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 the
surrounding plains. It runs in a winding course through a valley,
which extends in a direct line westward. This valley varies from
five to ten miles in breadth; it is bounded by step-formed
terraces, which rise in most parts, one above the other, to the
height of five hundred feet, and have on the opposite sides a
remarkable correspondence.
APRIL 19, 1834.
Against so strong a current it was, of course, quite impossible to
row or sail: consequently the three boats were fastened together
head and stern, two hands left in each, and the rest came on shore
to track. As the general arrangements made by Captain Fitz Roy were
very good for facilitating the work of all, and as all had a share
in it, I will describe the system.
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