I’A T A G O X IA . Dec. 1833.
flood of tlie St. Cruz, would ivash down many bones of the
guanaco, but probably not a single one of the puma, ostrich,
or fox. I may also observe, that almost every kind of
waterfowl when wounded takes to the shore to d ie ; so that
the remains of birds, from this cause alone and independently
of other reasons, would but rarely be preserved in a
fossil state.
One day the yawl was sent under the command of Mr.
Chaffers with three days’ provisions to survey the upper part
of the harbour. In the morning we searched for some
watering-places, mentioned in an old Spanish chart. We
found one creek, at the head of which there was a trickling
rill (the first we had seen) of brackish water. Here the
tide compelled us to wait several hours ; and in the interval
I walked some miles into the interior. The plain as usual,
consisted of gravel, mingled with soil resembling efialL in
appearance, but very different from it in nature. From the
softness of these materials it was worn into many guUies.
There was not a tree, and excepting the guanaco, which
stood on the hill-top a watchful sentinel over its herd,
scarcely an animal or a bird. All was stillness and desolation.
One reflected how many ages the plain had thus
lasted, and how many more it was doomed thus to continue.
Yet in passing over these scenes, without one bright object
near, an ill-defined but strong sense of pleasure is vividly
excited.
In the evening we sailed a few miles further up, and then
pitched the tents for the night. By the middle of the next
day, the yawl was aground, and from the shoalness of the
water could not proceed any higher. The water being found
partly fresh Mr. Chaffers took the dingey, and went up
two or three miles further, where she also grounded, hut in
a fresh-water river. The water was muddy, and though the
stream was most insignificant in size, it would be difficult to
account for its source, except from the melting snow on the
the Cordillera. At the spot where we bivouacked, we were
surrounded by bold cliffs and steep pinnacles of porphyry.
I do not think I ever saw a spot, which appeared more
Dec. 1833. I 'OET ST. JU L IA N .
secluded from the rest of the world, than this rocky crevice
in the wide plain.
The second day after our return to the anchorage, a party
of officers and myself went to ransack an old Indian grave,
which I had found on the summit of a neighbouring hill.
Two immense stones, each probably weighing at least a
couple of tons, had been placed in front of a ledge of rock,
about six feet high. At the bottom of the grave on the hard
rock, there was a layer of earth about a foot deep, which must
have been brought up from the plain below. Above it a
pavement of flat stones was placed, on which others were
piled, so as to fill up the space between the ledge and the
two great blocks. To complete the grave, the Indians had
contrived to detach from the same ledge a huge fragment,
and to throw it over the pile so as to rest on the two
blocks. We undermined the grave on both sides, but could
not find any relics, or even bones. The latter probably
had decayed long since (in which case the grave must have
been of extreme antiquity), for I found in another place some
smaller heaps, beneath which a very few crumbling fragments
could yet be distinguished, as having belonged to a
man. Falconer states, that where an Indian dies he is buried,
but that subsequently his bones are carefully taken up and
carried, let the distance be ever so great, to be deposited near
the sea-coast. This custom, I think, may be accounted for,
by recollecting that before the introduction of horses, these
Indians must have led nearly the same life as the Fuegians,
and therefore generally resided in the neighbourhood of the
sea. The common prejudice of lying where one’s ancestors have
lain, would make the now roaming Indians bring the less
perishable part of their dead to their ancient burial-grounds..
J a n u a r y 9 t h , 1 8 3 4 .—Before it was dark the Beagle anchored
in the fine spacious harbour of Port St. Julian,
situated about one hundred and ten miles to the south of
Port Desire. We remained here eight days. The country
is nearly similar to that of Port Desire, but, perhaps, rather
more sterile. One day a party accompanied Captain Fitz-
I II1