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Show 212 PATAOONIA. Jan. 1834. animals either in Europe or South America, yet destroyed many quadrupeds in regions now characterized by /'ri~id, temperate, and warm* climates! These cases of extmctwn forcibly recal the idea (I do not wish to draw any close analogy) of certain fruit-trees, which, it has been asserted, though grafted on young stems, planted in varied situations, and fertilized by the richest manures, yet at one period, have all withered away and perished. A fixed and determined length of life has in such cases been given to thousands and thousands of buds (or individual germs), although produced in long succession. Among the greater number of animals, each individual appears nearly independent of its kind ; yet all of one kind may be bound together by common laws, as well as a certain number of individual buds in the tree, or polypi in the Zoophyte. I will add one other remark. We see that whole series of animals, which have been created with peculiar kinds of organization, are confined to certain areas ; and we can hardly suppose these structures are only adaptations to peculiarities of climate or country; for otherwise, animals belonging to a distinct type, and introduced by man, would not succeed so admirably, even to the extermination of the aborigines. On such grounds it does not seem a necessary conclusion, that the extinction of species, more than their creation, should exclusively depend on the nature (altered by physical changes) of their country. All that at present can be said with certainty, is that, as with the individual, so with the species, the hour of life has run its course, and is spent. • The Elephas primigenus is thus circumstanced, having been found in Yorkshire (associated with recent shells: Lyell, vol. i., chap. vi.), in Siberia, and in the warm regions of lat. 31°, in North America. The remains of the Mastodon occur in Paraguay (and I believe in Brazil, in lat. 12°), as well as in the temperate plains south of the Plata. 213 CHAPTER X. Santa Cruz-Expedition up river-Indians- Character of PatagoniaBasaltic platform- Immense streams of lava- Non-transport of blocks by river-Excavation of valley- Condor, range and habitsCordillera- Erratic boulders of great size-Indian relics-Return to the ship. SANTA CRUZ-PATAGONIA. APRIL 13TH.-The Beagle anchored within the mouth of the Santa Cruz. This river is situated about sixty miles south of Port St. Julian. During the last voyage, Captain Stokes proceeded thirty miles up, but then, from the want of provisions, was obliged to return. Excepting what was discovered at that time, scarcely any thing was known about this large river. Captain FitzRoy now determined to follow its course as far as time would allow. On the 18th, three whale-boats started, carrying three weeks' provisions; and the party consisted of twenty-five souls-a force which would have been sufficient to have defied a host of Indians. With a strong flood-tide, and a fine day, we made a good run, soon drank some of the fresh water, and were at night nearly above the tidal influence. The river here assumed a size and appearance, which, even at the highest point we ultimately reached, was scarcely diminished. It was generally from three to four hundred yards broad, and in the middle about seventeen feet deep. The rapidity of the current, which in its whole course runs at the rate of from four to six knots an hour, is perhaps its most remarkable feature. The water is of a fine blue colour, but with a slight milky tinge, and not so transparent as at first sight would have been expected. It flows over a bed of pebbles, like those which compose the beach and surrounding plains. Although its course is winding, it runs through a valley which extends in a direct line to the west- |