Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, Vol. 3 [of 3] · Charles Darwin
BUENOS AYRES TO ST. FE.
While travelling through the country, I received several vivid descriptions of the effect of a 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[18] 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 again abounds 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 to the 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 eyewitness, that the cattle in herds of thousands rushed into the Parana,[19] and being exhausted by hunger they were unable to crawl up the muddy banks, and thus were drowned. The arm 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 impossible to pass that way. Without doubt several hundred thousand animals thus perished in the river. Their bodies when putrid floated 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. I noticed, but probably it was the effect of a gradual increase, rather than of any one period, that the smaller streams in the Pampas were paved with a breccia of bones.[20] Subsequently to this unusual drought a very rainy season commenced, which caused great floods. Hence it is almost certain, that some thousands of these 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?
These droughts to a certain degree seem to be periodical; I was told the dates of several others, and the intervals were about fifteen years. A tendency to periodical droughts is, I believe, common in most dry climates:[21] such certainly is the case in Australia. Captain Sturt says they return after every ten and twelve years, and are then followed by excessive rains, which gradually become less and less, till another drought is the consequence. The year 1826 and the two following were singularly dry in Australia, and the latter were the first of the “gran seco.” I mention this, because General Beatson in his account of the island of St. Helena, has remarked that variations in climate sometimes appear to be the effect of the operation of some very general cause. He says (page 43), “The severe drought felt here in 1791 and 1792, was far more calamitous in India. Doctor Anderson states, in a letter to Colonel Kyd, dated the 9th of August, 1792, that, owing to a failure of rain, during the above two years, one half of the inhabitants in the northern provinces had perished by famine; and the remainder were so feeble and weak, that on the report of rice coming from the Malabar coast, 5000 poor people left Rajamundy, and very few of them reached the sea-side, although the distance is only 50 miles. It appears by Mr. Bryan Edwards’s History of the West Indies, that the seasons 1791-2 were unusually dry at the island of Montserrat.” Barrow[22] in the latter part of 1792, when at the Cape de Verd islands says, “In fact a drought of three years’ continuance, and consequent famine for almost the same period, had nearly desolated the island.”
OCTOBER 12TH.--I had intended to have pushed 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 carpinchos 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 are 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 haunt of the jaguar; but south of the Plata, I was told, they frequented the reeds bordering lakes: wherever they are, they seem to require water. The jaguar has been killed on the banks of the Rio Negro, in lat. 41°; and Falconer states that the lake Nahuel-huapi, takes its name from the Indian word for tiger: the latitude of this lake is about 42°; which corresponds to the situation of the Pyrenees in the northern hemisphere. These animals are particularly abundant on the isles of the Parana; their common prey is the carpincho, so that it is generally said, where the carpinchos are plentiful there is little danger of the jaguar. Falconer states, that near the mouth of the Plata, on the southern side, the jaguars are numerous, 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 the cattle and horses. It is said they kill their prey by breaking the vertebræ of the neck. 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 are said constantly to recur, for the purpose of sharpening their claws. I saw three well-known trees; in front the bark was worn smooth, 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. Some such habit must be also 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 should think, to blunt rather than to sharpen (as the Gauchos say), the points of their claws, which are so seldom used. 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 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°. 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 (_Rhyncops 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 spoon-bill, or duck. It is as flat and elastic as an ivory paper-cutter, and the lower mandible, differently from every other bird, is an inch and a half longer than the upper. I will here detail all I know of the habits of the scissor-beak. It is found both on the east and west coasts, between lat. 30° and 45°, and frequents either salt or fresh water.
The specimen now at the Zoological Society was shot at a lake near Maldonado, from which the water had been nearly drained, and which, in consequence, swarmed with small fry. I there saw several of these birds, generally in small flocks, flying backwards and forwards, close to the surface of the lake. They kept their bills wide open, and with 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 rapidity, and so dexterously manage, that with their projecting lower mandible they plough up small fish, which are secured by the upper half of their scissor-like 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 also uttered loud harsh cries. When these birds are fishing, the length of the primary feathers of the wings is seen to be quite necessary, in order to keep the latter dry. When thus employed, their forms resemble the symbol by which many artists represent marine birds. The tail is much used in steering their irregular course.
These birds are common farmland along the course of the Rio Parana; it is said they remain 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 direct to seaward. From these facts, I suspect that the Rhyncops 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 mactræ, buried in the sand-banks on the coast of Chile: from their weak bills, with the lower mandible so much produced, their short legs and long wings, it is very improbable that this can be a general habit.
In our course down the Parana, I only observed three other birds, whose habits are worth mentioning. One is a small kingfisher (_Alcedo 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,[23] with a gray 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 (_Milvulus forficatus_) with a forked tail, terminated by two long feathers, and named by the Spaniards scissor-tail, is very common near Buenos Ayres. It commonly sits on a branch of the _ombu_ tree, near the 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 in the air of turning very shortly, 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. In structure, this bird is a true tyrant-flycatcher, although in its habits certainly allied to the swallows.
OCTOBER 16TH.--Some leagues above Rozario the western shore was bounded by perpendicular cliffs, which extended in a long line to below San Nicholas. Hence the coast more resembled that of the sea, 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 I am told, that 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 not being 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. Azara has estimated that even near the sources between latitudes 16° 24′ and 22° 57′, the river has only a fall of one foot for each mile of latitude; lower down, this must be much diminished. It is stated that a rise of seven feet at Buenos Ayres can be perceived sixty leagues up the course of the Parana. We met, during our descent, very few vessels. One of the best gifts of nature seems here wilfully thrown away, in so grand a channel of communication being left unoccupied. 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 of 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 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 might 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 the height of illiberality, 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 me quite consonant with the plans of his party. A year ago he was elected governor, but he refused it, without 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.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.