HI) i
*
t - I
k i t -
are only a few small wells containing but little water, and
that rather saline and half putrid.
In such a country the fate of the Spanish settlement was soon
decided ; the dryness of the climate during the greater part o.f
the year, and the occasional hostile attacks of the wandering
Indians, compelled the colonists to desert their half-finished
buildings. The style, however, in which they were commenced,
showed the strong and liberal hand of Spain in the
old time. The end of all the attempts to colonize this side
of America south of 41°, have been miserable. At Port
Famine, the name expresses the lingering and extreme sufferings
of several hundred wretched people, of whom one
alone sunfived to relate their misfortunes. At St. Joseph’s
bay, on the coast of Patagonia, a small settlement was made ;
but during one Sunday the Indians made an attack and massacred
the whole party, exceptingtwo men, who were ledcaptive
many years among the wandering tribes. At the Rio Negro
I conversed with one of these men, now in extreme old age.
The zoology of Patagonia is as limited as its Flora.* On
the arid plains a few black beetles (Heteromera) might
be seen slowly crawling about, and occasionally a lizard
darting from side to side. Of birds we have three carrion
hawks, and in the valleys a few finches and insect feeders.
The Ibis malanops (a species said to be found in central
Africa) is not uncommon on the most desert parts. In the
stomachs of these birds I found grasshoppers, cicadæ, small
lizards, and even scorpions.! At one time of the year they
go in flocks, at another in pairs : their cry is very loud and
singular, and resembles the neighing of the guanaco.
* I fo u n d h e re a sp ecies o f c a ctu s , d e s c rib ed b y P ro fe s so r H e n s low
u n d e r th e n am e o f Opuntia Darwinii (M a g a z in e o f Z o o lo g y a n d B o ta n y ,
v o l. i., p . 4 6 6 ), w h ic h was r em a rk a b le b y th e irr ita b ility m an ife s te d b y th e
s tam e n s, w h e n I in s e r te d in th e flow er e ith e r a p ie c e o f s tic k , o r th e e n d
o f m y fin g e r. T h e s e gm e n ts o f th e p e r i a n t a lso c lo sed o n th e p is til, b u t
m o re s low ly th a n th e s tam e n s .
! T h e s e in se c ts w e re n o t u n c om m o n b e n e a th sto n e s . I fo u n d o n e
c a n n ib a l sc o rp io n q u ie tly d e v o u rin g a n o th e r .
19.5
I will here give an account of this latter animal, which
is very common, and is the characteristic quadruped of
the plains of Patagonia. The Guanaco, which by some
naturalists is considered as the same animal with the Llama,
but in its wild state, is the South American representative of
the camel of the East. In size it may be compared to
an ass, mounted on taller legs, and with a very long neck.
The guanaco abounds over the whole of the temperate parts
of South America, from the wooded islands of Tierra del
Fuego, through Patagonia, the hilly parts of La Plata, Chile,
even to the Cordillera of Peru. Although preferring an elevated
site, it yields in this respect to its near relative the
Vicuna. On the plains of Southern Patagonia, we saw them
in greater numbers than in any other part. Generally they
go in small herds, from half a dozen to thirty together; but
on the banks of the S t Cruz we saw one herd which must
have contained at least five hundred. On the northern shores
of the Strait of Magellan they are also very numerous.
Generally the guanacoes are wild and extremely wary.
Mr. Stokes told me, that he one day saw through a glass a
herd of these beasts, which evidently had been frightened,
running away at full speed, although their distance was so
great that they could not be distinguished by the naked eye.
The sportsman frequently receives the first intimation of
their presence, by hearing, from a long distance, the peculiar
shrill neighing note of alarm. If he then looks attentively,
he will perhaps see the herd standing in a line on the side of
some distant hiU. On approaching them, a few more squeals
are given, and then off they set at an apparently slow, but really
quick canter, along some narrow beaten track to a neighbouring
hill. If, however, by chance he should abruptly
meet a single animal, or several together, they will generally
stand motionless, and intently gaze at him; then perhaps
move on a few yards, turn round, and look again. What is
the cause of this difference in their shiness ? Do tliey mistake
a man in the distance for their chief enemy the puma ?
Or does curiosity overcome their timidity ? That they are
curious is certain; for if a person lies on the ground^ and
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