BUENOS AYRES AND ST. FE
Excursion to St. Fe--Thistle Beds--Habits of the Bizcacha--Little
Owl--Saline Streams--Level Plain--Mastodon--St. Fe--Change in
Landscape--Geology--Tooth of extinct Horse--Relation of the Fossil and
recent Quadrupeds of North and South America--Effects of a great
Drought--Parana--Habits of the Jaguar--Scissor-beak--Kingfisher,
Parrot, and Scissor-tail--Revolution--Buenos Ayres State of Government.
SEPTEMBER 27th.--In the evening I set out on an excursion to St. Fe,
which is situated nearly three hundred English miles from Buenos Ayres,
on the banks of the Parana. The roads in the neighbourhood of the city
after the rainy weather, were extraordinarily bad. I should never have
thought it possible for a bullock waggon to have crawled along: as it
was, they scarcely went at the rate of a mile an hour, and a man was
kept ahead, to survey the best line for making the attempt. The
bullocks were terribly jaded: it is a great mistake to suppose that
with improved roads, and an accelerated rate of travelling, the
sufferings of the animals increase in the same proportion. We passed a
train of waggons and a troop of beasts on their road to Mendoza. The
distance is about 580 geographical miles, and the journey is generally
performed in fifty days. These waggons are very long, narrow, and
thatched with reeds; they have only two wheels, the diameter of which
in some cases is as much as ten feet. Each is drawn by six bullocks,
which are urged on by a goad at least twenty feet long: this is
suspended from within the roof; for the wheel bullocks a smaller one is
kept; and for the intermediate pair, a point projects at right angles
from the middle of the long one.
The whole apparatus looked like some implement of war.
September 28th.--We passed the small town of Luxan where there is a
wooden bridge over the river--a most unusual convenience in this
country. We passed also Areco. The plains appeared level, but were not
so in fact; for in various places the horizon was distant. The
estancias are here wide apart; for there is little good pasture, owing
to the land being covered by beds either of an acrid clover, or of the
great thistle. The latter, well known from the animated description
given by Sir F. Head, were at this time of the year two-thirds grown;
in some parts they were as high as the horse's back, but in others they
had not yet sprung up, and the ground was bare and dusty as on a
turnpike-road. The clumps were of the most brilliant green, and they
made a pleasing miniature-likeness of broken forest land. When the
thistles are full grown, the great beds are impenetrable, except by a
few tracts, as intricate as those in a labyrinth. These are only known
to the robbers, who at this season inhabit them, and sally forth at
night to rob and cut throats with impunity. Upon asking at a house
whether robbers were numerous, I was answered, "The thistles are not up
yet;"--the meaning of which reply was not at first very obvious. There
is little interest in passing over these tracts, for they are inhabited
by few animals or birds, excepting the bizcacha and its friend the
little owl.
The bizcacha [1] is well known to form a prominent feature in the
zoology of the Pampas. It is found as far south as the Rio Negro, in
lat. 41 degs., but not beyond. It cannot, like the agouti, subsist on
the gravelly and desert plains of Patagonia, but prefers a clayey or
sandy soil, which produces a different and more abundant vegetation.
Near Mendoza, at the foot of the Cordillera, it occurs in close
neighbourhood with the allied alpine species. It is a very curious
circumstance in its geographical distribution, that it has never been
seen, fortunately for the inhabitants of Banda Oriental, to the
eastward of the river Uruguay: yet in this province there are plains
which appear admirably adapted to its habits. The Uruguay has formed an
insuperable obstacle to its migration: although the broader barrier of
the Parana has been passed, and the bizcacha is common in Entre Rios,
the province between these two great rivers. Near Buenos Ayres these
animals are exceedingly common. Their most favourite resort appears to
be those parts of the plain which during one-half of the year are
covered with giant thistles, to the exclusion of other plants. The
Gauchos affirm that it lives on roots; which, from the great strength
of its gnawing teeth, and the kind of places frequented by it, seems
probable. In the evening the bizcachas come out in numbers, and quietly
sit at the mouths of their burrows on their haunches. At such times
they are very tame, and a man on horseback passing by seems only to
present an object for their grave contemplation. They run very
awkwardly, and when running out of danger, from their elevated tails
and short front legs much resemble great rats. Their flesh, when
cooked, is very white and good, but it is seldom used.
The bizcacha has one very singular habit; namely, dragging every hard
object to the mouth of its burrow: around each group of holes many
bones of cattle, stones, thistle-stalks, hard lumps of earth, dry dung,
etc., are collected into an irregular heap, which frequently amounts to
as much as a wheelbarrow would contain. I was credibly informed that a
gentleman, when riding on a dark night, dropped his watch; he returned
in the morning, and by searching the neighbourhood of every bizcacha
hole on the line of road, as he expected, he soon found it. This habit
of picking up whatever may be lying on the ground anywhere near its
habitation, must cost much trouble. For what purpose it is done, I am
quite unable to form even the most remote conjecture: it cannot be for
defence, because the rubbish is chiefly placed above the mouth of the
burrow, which enters the ground at a very small inclination. No doubt
there must exist some good reason; but the inhabitants of the country
are quite ignorant of it. The only fact which I know analogous to it,
is the habit of that extraordinary Australian bird, the Calodera
maculata, which makes an elegant vaulted passage of twigs for playing
in, and which collects near the spot, land and sea-shells, bones and
the feathers of birds, especially brightly coloured ones. Mr. Gould,
who has described these facts, informs me, that the natives, when they
lose any hard object, search the playing passages, and he has known a
tobacco-pipe thus recovered.
The little owl (Athene cunicularia), which has been so often mentioned,
on the plains of Buenos Ayres exclusively inhabits the holes of the
bizcacha; but in Banda Oriental it is its own workman. During the open
day, but more especially in the evening, these birds may be seen in
every direction standing frequently by pairs on the hillock near their
burrows. If disturbed they either enter the hole, or, uttering a
shrill harsh cry, move with a remarkably undulatory flight to a short
distance, and then turning round, steadily gaze at their pursuer.
Occasionally in the evening they may be heard hooting. I found in the
stomachs of two which I opened the remains of mice, and I one day saw a
small snake killed and carried away. It is said that snakes are their
common prey during the daytime. I may here mention, as showing on what
various kinds of food owls subsist, that a species killed among the
islets of the Chonos Archipelago, had its stomach full of good-sized
crabs. In India [2] there is a fishing genus of owls, which likewise
catches crabs.
In the evening we crossed the Rio Arrecife on a simple raft made of
barrels lashed together, and slept at the post-house on the other side.
I this day paid horse-hire for thirty-one leagues; and although the sun
was glaring hot I was but little fatigued. When Captain Head talks of
riding fifty leagues a day, I do not imagine the distance is equal to
150 English miles. At all events, the thirty-one leagues was only 76
miles in a straight line, and in an open country I should think four
additional miles for turnings would be a sufficient allowance.
29th and 30th.--We continued to ride over plains of the same character.
At San Nicolas I first saw the noble river of the Parana. At the foot
of the cliff on which the town stands, some large vessels were at
anchor. Before arriving at Rozario, we crossed the Saladillo, a stream
of fine clear running water, but too saline to drink. Rozario is a
large town built on a dead level plain, which forms a cliff about sixty
feet high over the Parana. The river here is very broad, with many
islands, which are low and wooded, as is also the opposite shore. The
view would resemble that of a great lake, if it were not for the
linear-shaped islets, which alone give the idea of running water. The
cliffs are the most picturesque part; sometimes they are absolutely
perpendicular, and of a red colour; at other times in large broken
masses, covered with cacti and mimosa-trees. The real grandeur,
however, of an immense river like this, is derived from reflecting how
important a means of communication and commerce it forms between one
nation and another; to what a distance it travels, and from how vast a
territory it drains the great body of fresh water which flows past your
feet.
For many leagues north and south of San Nicolas and Rozario, the
country is really level. Scarcely anything which travellers have
written about its extreme flatness, can be considered as exaggeration.
Yet I could never find a spot where, by slowly turning round, objects
were not seen at greater distances in some directions than in others;
and this manifestly proves inequality in the plain. At sea, a person's
eye being six feet above the surface of the water, his horizon is two
miles and four-fifths distant. In like manner, the more level the
plain, the more nearly does the horizon approach within these narrow
limits; and this, in my opinion, entirely destroys that grandeur which
one would have imagined that a vast level plain would have possessed.
October 1st.--We started by moonlight and arrived at the Rio Tercero by
sunrise. The river is also called the Saladillo, and it deserves the
name, for the water is brackish. I stayed here the greater part of the
day, searching for fossil bones. Besides a perfect tooth of the
Toxodon, and many scattered bones, I found two immense skeletons near
each other, projecting in bold relief from the perpendicular cliff of
the Parana. They were, however, so completely decayed, that I could
only bring away small fragments of one of the great molar teeth; but
these are sufficient to show that the remains belonged to a Mastodon,
probably to the same species with that, which formerly must have
inhabited the Cordillera in Upper Peru in such great numbers. The men
who took me in the canoe, said they had long known of these skeletons,
and had often wondered how they had got there: the necessity of a
theory being felt, they came to the conclusion that, like the bizcacha,
the mastodon was formerly a burrowing animal! In the evening we rode
another stage, and crossed the Monge, another brackish stream, bearing
the dregs of the washings of the Pampas.
October 2nd.--We passed through Corunda, which, from the luxuriance of
its gardens, was one of the prettiest villages I saw. From this point
to St. Fe the road is not very safe. The western side of the Parana
northward, ceases to be inhabited; and hence the Indians sometimes come
down thus far, and waylay travellers. The nature of the country also
favours this, for instead of a grassy plain, there is an open woodland,
composed of low prickly mimosas. We passed some houses that had been
ransacked and since deserted; we saw also a spectacle, which my guides
viewed with high satisfaction; it was the skeleton of an Indian with
the dried skin hanging on the bones, suspended to the branch of a tree.
In the morning we arrived at St. Fe. I was surprised to observe how
great a change of climate a difference of only three degrees of
latitude between this place and Buenos Ayres had caused. This was
evident from the dress and complexion of the men--from the increased
size of the ombu-trees--the number of new cacti and other plants--and
especially from the birds. In the course of an hour I remarked
half-a-dozen birds, which I had never seen at Buenos Ayres. Considering
that there is no natural boundary between the two places, and that the
character of the country is nearly similar, the difference was much
greater than I should have expected.
October 3rd and 4th.--I was confined for these two days to my bed by a
headache. A good-natured old woman, who attended me, wished me to try
many odd remedies. A common practice is, to bind an orange-leaf or a
bit of black plaster to each temple: and a still more general plan is,
to split a bean into halves, moisten them, and place one on each
temple, where they will easily adhere. It is not thought proper ever
to remove the beans or plaster, but to allow them to drop off, and
sometimes, if a man, with patches on his head, is asked, what is the
matter? he will answer, "I had a headache the day before yesterday."
Many of the remedies used by the people of the country are ludicrously
strange, but too disgusting to be mentioned. One of the least nasty is
to kill and cut open two puppies and bind them on each side of a broken
limb. Little hairless dogs are in great request to sleep at the feet
of invalids.
St. Fe is a quiet little town, and is kept clean and in good order. The
governor, Lopez, was a common soldier at the time of the revolution;
but has now been seventeen years in power. This stability of
government is owing to his tyrannical habits; for tyranny seems as yet
better adapted to these countries than republicanism. The governor's
favourite occupation is hunting Indians: a short time since he
slaughtered forty-eight, and sold the children at the rate of three or
four pounds apiece.
October 5th.--We crossed the Parana to St. Fe Bajada, a town on the
opposite shore. The passage took some hours, as the river here
consisted of a labyrinth of small streams, separated by low wooded
islands. I had a letter of introduction to an old Catalonian Spaniard,
who treated me with the most uncommon hospitality. The Bajada is the
capital of Entre Rios. In 1825 the town contained 6000 inhabitants,
and the province 30,000; yet, few as the inhabitants are, no province
has suffered more from bloody and desperate revolutions. They boast
here of representatives, ministers, a standing army, and governors: so
it is no wonder that they have their revolutions. At some future day
this must be one of the richest countries of La Plata. The soil is
varied and productive; and its almost insular form gives it two grand
lines of communication by the rivers Parana and Uruguay.
I was delayed here five days, and employed myself in examining the
geology of the surrounding country, which was very interesting. We
here see at the bottom of the cliffs, beds containing sharks' teeth and
sea-shells of extinct species, passing above into an indurated marl,
and from that into the red clayey earth of the Pampas, with its
calcareous concretions and the bones of terrestrial quadrupeds. This
vertical section clearly tells us of a large bay of pure salt-water,
gradually encroached on, and at last converted into the bed of a muddy
estuary, into which floating carcasses were swept. At Punta Gorda, in
Banda Oriental, I found an alternation of the Pampaean estuary deposit,
with a limestone containing some of the same extinct sea-shells; and
this shows either a change in the former currents, or more probably an
oscillation of level in the bottom of the ancient estuary. Until
lately, my reasons for considering the Pampaean formation to be an
estuary deposit were, its general appearance, its position at the mouth
of the existing great river the Plata, and the presence of so many
bones of terrestrial quadrupeds: but now Professor Ehrenberg has had
the kindness to examine for me a little of the red earth, taken from
low down in the deposit, close to the skeletons of the mastodon, and he
finds in it many infusoria, partly salt-water and partly fresh-water
forms, with the latter rather preponderating; and therefore, as he
remarks, the water must have been brackish. M. A. d'Orbigny found on
the banks of the Parana, at the height of a hundred feet, great beds of
an estuary shell, now living a hundred miles lower down nearer the sea;
and I found similar shells at a less height on the banks of the
Uruguay; this shows that just before the Pampas was slowly elevated
into dry land, the water covering it was brackish. Below Buenos Ayres
there are upraised beds of sea-shells of existing species, which also
proves that the period of elevation of the Pampas was within the recent
period.
In the Pampaean deposit at the Bajada I found the osseous armour of a
gigantic armadillo-like animal, the inside of which, when the earth was
removed, was like a great cauldron; I found also teeth of the Toxodon
and Mastodon, and one tooth of a Horse, in the same stained and decayed
state. This latter tooth greatly interested me, [3] and I took
scrupulous care in ascertaining that it had been embedded
contemporaneously with the other remains; for I was not then aware that
amongst the fossils from Bahia Blanca there was a horse's tooth hidden
in the matrix: nor was it then known with certainty that the remains of
horses are common in North America. Mr. Lyell has lately brought from
the United States a tooth of a horse; and it is an interesting fact,
that Professor Owen could find in no species, either fossil or recent,
a slight but peculiar curvature characterizing it, until he thought of
comparing it with my specimen found here: he has named this American
horse Equus curvidens. Certainly it is a marvellous fact in the
history of the Mammalia, that in South America a native horse should
have lived and disappeared, to be succeeded in after-ages by the
countless herds descended from the few introduced with the Spanish
colonists!
The existence in South America of a fossil horse, of the mastodon,
possibly of an elephant, [4] and of a hollow-horned ruminant,
discovered by MM. Lund and Clausen in the caves of Brazil, are highly
interesting facts with respect to the geographical distribution of
animals. At the present time, if we divide America, not by the Isthmus
of Panama, but by the southern part of Mexico [5] in lat. 20 degs.,
where the great table-land presents an obstacle to the migration of
species, by affecting the climate, and by forming, with the exception
of some valleys and of a fringe of low land on the coast, a broad
barrier; we shall then have the two zoological provinces of North and
South America strongly contrasted with each other. Some few species
alone have passed the barrier, and may be considered as wanderers from
the south, such as the puma, opossum, kinkajou, and peccari. South
America is characterized by possessing many peculiar gnawers, a family
of monkeys, the llama, peccari, tapir, opossums, and, especially,
several genera of Edentata, the order which includes the sloths,
ant-eaters, and armadilloes. North America, on the other hand, is
characterized (putting on one side a few wandering species) by numerous
peculiar gnawers, and by four genera (the ox, sheep, goat, and
antelope) of hollow-horned ruminants, of which great division South
America is not known to possess a single species. Formerly, but within
the period when most of the now existing shells were living, North
America possessed, besides hollow-horned ruminants, the elephant,
mastodon, horse, and three genera of Edentata, namely, the Megatherium,
Megalonyx, and Mylodon. Within nearly this same period (as proved by
the shells at Bahia Blanca) South America possessed, as we have just
seen, a mastodon, horse, hollow-horned ruminant, and the same three
genera (as well as several others) of the Edentata. Hence it is
evident that North and South America, in having within a late
geological period these several genera in common, were much more
closely related in the character of their terrestrial inhabitants than
they now are. The more I reflect on this case, the more interesting it
appears: I know of no other instance where we can almost mark the
period and manner of the splitting up of one great region into two
well-characterized zoological provinces. The geologist, who is fully
impressed with the vast oscillations of level which have affected the
earth's crust within late periods, will not fear to speculate on the
recent elevation of the Mexican platform, or, more probably, on the
recent submergence of land in the West Indian Archipelago, as the cause
of the present zoological separation of North and South America. The
South American character of the West Indian mammals [6] seems to
indicate that this archipelago was formerly united to the southern
continent, and that it has subsequently been an area of subsidence.
When America, and especially North America, possessed its elephants,
mastodons, horse, and hollow-horned ruminants, it was much more closely
related in its zoological characters to the temperate parts of Europe
and Asia than it now is. As the remains of these genera are found on
both sides of Behring's Straits [7] and on the plains of Siberia, we
are led to look to the north-western side of North America as the
former point of communication between the Old and so-called New World.
And as so many species, both living and extinct, of these same genera
inhabit and have inhabited the Old World, it seems most probable that
the North American elephants, mastodons, horse, and hollow-horned
ruminants migrated, on land since submerged near Behring's Straits,
from Siberia into North America, and thence, on land since submerged in
the West Indies, into South America, where for a time they mingled with
the forms characteristic of that southern continent, and have since
become extinct.
While travelling through the country, I received several vivid
descriptions of the effects of a late great drought; and the account of
this may throw some light on the cases where vast numbers of animals of
all kinds have been embedded together. The period included between the
years 1827 and 1830 is called the "gran seco," or the great drought.
During this time so little rain fell, that the vegetation, even to the
thistles, failed; the brooks were dried up, and the whole country
assumed the appearance of a dusty high road. This was especially the
case in the northern part of the province of Buenos Ayres and the
southern part of St. Fe. Very great numbers of birds, wild animals,
cattle, and horses perished from the want of food and water. A man
told me that the deer [8] used to come into his courtyard to the well,
which he had been obliged to dig to supply his own family with water;
and that the partridges had hardly strength to fly away when pursued.
The lowest estimation of the loss of cattle in the province of Buenos
Ayres alone, was taken at one million head. A proprietor at San Pedro
had previously to these years 20,000 cattle; at the end not one
remained. San Pedro is situated in the middle of the finest country;
and even now abounds again with animals; yet during the latter part of
the "gran seco," live cattle were brought in vessels for the
consumption of the inhabitants. The animals roamed from their
estancias, and, wandering far southward, were mingled together in such
multitudes, that a government commission was sent from Buenos Ayres to
settle the disputes of the owners. Sir Woodbine Parish informed me of
another and very curious source of dispute; the ground being so long
dry, such quantities of dust were blown about, that in this open
country the landmarks became obliterated, and people could not tell the
limits of their estates.
I was informed by an eye-witness that the cattle in herds of thousands
rushed into the Parana, and being exhausted by hunger they were unable
to crawl up the muddy banks, and thus were drowned. The arm of the
river which runs by San Pedro was so full of putrid carcasses, that the
master of a vessel told me that the smell rendered it quite impassable.
Without doubt several hundred thousand animals thus perished in the
river: their bodies when putrid were seen floating down the stream; and
many in all probability were deposited in the estuary of the Plata. All
the small rivers became highly saline, and this caused the death of
vast numbers in particular spots; for when an animal drinks of such
water it does not recover. Azara describes [9] the fury of the wild
horses on a similar occasion, rushing into the marshes, those which
arrived first being overwhelmed and crushed by those which followed. He
adds that more than once he has seen the carcasses of upwards of a
thousand wild horses thus destroyed. I noticed that the smaller
streams in the Pampas were paved with a breccia of bones but this
probably is the effect of a gradual increase, rather than of the
destruction at any one period. Subsequently to the drought of 1827 to
1832, a very rainy season followed which caused great floods. Hence it
is almost certain that some thousands of the skeletons were buried by
the deposits of the very next year. What would be the opinion of a
geologist, viewing such an enormous collection of bones, of all kinds
of animals and of all ages, thus embedded in one thick earthy mass?
Would he not attribute it to a flood having swept over the surface of
the land, rather than to the common order of things? [10]
October 12th.--I had intended to push my excursion further, but not
being quite well, I was compelled to return by a balandra, or
one-masted vessel of about a hundred tons' burden, which was bound to
Buenos Ayres. As the weather was not fair, we moored early in the day
to a branch of a tree on one of the islands. The Parana is full of
islands, which undergo a constant round of decay and renovation. In the
memory of the master several large ones had disappeared, and others
again had been formed and protected by vegetation. They are composed
of muddy sand, without even the smallest pebble, and were then about
four feet above the level of the river; but during the periodical
floods they are inundated. They all present one character; numerous
willows and a few other trees are bound together by a great variety of
creeping plants, thus forming a thick jungle. These thickets afford a
retreat for capybaras and jaguars. The fear of the latter animal quite
destroyed all pleasure in scrambling through the woods. This evening I
had not proceeded a hundred yards, before finding indubitable signs of
the recent presence of the tiger, I was obliged to come back. On every
island there were tracks; and as on the former excursion "el rastro de
los Indios" had been the subject of conversation, so in this was "el
rastro del tigre." The wooded banks of the great rivers appear to be
the favourite haunts of the jaguar; but south of the Plata, I was told
that they frequented the reeds bordering lakes: wherever they are, they
seem to require water. Their common prey is the capybara, so that it
is generally said, where capybaras are numerous there is little danger
from the jaguar. Falconer states that near the southern side of the
mouth of the Plata there are many jaguars, and that they chiefly live
on fish; this account I have heard repeated. On the Parana they have
killed many wood-cutters, and have even entered vessels at night. There
is a man now living in the Bajada, who, coming up from below when it
was dark, was seized on the deck; he escaped, however, with the loss of
the use of one arm. When the floods drive these animals from the
islands, they are most dangerous. I was told that a few years since a
very large one found its way into a church at St. Fe: two padres
entering one after the other were killed, and a third, who came to see
what was the matter, escaped with difficulty. The beast was destroyed
by being shot from a corner of the building which was unroofed. They
commit also at these times great ravages among cattle and horses. It
is said that they kill their prey by breaking their necks. If driven
from the carcass, they seldom return to it. The Gauchos say that the
jaguar, when wandering about at night, is much tormented by the foxes
yelping as they follow him. This is a curious coincidence with the
fact which is generally affirmed of the jackals accompanying, in a
similarly officious manner, the East Indian tiger. The jaguar is a
noisy animal, roaring much by night, and especially before bad weather.
One day, when hunting on the banks of the Uruguay, I was shown certain
trees, to which these animals constantly recur for the purpose, as it
is said, of sharpening their claws. I saw three well-known trees; in
front, the bark was worn smooth, as if by the breast of the animal, and
on each side there were deep scratches, or rather grooves, extending in
an oblique line, nearly a yard in length. The scars were of different
ages. A common method of ascertaining whether a jaguar is in the
neighbourhood is to examine these trees. I imagine this habit of the
jaguar is exactly similar to one which may any day be seen in the
common cat, as with outstretched legs and exserted claws it scrapes the
leg of a chair; and I have heard of young fruit-trees in an orchard in
England having been thus much injured. Some such habit must also be
common to the puma, for on the bare hard soil of Patagonia I have
frequently seen scores so deep that no other animal could have made
them. The object of this practice is, I believe, to tear off the
ragged points of their claws, and not, as the Gauchos think, to sharpen
them. The jaguar is killed, without much difficulty, by the aid of
dogs baying and driving him up a tree, where he is despatched with
bullets.
Owing to bad weather we remained two days at our moorings. Our only
amusement was catching fish for our dinner: there were several kinds,
and all good eating. A fish called the "armado" (a Silurus) is
remarkable from a harsh grating noise which it makes when caught by
hook and line, and which can be distinctly heard when the fish is
beneath the water. This same fish has the power of firmly catching
hold of any object, such as the blade of an oar or the fishing-line,
with the strong spine both of its pectoral and dorsal fin. In the
evening the weather was quite tropical, the thermometer standing at 79
degs. Numbers of fireflies were hovering about, and the musquitoes
were very troublesome. I exposed my hand for five minutes, and it was
soon black with them; I do not suppose there could have been less than
fifty, all busy sucking.
October 15th.--We got under way and passed Punta Gorda, where there is
a colony of tame Indians from the province of Missiones. We sailed
rapidly down the current, but before sunset, from a silly fear of bad
weather, we brought-to in a narrow arm of the river. I took the boat
and rowed some distance up this creek. It was very narrow, winding,
and deep; on each side a wall thirty or forty feet high, formed by
trees intwined with creepers, gave to the canal a singularly gloomy
appearance. I here saw a very extraordinary bird, called the
Scissor-beak (Rhynchops nigra). It has short legs, web feet, extremely
long-pointed wings, and is of about the size of a tern. The beak is
flattened laterally, that is, in a plane at right angles to that of a
spoonbill or duck. It is as flat and elastic as an ivory paper-cutter,
and the lower mandible, differing from every other bird, is an inch and
a half longer than the upper. In a lake near Maldonado, from which the
water had been nearly drained, and which, in consequence, swarmed with
small fry, I saw several of these birds, generally in small flocks,
flying rapidly backwards and forwards close to the surface of the lake.
They kept their bills wide open, and the lower mandible half buried in
the water. Thus skimming the surface, they ploughed it in their
course: the water was quite smooth, and it formed a most curious
spectacle to behold a flock, each bird leaving its narrow wake on the
mirror-like surface. In their flight they frequently twist about with
extreme quickness, and dexterously manage with their projecting lower
mandible to plough up small fish, which are secured by the upper and
shorter half of their scissor-like
[picture]
bills. This fact I repeatedly saw, as, like swallows, they continued
to fly backwards and forwards close before me. Occasionally when
leaving the surface of the water their flight was wild, irregular, and
rapid; they then uttered loud harsh cries. When these birds are
fishing, the advantage of the long primary feathers of their wings, in
keeping them dry, is very evident. When thus employed, their forms
resemble the symbol by which many artists represent marine birds. Their
tails are much used in steering their irregular course.
These birds are common far inland along the course of the Rio Parana;
it is said that they remain here during the whole year, and breed in
the marshes. During the day they rest in flocks on the grassy plains
at some distance from the water. Being at anchor, as I have said, in
one of the deep creeks between the islands of the Parana, as the
evening drew to a close, one of these scissor-beaks suddenly appeared.
The water was quite still, and many little fish were rising. The bird
continued for a long time to skim the surface, flying in its wild and
irregular manner up and down the narrow canal, now dark with the
growing night and the shadows of the overhanging trees. At Monte
Video, I observed that some large flocks during the day remained on the
mud-banks at the head of the harbour, in the same manner as on the
grassy plains near the Parana; and every evening they took flight
seaward. From these facts I suspect that the Rhynchops generally
fishes by night, at which time many of the lower animals come most
abundantly to the surface. M. Lesson states that he has seen these
birds opening the shells of the mactrae buried in the sand-banks on the
coast of Chile: from their weak bills, with the lower mandible so much
projecting, their short legs and long wings, it is very improbable that
this can be a general habit.
In our course down the Parana, I observed only three other birds, whose
habits are worth mentioning. One is a small kingfisher (Ceryle
Americana); it has a longer tail than the European species, and hence
does not sit in so stiff and upright a position. Its flight also,
instead of being direct and rapid, like the course of an arrow, is weak
and undulatory, as among the soft-billed birds. It utters a low note,
like the clicking together of two small stones. A small green parrot
(Conurus murinus), with a grey breast, appears to prefer the tall trees
on the islands to any other situation for its building-place. A number
of nests are placed so close together as to form one great mass of
sticks. These parrots always live in flocks, and commit great ravages
on the corn-fields. I was told, that near Colonia 2500 were killed in
the course of one year. A bird with a forked tail, terminated by two
long feathers (Tyrannus savana), and named by the Spaniards
scissor-tail, is very common near Buenos Ayres: it commonly sits on a
branch of the _ombu_ tree, near a house, and thence takes a short
flight in pursuit of insects, and returns to the same spot. When on
the wing it presents in its manner of flight and general appearance a
caricature-likeness of the common swallow. It has the power of turning
very shortly in the air, and in so doing opens and shuts its tail,
sometimes in a horizontal or lateral and sometimes in a vertical
direction, just like a pair of scissors.
October 16th.--Some leagues below Rozario, the western shore of the
Parana is bounded by perpendicular cliffs, which extend in a long line
to below San Nicolas; hence it more resembles a sea-coast than that of
a fresh-water river. It is a great drawback to the scenery of the
Parana, that, from the soft nature of its banks, the water is very
muddy. The Uruguay, flowing through a granitic country, is much
clearer; and where the two channels unite at the head of the Plata, the
waters may for a long distance be distinguished by their black and red
colours. In the evening, the wind being not quite fair, as usual we
immediately moored, and the next day, as it blew rather freshly, though
with a favouring current, the master was much too indolent to think of
starting. At Bajada, he was described to me as "hombre muy aflicto"--a
man always miserable to get on; but certainly he bore all delays with
admirable resignation. He was an old Spaniard, and had been many years
in this country. He professed a great liking to the English, but
stoutly maintained that the battle of Trafalgar was merely won by the
Spanish captains having been all bought over; and that the only really
gallant action on either side was performed by the Spanish admiral. It
struck me as rather characteristic, that this man should prefer his
countrymen being thought the worst of traitors, rather than unskilful
or cowardly.
18th and 19th.--We continued slowly to sail down the noble stream: the
current helped us but little. We met, during our descent, very few
vessels. One of the best gifts of nature, in so grand a channel of
communication, seems here wilfully thrown away--a river in which ships
might navigate from a temperate country, as surprisingly abundant in
certain productions as destitute of others, to another possessing a
tropical climate, and a soil which, according to the best of judges, M.
Bonpland, is perhaps unequalled in fertility in any part of the world.
How different would have been the aspect of this river if English
colonists had by good fortune first sailed up the Plata! What noble
towns would now have occupied its shores! Till the death of Francia,
the Dictator of Paraguay, these two countries must remain distinct, as
if placed on opposite sides of the globe. And when the old
bloody-minded tyrant is gone to his long account, Paraguay will be torn
by revolutions, violent in proportion to the previous unnatural calm.
That country will have to learn, like every other South American state,
that a republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men
imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
October 20th.--Being arrived at the mouth of the Parana, and as I was
very anxious to reach Buenos Ayres, I went on shore at Las Conchas,
with the intention of riding there. Upon landing, I found to my great
surprise that I was to a certain degree a prisoner. A violent
revolution having broken out, all the ports were laid under an embargo.
I could not return to my vessel, and as for going by land to the city,
it was out of the question. After a long conversation with the
commandant, I obtained permission to go the next day to General Rolor,
who commanded a division of the rebels on this side the capital. In
the morning I rode to the encampment. The general, officers, and
soldiers, all appeared, and I believe really were, great villains. The
general, the very evening before he left the city, voluntarily went to
the Governor, and with his hand to his heart, pledged his word of
honour that he at least would remain faithful to the last. The general
told me that the city was in a state of close blockade, and that all he
could do was to give me a passport to the commander-in-chief of the
rebels at Quilmes. We had therefore to take a great sweep round the
city, and it was with much difficulty that we procured horses. My
reception at the encampment was quite civil, but I was told it was
impossible that I could be allowed to enter the city. I was very
anxious about this, as I anticipated the Beagle's departure from the
Rio Plata earlier than it took place. Having mentioned, however,
General Rosas's obliging kindness to me when at the Colorado, magic
itself could not have altered circumstances quicker than did this
conversation. I was instantly told that though they could not give me
a passport, if I chose to leave my guide and horses, I might pass their
sentinels. I was too glad to accept of this, and an officer was sent
with me to give directions that I should not be stopped at the bridge.
The road for the space of a league was quite deserted. I met one party
of soldiers, who were satisfied by gravely looking at an old passport:
and at length I was not a little pleased to find myself within the city.
This revolution was supported by scarcely any pretext of grievances:
but in a state which, in the course of nine months (from February to
October, 1820), underwent fifteen changes in its government--each
governor, according to the constitution, being elected for three
years--it would be very unreasonable to ask for pretexts. In this
case, a party of men--who, being attached to Rosas, were disgusted with
the governor Balcarce--to the number of seventy left the city, and with
the cry of Rosas the whole country took arms. The city was then
blockaded, no provisions, cattle or horses, were allowed to enter;
besides this, there was only a little skirmishing, and a few men daily
killed. The outside party well knew that by stopping the supply of
meat they would certainly be victorious. General Rosas could not have
known of this rising; but it appears to be quite consonant with the
plans of his party. A year ago he was elected governor, but he refused
it, unless the Sala would also confer on him extraordinary powers. This
was refused, and since then his party have shown that no other governor
can keep his place. The warfare on both sides was avowedly protracted
till it was possible to hear from Rosas. A note arrived a few days
after I left Buenos Ayres, which stated that the General disapproved of
peace having been broken, but that he thought the outside party had
justice on their side. On the bare reception of this, the Governor,
ministers, and part of the military, to the number of some hundreds,
fled from the city. The rebels entered, elected a new governor, and
were paid for their services to the number of 5500 men. From these
proceedings, it was clear that Rosas ultimately would become the
dictator: to the term king, the people in this, as in other republics,
have a particular dislike. Since leaving South America, we have heard
that Rosas has been elected, with powers and for a time altogether
opposed to the constitutional principles of the republic.
[1] The bizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus) somewhat resembles a large
rabbit, but with bigger gnawing teeth and a long tail; it has, however,
only three toes behind, like the agouti. During the last three or four
years the skins of these animals have been sent to England for the sake
of the fur.
[2] Journal of Asiatic Soc., vol. v. p. 363.
[3] I need hardly state here that there is good evidence against any
horse living in America at the time of Columbus.
[4] Cuvier. Ossemens Fossils, tom. i. p. 158.
[5] This is the geographical division followed by Lichtenstein,
Swainson, Erichson, and Richardson. The section from Vera Cruz to
Acapulco, given by Humboldt in the Polit. Essay on Kingdom of N. Spain
will show how immense a barrier the Mexican table-land forms. Dr.
Richardson, in his admirable Report on the Zoology of N. America read
before the Brit. Assoc. 1836 (p. 157), talking of the identification of
a Mexican animal with the Synetheres prehensilis, says, "We do not know
with what propriety, but if correct, it is, if not a solitary instance,
at least very nearly so, of a rodent animal being common to North and
South America."
[6] See Dr. Richardson's Report, p. 157; also L'Institut, 1837, p. 253.
Cuvier says the kinkajou is found in the larger Antilles, but this is
doubtful. M. Gervais states that the Didelphis crancrivora is found
there. It is certain that the West Indies possess some mammifers
peculiar to themselves. A tooth of a mastadon has been brought from
Bahama; Edin. New Phil. Journ., 1826, p. 395.
[7] See the admirable Appendix by Dr. Buckland to Beechey's Voyage;
also the writings of Chamisso in Kotzebue's Voyage.
[8] In Captain Owen's Surveying Voyage (vol. ii. p. 274) there is a
curious account of the effects of a drought on the elephants, at
Benguela (west coast of Africa). "A number of these animals had some
time since entered the town, in a body, to possess themselves of the
wells, not being able to procure any water in the country. The
inhabitants mustered, when a desperate conflict ensued, which
terminated in the ultimate discomfiture of the invaders, but not until
they had killed one man, and wounded several others." The town is said
to have a population of nearly three thousand! Dr. Malcolmson informs
me that, during a great drought in India, the wild animals entered the
tents of some troops at Ellore, and that a hare drank out of a vessel
held by the adjutant of the regiment.
[9] Travels, vol. i. p. 374.
[10] These droughts to a certain degree seem to be almost periodical; I
was told the dates of several others, and the intervals were about
fifteen years.