We have likewise many of the same (to the eyes of a
person who is not a botanist) thorny stunted bushes, withered
grass, and dwarf plants. Even the black slowly crawling beetles are
closely similar, and some, I believe, on rigorous examination,
absolutely identical. It had always been to me a subject of regret
that we were unavoidably compelled to give up the ascent of the S.
Cruz river before reaching the mountains: I always had a latent
hope of meeting with some great change in the features of the
country; but I now feel sure that it would only have been following
the plains of Patagonia up a mountainous ascent.
MARCH 24, 1835.
Early in the morning I climbed up a mountain on one side of the
valley, and enjoyed a far extended view over the Pampas. This was a
spectacle to which I had always looked forward with interest, but I
was disappointed: at the first glance it much resembled a distant
view of the ocean, but in the northern parts many irregularities
were soon distinguishable. The most striking feature consisted in
the rivers, which, facing the rising sun, glittered like silver
threads, till lost in the immensity of the distance. At mid-day we
descended the valley, and reached a hovel, where an officer and
three soldiers were posted to examine passports.
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