succession of baffling weather ensued, which prevented our doing any thing on the coast...

10th September 1833

Sierra de la Ventana
In the morning we fairly scudded before the gale, & arrived by the middle of the day at the Sauce Posta. On the road we saw very great numbers of deer & near the mountain a Guanaco. I should think this latter animal was not to be found any further North on this side of S. America. The plain which abuts against the Sierra is traversed by curious ravines, they are not above 20 feet wide & at least 30 deep; there are very few places where they are passable. I staid the evening at the Posta, the conversation, as is universally the case, being about the Indians. The Sierra de la Ventana, was formerly, a great place of resort for the Indians; three or four years ago there was much fighting there; my guide was present when many men were killed; the women escaped to the saddle back & fought most desperately with big stones; many of them thus saved themselves.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
In these surveying trips along-shore we always anchored when we could, in order to preserve our station and connect triangles; but, of course, we were often obliged to weigh again at short notice, during the night; therefore every preparation was made for any change of wind or weather, and a careful look-out always kept upon the deep-sea lead (invariably attended throughout the night), as well as upon the sympiesometer, the sky, and the water. I mention the deep-sea lead particularly, because however shallow the water may be, mistakes are often made with the hand-lead, especially at night, when a tide or current is running, in consequence of the lead being drifted by the action of the water upon it and the line, and deceiving even a moderate leads-man; who sometimes thinks the water much deeper than it really is—sometimes the reverse; and never can tell exactly, under such circumstances, how a ship is moving over the ground, or whether she is dragging her anchors.

9th September 1833

Sierra de la Ventana
In the morning the guide told me to ascend the ridge & that I could walk along its edge to the very summit. The climbing up such very rough rocks was fatiguing; the sides are so indented that what is gained in one five minutes is often lost in the next. At last when I reached the summit of the ridge, my disappointment was great to find a precipitous valley, as deep as the plain, separating me from the four peaks. This valley is very narrow & the sides steep; it forms a fine horse pass, as the bottom is flat with turf, & connects the plains on each side of the mountain. Whilst crossing it, I saw two horses grazing. I immediately hid myself in the long grass & began with my telescope to reconnoitre them, as I could see no sign of Indians, I proceeded cautiously on my second ascent. It was late in the day, & this part of the mountain, like the other was steep & very rugged. I was on the top of the second peak by two o’clock, but got there with extreme difficulty; every twenty yards I had the cramp in the upper parts of both thighs, so that I was afraid, I should not have been able to have descended; it was also necessary to find out a new road to the horses, as it was out of the question to return over the saddle-back. I was thus obliged to give up the two higher peaks; their altitude was but little greater & every purpose of geology was answered; it was not therefore worth the hazard of any further exertion. I presume the cause of the cramp was the great change in kind of muscular action from that of hard riding to still harder climbing — it is a lesson worth remembering, as in some cases it might cause much difficulty.

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The ice which in many places coated the rocks was very refreshing & rendered superfluous the water, which I actually carried to the summit in the corner of a cape of the Indian-rubber cloth. Altogether I was much disappointed in this mountain; we had heard of caves, of forests, of beds of coal, of silver & gold &c &c, instead of all this, we have a desert mountain of pure quartz rock. I had hoped the view would at least have been imposing; it was nothing; the plain was like the ocean without its beautiful colour or defined horizon. The scene however was novel, & a little danger, like salt to meat, gave it a relish. That the danger was very little was clear, by my two companions making a good fire, a thing never done when it is suspected Indians are near. I returned by so easy a road, that if I had found it out in the morning I could have with ease reached the highest peak. I reached the horses at sun-set, & drinking much mattee & smoking several little cigaritos, made up my bed for the night. It blew furiously, but I never passed a more comfortable night.

8th September 1833

Patagones to Buenos Ayres
Having at last obtained a Vacciano & passport for government horses from General Rosas, I started for Buenos Ayres. — The distance is about 400 miles. — The weather was favourable, but remarkably hazy; I thought it the forerunner of a gale, but the Gauchos tell me it is the smoke from the camp at some great distance being on fire. — To the first Posta 4 leagues, the plain without any bushes but varied by values. — The 2d Posta is on the R Sauce, a deep, rapid little river, not above 25 feet wide. It is quite impassable here & the whole distance to the sea, & forms by this means a useful barrier against the Indians. Where the road crosses it, about a league further up, the water does not reach to the horses belly. The Jesuit Falkner, whose information, drawn from the Indians, is generally so very correct in his map, makes it a great river, sea arising in the Andes. — I think he is right, — for the soldiers say, that in the middle of summer, there are floods, at the same time with the Colorado; if so it is clear there must be a channel for the snow water, although it is probably dry during the greater part of the year.

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The valley of the Sauce, appears very fertile, it is about a mile wide, there are large tracts of a wild Turnip much resembling the European, they are good to eat but rather acrid. — I arrived here in the afternoon, & getting fresh horses & a guide started for the Sierra de la Ventana. — The distance was about 6 leagues, & the ride interesting, as the mountain began to show its true form. — I do not think Nature ever made a more solitary desolate looking mountain; it well deserves the name of Hurtado or separated. — its height, calculated by angular measurement from the ship, is between 3 & 4000 feet, — it is very steep, rough & broken. — It is so completely destitute of all trees, that we were unable to find even a stick to stretch out the meat for roasting, our fire being made of dry thistle stalks. — The strangeness of its appearance chiefly is caused by its abrupt rise from the sea-like plain, which not only comes up to the foot of the mountain, but separates the parallel ridges or chains. — The uniformity of the colouring gives gre extreme quietness to the view. — The whitish-grey of the quartz rock & the light brown colour of the withered grass of the plain is unbroken by the brighter tints of a single bush.

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When we arrived at the foot of the main chain, we had much difficulty in finding water; & were afraid we should pass the night without any; it seems that all the streamlets, after flowing a few hundred yards in the plain bury themselves; at last we found some, it was then growing dark & we bivouacced for the night. — The night was very clear & cold, the dew, which in the early part wetted the yergas of the Recado, was in the morning ice. — The water in the kettle was also a solid block. — The place where we slept could not I think have been more than 700 feet above level of the sea, so that I suppose the neighbourhead of the mountain caused this unusual degree of cold. — The highest part of the Sierra is composed of four peaks in a gradually lowering order. — The two highest of these can alone be seen from Bahia Blanca. — To this part a ridge or saddle back appears to join, — our halting place was at the foot of this.

7th September 1833

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
On the 7th of September, we finally left Blanco Bay;* but again sounded along the dangerous banks of Anegada Bay, determined to do our utmost to prevent vessels from getting ashore there in future, as many have done already, especially during the blockade of Buenos Ayres, when several prizes, which had been taken from the Brazilians, were wrecked and totally lost.

* Mr. Darwin had previously departed on his road to Buenos Ayres.

6th September 1833

Syms Covington’s Journal:
Sailed from Bahía Blanca.

5th September 1833

Patagones to Buenos Ayres
On the 5th a party of a hundred men were sent against them. These Salinas only lie a few leagues out of the road between the Colorado & Bahia Bianca. The Chasca (or express) who brought this intelligence, was a very intelligent man & gave me an account of the last battle, at which he was present.

Some Indians, taken previously, gave information of a tribe North of the Colorado. Two hundred soldiers were sent. They first discovered the Indians, by the dust of their horses, in a wild mountainous country. My informer thought they were half as high as the Sierra Ventana, therefore between 1 & 2000 feet high. The Andes were clearly in sight, so that it must have been very far in the interior.

The Indians were about 112, women & childen & men, in number. They were nearly all taken or killed, very few escaped. Only one Christian was wounded. The Indians are now so terrified that they offer no resistance in body; but each escapes as well as he can, neglecting even his wife & children. The soldiers pursue & sabre every man. Like wild animals however they fight to the last instant. One Indian nearly cut off with his teeth the thumb of a soldier, allowing his own eye to be nearly pushed out of the socket. Another who was wounded, pretended death with a knife under his cloak, ready to strike the first who approached. My informer said, that when he was pursuing an Indian, the man cried out "Companèro (friend) do not kill me," at the same time was covertly loosening the balls from round his body, meaning to whirl them round his head & so strike his adversary. "I however struck him with my sabre to ground, then got off my horse & cut his throat."

This is a dark picture; but how much more shocking is the unquestionable fact, that all the women who appear above twenty years old, are massacred in cold blood. I ventured to hint, that this appeared rather inhuman. He answered me, "Why what can be done, they breed so. " Every one here is fully convinced that this is the justest war, because it is against Barbarians. Who would believe in this age in a Christian, civilized country that such atrocities were committed? The children of the Indians are saved, to be sold or given away as a kind of slave, for as long a time as the owner can deceive them. But I believe in this respect there is little to complain of.

In the battle four men ran away together, they were pursued, one was killed, the other three were caught. They turned out to be Chascas (messengers or ambassadors) of the Indians. The Indians were on the point of holding a grand council, the feast of mares flesh was ready & the dance prepared. In the morning the Chascas were to return to the Cordilleras, where there is a great union of the Indians & from whence they were sent. They were remarkably fine young men, very fair, & above 6 feet high, all of them under 30 years old. The three surviving ones of course possessed very valuable information, to extort this they were placed in a line. The two first being questioned; answered, "No se", (I do not know), & were one after the other shot. The third also said "No se" adding, "fine, I am a man & can die". What noble patriots, not a syllable would they breathe to injure the united cause of their country! The conduct of the Cacique has been very different; his life will perhaps be spared, & he has confessed all the plans; & betrayed the point of union in the Andes. It is said there are already six or seven hundred together & that there will be in Summer time twice that number. Embassadors were to have been sent from this tribe to the Indians at the small Salinas near Bahia Bianca, whom I mentioned that this same Cacique had betrayed. The communication therefore extends from the Cordillera to the East coast. General Rosas's plan is to kill all stragglers & thus drive the rest to a common point. In the summer, with the assistance of the Chilians, they are to be attacked in a body, and this operation is to be repeated for three successive years. I imagine the summer is chosen as the time for the main attack, because the plains are then without water, & the Indians can only travel in particular directions. The escape of the Indians to the South of the Rio Negro, where in such a vast unknown country they would be safe, is prevented by a treaty with the Tehuelches to this effect, that Rosas pays them so much to slaughter every Indian who passes to the South of the river, but if they fail in doing this, they themselves shall be exterminated. The war is chiefly against the Indians near the Cordillera; for many of the tribes on this Eastern side are fighting with Rosas. The general however, like Lord Chesterfield, thinking that his friends may in a future day become his enemies, always places them in the front ranks, so that their numbers may be thinned.

If this warfare is successful, that is if all the Indians are butchered, a grand extent of country will be gained for the production of cattle: & the values of the R. Negro, Colorado, Sauce will be most productive in corn. The country will be in the hands of white Gaucho savages instead of copper-coloured Indians. The former being a little superior in civilization, as they are inferior in every moral virtue. By the above victory, a good many horses were recovered, which had been stolen from B. Blanca. Amongst the captive girls, were two very pretty Spanish ones, who had been taken by the Indians very young & now could only speak the Indian language. From their account, they must have come from Salta, a distance in a straight line of nearly one thousand miles. This gives one a grand idea of the immense territory over which the Indians can roam.

Great as it is, in another half century I think there will not be a wild Indian in the Pampas North of the Rio Negro. The warfare is too bloody to last; The Christians killing every Indian, & the Indians doing the same by the Christians.

I also heard some account of an engagement which took place, a few weeks previously to the one mentioned, at Churichoel. This is an island 70 leagues up the R. Negro & very important as being a pass for horses. A division of the army has at present its head quarters there; when they first arrived, they found a tribe of Indians & killed between twenty & thirty men. The Cacique escaped in a manner which astonished every one. The chief Indians always have one or two picked horses, which they keep ready for any urgent occasion. On one of these, an old white horse, the Cacique sprung taking with him his little son; the horse had neither saddle or bridle; to avoid the shots, the Indian rode in the peculiar method of his nation namely an arm round the horses neck & one leg only on the back; thus hanging on one side, he was seen patting the horses head & talking to him.

The pursuers urged every effort in the chase; the Commandante three times changed his horse. But it all would not do. The old Indian father with his son escaped & were free. What a fine picture can one form in ones mind;. the naked bronze like figure of the old Indian with his little boy, riding like a Mazeppa on the white horse, thus leaving far behind the host of his pursuers.
I saw one day a soldier striking fire with a piece of flint; which I immediately recognized as having been a part of the head of an arrow. He told me it was found near the island of Churichoel, & that they were frequently picked up there. It was between two & three inches long, & therefore twice as large as those used in Tierra del Fuego; it was made of opake cream-coloured flint, but the point & barbs had been intentionally broken off. It is well known that no Pampas Indians now use bows & arrows; I believe a small tribe in Banda Oriental must be excepted, but they are widely separated from the Pampas Indians & border close to those tribes which inhabit the forest & live on foot.

It appears therefore to me that these heads of arrows are antiquarian relics of the Indians before the great changes in habit consequent on the introduction of horses into South America. This & the invention of catching animals with the balls would certainly render the use of arrows in an open country quite superfluous.

In N: America bones of horses have been found in close proximity to those of the Mastodon; and I at St Fe Bajada found a horses tooth in the same bank with parts of a Megatherium; if it had not been a horses tooth, I never should have for an instant doubted its being coeval with the Megatherium. Yet the change of habits, proved by the frequency of the arrow heads, convinces me that the horse was not an original inhabitant.

4th to 7th September 1833

These four days were lost in miserable ennui. A man, whom I had engaged to be my Vacciano, disappointed me & ultimately at some risk & much trouble I hired another. My only amusement was reading a Spanish edition published at Barcelona of the trial of Queen Caroline! Moreover I heard many curious anecdotes respecting the Indians. The whole place was under great excitement, there were continual reports of victories &c. A prisoner Cacique had given information of some Indians at the small Salinas.

3rd September 1833

Patagones to Buenos Ayres
Harris & Mr Rowlett went to the Creek, from thence in the Yawl on board, in the road they would pick up my servant & the bones.

2nd September 1833

Patagones to Buenos Ayres
Nothing to be done.

1st September 1833

Patagones to Buenos Ayres
Returned in the evening. During the last week the weather has been very hot & dry; in consequence of this all the pools & shallow lakes, which before contained saline water, now presented a level plain of salt-petre, as white as snow. This resemblance was the more complete from the edges of the pools appearing like drift heaps.

31st August 1833

Patagones to Buenos Ayres
My guide or Vacciano not having come, I rode to Punta Alta, in order to superintend the excavation of the bones. It is a quiet retired spot & the weather beautiful; the very quietness is almost sublime, even in the midst of mud banks & gulls, sand hillocks & solitary vultures.

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Syms Covington’s Journal:
August 31st, left the ship for Johnsons Point, distant about eight miles, collecting los huevos del Megatherium, etc. Lived in a tent.