From custom one
expects to see in the neighbourhood of a lofty and bold mountain a
broken country strewed over with huge fragments. Here Nature shows
that the last movement before the bed of the sea is changed into
dry land may sometimes be one of tranquillity. Under these
circumstances I was curious to observe how far from the parent rock
any pebbles could be found. On the shores of Bahia Blanca, and near
the settlement, there were some of quartz, which certainly must
have come from this source: the distance is forty-five miles.
The dew, which in the early part of the night wetted the
saddle-cloths under which we slept, was in the morning frozen. The
plain, though appearing horizontal, had insensibly sloped up to a
height of between 800 and 900 feet above the sea. In the morning
(9th of September) the guide told me to ascend the nearest ridge,
which he thought would lead me to the four peaks that crown the
summit. The climbing up such rough rocks was very fatiguing; the
sides were so indented, that what was gained in one five minutes
was often lost in the next. At last, when I reached the ridge, my
disappointment was extreme in finding a precipitous valley as deep
as the plain, which cut the chain traversely in two, and separated
me from the four points.
Pages:
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237