CHAPTER XXI

HOMEWARD

Winter comes on -- Departure from Lake Argentino -- Changed aspect of country -- Snow-clouds -- Indian encampment -- Race with the snow -- River Coyly -- River Gallegos -- Ford -- Signs of civilisation -- Gallegos -- Taking passage in steamer -- Lighted street -- Good-bye to Bernardo -- Meeting with Mr. Waag and Mr. Von Plaaten Hallermund on the _Elena_ -- What Patagonia taught me.

A fortnight before we started there was a couple of feet of snow on the high pampa. Beside the lake it had been blowing heavily, and storms of sleet followed each other in dreary succession. Every morning we saw the white cloak of winter throwing its snowy folds lower and lower upon the mountains. The severe season of the Cordillera and Southern Patagonia was fast shutting us in; already the Pass to Punta Arenas was closed feet deep in snow, and our only outlet for the south lay towards Gallegos. It had been my wish to remain as long as possible in the neighbourhood of the Andes, but I had overstayed the utmost limit I originally set myself, and now there was nothing for it but to make a rush for the coast while the journey could still be made.

On May 15 we started in heavy rain. The horses were in excellent condition; indeed, they were too fat, for of late they had not had enough exercise to prepare them for a very trying journey. We took three _cargueros_ besides the horses for riding, and the party consisted of Mr. Cattle's shepherd, George Gregory, Bernardo and myself. At the second camp Gregory was obliged to turn back, as his horses--a troop of colts--had wandered during the night. This was at the River del Bote; from there Bernardo and I went on alone. We found the aspect of the country much changed since we had crossed it three and a half months previously. The green grass had grown yellow, the streams and the lagoons were drying up, numbers of guanaco had descended to the lower grounds. An Indian trader, accompanied by a few tents of Indians, had taken up quarters near the River Califate, a spot formerly inhabited by wildfowl only. For three days we followed the shore of the lake, but then our way led us up on to the high pampa, where we made our camp in a bushless _cañadon_ beside a rocky pool. By this time the horses were beginning to lose their tricks, but at the outset they would hardly allow themselves to be caught, and they wandered every night. The _cañadon_ was clear of snow, but the sky was heavy with the promise of it. We hoped most heartily that it would give us two more days' grace before it fell.

The next day we followed the _cañadon_, which was a shallow depression running south-west. There was no fuel to be found but the thin roots of the dark bush known as _maté negra_. The early frosts made travelling difficult, as it was necessary to off-saddle early, that the horses might not be turned out sweating into the cold. We covered sixty miles, changing horses three times, for it was quite clear that we must push on if we hoped to escape the snow. That was one of the most fatiguing marches we had during the whole expedition. About three o'clock I espied some herds of tame cattle in the distance by the side of a lagoon. These proved to belong to some tents of Indians. The men were absent hunting and the camp was given over to the women and decrepit dogs. An enormous _china_ sat in the opening of the largest _toldo_; she must have weighed twenty odd stone! We learned from her that the season had been a good one for guanaco _chicos_.

In reply to our question as to how far we might be from the nearest white man's habitation on the next stage of our journey, the fat lady waved her hand picturesquely and vaguely towards the eastern sky but did not commit herself to figures.

The Indian encampment made a singular picture against a somewhat striking background. The western sky was piling up and bulged with snow-clouds, while the sinking sun glowed like a red-hot cannon ball on the rim of the pampa. Against this curtain of colour were set the brown tents of guanaco-skin. In one of these a small fire was burning with little flames about an old meat tin in which water was being boiled for _maté_. Around the women sat in silence--saving only the fat spokeswoman--inert and apparently content; occasionally one would grunt or shift the child at her breast, but otherwise one heard scarce a sound but the whimpering of the wind from the Cordillera or the plashing of the wildfowl in the swampy margin of the lagoon.

I need not describe at length the days which followed. In due time we came upon a wheeltrack and sighted the first fence. This was in the valley of the River Coyly, a good place for pasturing sheep, but inexpressibly desolate and monotonous in aspect. For two days we held along in this valley or on the pampa immediately above it, but, remembering our experiences near Santa Cruz, I resolved to sleep in no _boliche_ until we reached Gallegos.

The _cañadon_ of the Coyly was fenced at intervals, the grass eaten close to the ground by many sheep. Thousands of wild geese clamoured on the banks of the river. In this river valley we made our last camp in Patagonia. There was no wood for fire, and the horses found but little to eat, the sun set among sickly green lights, and presently rain came on. Altogether it made a dismal good-bye to the life we had led for so many months.

The following day, striking across the pampa for the River Gallegos, we knew ourselves to be entering on the last stage of our wanderings. And here we very nearly had a disastrous accident. Meeting two Gauchos, we asked them about the condition of the ford over the Gallegos, which they told us had been but hock-high when they passed through with their horses. Consequently, when we arrived at the ford half an hour later, we took our troop down into the water, but seeing it looked uncommonly deep for the description given us by the Gauchos, we returned to the shore, and, as there happened to be a house at no great distance, I sent Bernardo to make inquiries. He brought back the news that the tide was running strong and the ford quite impracticable, but it was possible that we might be able to cross higher up at another spot. We followed this advice and crossed in safety, I with my precious photographs tied round my neck; but had we tried the lower ford I am very sure I should have lost them all, which would have been a disappointment indeed, considering the circumstances under which they had been taken and the impossibility of replacing them.

Once across the Gallegos we emerged upon flat ground, and here we found a road with a line of telephone-posts running along one side of it. Gallegos was by that time only eighteen miles ahead, but with our tired horses that appeared a long distance. The country was absolutely featureless, the black posts sticking up against a dull sky, the brown earth absorbing such light as there was. A very cold wind blew across our faces, but there was one thing that cheered us, that told us our wanderings were over--the humming of the wind in the wires overhead.

The road dipped and rose over the long undulations, and at last, as we topped one of the many inclines, Gallegos straggled into sight, obviously a frontier town, all wire fences, wooden and corrugated-iron houses with painted roofs. The emotions with which one returns and feels the long wanderings over are not easy to describe. I rode slowly up the main street and passed the bank--for there is a bank at Gallegos, and the fact gave one a sensation of being very civilised indeed. I dismounted and went into the building to inquire about the steamer for Punta Arenas, where I hoped to pick up a homeward-bound boat. A steamboat was to have started for Punta Arenas that same morning, I was told, but as the captain was in gaol, her departure had been postponed for a day or so. The delay seemed a special dispensation for my benefit, for, had she adhered to her original date, I must have been too late to go by her. I understood that the captain's crime lay in having drawn up his anchor without waiting to receive a written permit.

Luckily I had not been preceded at Gallegos by any "lord," hence I drew the cash necessary for my passage and payments at the bank without any trouble. Then I went on to the hotel and put up my horse, the good little big-hearted Moro, who had carried me a hundred and fifty miles in three days and looked fat on it. Afterwards I bought a cigar, a very bad one, but a cigar for all that, and so proceeded down to the beach to secure my passage. Up on the shingle were several ships high and dry, and out in the fairway about the very smallest steamer I have ever seen, yet a good sea-boat, as I afterwards proved. She rejoiced in a brilliant green deck-house two storeys high, and the funnel was almost on top of the propeller!

When it grew dark it was strange to walk through the lighted streets and to see the faces pass and repass beneath the lamps. There was a delightful sense of newness about it all. But perhaps the most strange sensation was produced by a visit to the hairdresser's shop, where one could watch in the glass the swift transformation. Afterwards it was quite good to smoke a second execrable cigar, and to listen to the hotel-keeper in another room telling some of his friends how he had mistaken me for a camp-loafer owing to my patched clothes and the ragged remnants of my boots, and had, in consequence, led me to an outhouse, proposing to allow me to sleep there!

Best of all, perhaps, was the civilised dinner, despite the attentions of an intoxicated itinerant dentist, who kept on reiterating the same question, "Have you ever been to Nahuelhuapi?" the _huapi_ ending in a wail--"w-a-a-a-pi." Bernardo had not turned up from the farm where we had left the horses, and a gentleman connected with the Government who was present, understanding that I wished to see him before sailing, offered to send a file of soldiers to look for him. Presently Bernardo arrived, and then we went away and lit our pipes for a last talk over it all.

Next morning on the wet shingle I said good-bye to him, and there he stood for a while as the boat shoved off and we rowed away. A wild figure was Master Bernardo, for he had not yet had time to clothe himself in the garments of civilisation. With his ragged blue jersey and his big boots of _potro_ hide, surmounted by his pleasant bearded face, he watched us through the wind and the rain, and then he turned and walked away, passing out of sight among the sheds. He was going to Santa Cruz by the horse-track. Good luck to him, and may we meet again!

I went aboard, little guessing the pleasure that awaited me, for at the gangway-head I met Mr. Waag and Mr. Von Plaaten Hallermund, of the Boundary Commission, who were on their way down from Santa Cruz to Punta Arenas. Mr. Waag and I had just missed each other by a couple of hours on the pampa up country some months earlier. We were soon deep in talk about the Cordillera, and all that had happened to the three of us since we last met at the Hotel Phœnix in Buenos Aires. Mr. Waag had had a successful time about Lake Puerrydon, and Mr. Von Plaaten Hallermund at Lake San Martin. Meantime the _Elena_ got in her anchor, and we were in the Magellan Straits by nightfall.

And so we reached Punta Arenas, where I was shown much hospitality by Mr. Perkins, and where I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Fred Waldron, in whose company, as well as that of Mr. Waag and Mr. Von Plaaten Hallermund, I made the passage to Buenos Aires by the Pacific Company's steamship the _Orellana_, and so home.

To turn for a moment to the personal point of view. I had landed in Patagonia with enthusiasm, and I left it not in the least damped or disheartened in that enthusiasm, but very much the opposite. I had learned many lessons of life, passed through many experiences, explored a small part of the earth's surface, and made some original observations with regard to the zoology of the country and other matters, but I am inclined to think that the most useful lesson to myself was one that sank deeper and deeper into my mind, I might say heart, with every day lived in these great solitudes--and that was the knowledge of my own ignorance. The long solitary days in the forests, on the pampas, and about the stormy fjords of the Cordillera brought me face to face with Nature. There are many voices in the silence of Nature. The stars above, the waters beneath, and the earth all spoke in a hundred tongues, and little enough of it all could I, with my lack of knowledge, interpret. "There are many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification," but so long as they spoke to me in unknown tongues how much was I the better? And there it was I learned the useful truth that, to be a traveller of any value, a man must also be an adequate interpreter.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF PATAGONIA

It would be possible to write a very long chapter about the future of Patagonia. I do not, however, propose to do this, but to write what I have to say as briefly as possible.

To begin with, Patagonia can boast of a fine climate, for, though the winters are certainly hard, no endemic disease exists. The country is exceptionally healthy, nor are there any poisonous reptiles to endanger life on its far-reaching pampas. There are few parts of the earth of which so much can be said.

A large portion of the land is eminently suited for the support of sheep, as the enormous and prosperous sheep-farms to be found along the east and south coasts bear witness. Cattle and horse-breeding are also successfully carried on, and although a portion of the country is unsuited for agricultural purposes, it is equally certain that large expanses of ground of great fertility and rich promise are to be found here.

The tide of pastoral life from the thriving southern farms round and about Punta Arenas on the Straits of Magellan, and Gallegos on the Atlantic coast, is setting strongly north and west. The crying want of the country is capital to open up means of communication with the interior. At present there are no railways or other settled lines for the transport of produce, although I believe a steam-launch has lately been placed upon the River Santa Cruz. In consequence of this lack some farmers have to carry wool two hundred miles by bullock-cart to the coast; a few cover even a greater distance. To send wool two hundred miles in bullock-carts means at least three weeks of travel. To go and come from the farm to the coast would thus take up about two months of a farmer's time. _Peones_ are necessary to look after the carts, and their wage is at least £5 a month and their keep. Then carts not infrequently break down upon the rough surfaces of the pampas and in the _cañadones_, hence more delay. Even when the port is reached difficulties have to be surmounted, for none of them, with the exception of Punta Arenas, are served by any steamship lines. This was so at the time of my being in Patagonia last year (1901). Government transports from Buenos Aires had the whole of the coast service of Argentine Patagonia in their hands, and these could boast of only very uncertain dates of departure and still more uncertain dates of arrival.

All these difficulties of transit do not make for prosperity. I understand that of late a German line has undertaken to call at some of the ports, and if they carry out their contract it should help events in Patagonia to get into the stride of success.

On the coast-farms, where ships could and did occasionally put in, especially in the wool season, money was made and men began to see fortune ahead. But far away in the interior, where a very few pioneers have made their homes beside a lake here and there, the wide and uninhabited pampas lie between the producer and his market. Until railways open up the land the position of these people cannot much improve. They are too heavily handicapped in the race.

It is almost impossible to tell what enormous numbers of sheep and cattle Patagonia could produce for the providing of the world if capital and enterprise would but pave the way. In the meantime the country remains the paradise of the middleman. At present there is little money in hand, much of the trade is carried on by barter, and on this system there is always an evil tendency towards profits accruing mostly to the storekeepers, who gradually become more or less masters of the situation. Many of the small farmers are deeply in debt to this class. A hard winter--and there are often very hard winters--fills the pocket of the storekeeper, for they advance provisions, without which no man can continue to live, and they, of course, thus secure mortgages on the farms.

This same unfortunate liability is observable in other countries where similar conditions obtain, but the opening up of the interior of Patagonia and the introduction of capital in the hands of employers of labour would probably lessen the pressure of hard times on the poorer farmers.

Beyond the pampas again tower the unnumbered peaks of the Cordillera, and among them all things, minerally speaking, are possible. Perhaps the future of Patagonia is to be found there. In a few years the Patagonian Andes may be as commonly known a seeking-place for fortune as Klondyke is to-day. But concerning this part of the subject I have nothing to say, being no prophet of El Dorados.

Although during our travels we had little time to spare for prospecting, or searching for the mineral wealth which may lie hidden in the Cordillera, yet there was one obvious source of riches that was always before our eyes in those regions.

The coast-towns of Patagonia are supplied with wood by sea from the woodlands of Tierra del Fuego, and this while many square miles about the bases of the Andes are covered with dense forests of magnificent growth. Here are to be found beech, cypress and redwood, not to speak of other trees, but the absolute absence of any means of conveying logs to the coast has so far left this store of wealth untouched. Until better means of transport can be developed, there are certainly one or two rivers which might be made use of in this connection.

I can only insist upon the fact that Patagonia is a great though at present undeveloped land; that it cries aloud to railway enterprise to become its salvation. Nevertheless, it is even now a good country for the man ready and able to work. A capable man will make £6 a month and his keep, but he must know the work required of him; a considerable time has to be spent in learning the skilled labour of camp life, and very hard labour that sometimes is. An emigrant does not consequently find it so easy to get employment. But, given vigorous health, an aptitude for hard work, and a small sum in hand to keep him going until he is broken in to the necessities of the life, and I know of few countries more favourable to the _unmarried_ working man.

There is something further which I should like to suggest to intending emigrants of my own nation.

The greatest of British exports is, one might contend, Britishers.

The attitude of the young Britisher abroad towards the rest of the world in general is at once a source of great national strength and of serious national weakness.

First, as we know, he is a poor linguist, who prefers to go on speaking his own language, and, when not understood, attempting to enforce comprehension by the very simple expedient of shouting louder. The result of this uncompromising attitude, backed by a good national financial status, is that as the mountain will not go to Mahomet, Mahomet must needs come to the mountain, and the foreign Mahomet does come, wrestling his way through difficulties of pronunciation. By his attitude in this matter--an attitude dictated partly by a too common lack of the linguistic faculty and partly by a certain rooted conviction that a man who cannot speak English is a man of "lesser breed"--the Britisher has to a certain extent forced English upon a very unwilling world.

But whether this question of the one-language system is a loss or a gain to the country, it is very certain that there is another idiosyncrasy of the Englishman abroad which is an undoubted loss. Every country has its own ways and methods, not only peculiar to its inhabitants but adapted to their special needs. And here the brusque unadaptability of the Englishman becomes pitifully apparent.

He loses immensely by it. He will ride on his English saddle because he has been used to ride on it at home; he will wear his pigskin leggings for precisely the same reason.

You cannot teach him that he who walks in a noontide sun in latitudes near the equator is sometimes apt to contract a fever. Of course I refer chiefly to the "new chum," but we have an unfortunate gift of remaining new chums for an indefinite period.

Our young blood is very sure of himself, which is a first-rate national trait, and one to which as a nation we, no doubt, owe much. But it has its drawbacks. Thus, although he is physically excellent beyond his fellows, his death-rate is usually heavier, which in the nature of things it ought not to be.

But in cases where adhesion to the methods of the country to which he has migrated touches not himself but his goods and his work he needlessly--indeed, almost mischievously--handicaps himself. He takes pride in occupying a position of more or less splendid isolation.

The Britisher lacks adaptability. He lacks suavity. He often lacks common politeness. In fact, he is a good fellow when you know him, but you have got to know him first. An excellent reputation to possess, perhaps, apart from business, and when your position is assured. But in foreign countries, and in the case of dealing with strangers of other nations, who are very apt to like or dislike at first sight, its results are disastrous, for they rarely reconsider their first opinion.

The Continental races, on the other hand, aim at merging their individuality in that of their temporary hosts. Actuated by a sense of politeness or of self-interest--I do not know which--these peoples do not thrust forward the fact that they are aliens, but rather try to foster the idea that the land of their adoption is their own. But when the young Englishman comes along, his manner placards him with his nationality. He seems to say, "You fellows, I've got to live here, Fate orders it. But I am not of you. Apart from business, leave me alone."

He and his compatriots are sufficient unto themselves. And not infrequently also, though strangers in a strange land, they are a law unto themselves. Now this is all very well in its way, and we would not, I suppose, have it otherwise; yet, if the English youth abroad would modify their attitude towards the works of the alien, even while, if they so choose, preserving it towards the alien himself, they would rise to greater heights of success than they at present touch.

The fact is that the alien thinks the Englishman is a fool of a very notable kind, and in many cases he is right.

It is not in the excellence of their goods, or even in the cheapness of their tariff, that the Germans are forging ahead of us in trade. It is in their attitude towards those with whom they deal. They make an art of selling a yard of red flannel to an elderly negress. The negress feels the compliment, rather despises the complimenter, but likes it on the whole--and comes again.[32]

While the German studies the people who are to buy his goods in a spirit of subtlety, the Englishman makes up his mind without considering anybody save himself and his own ideas. In the days before competition assumed its present proportions this was all very well, perhaps; or at least it was not the commercial suicide that it certainly is to-day.

From the standpoint of the employer, the Englishman does not know his work. He has no money. He must, therefore, earn something. He expects to be allowed to earn and learn at one and the same time, which is an absurd notion.

The cause of all this is the same as that which sends out first-rate goods but to the wrong market.

The fact is, we do not study our markets seriously either for mercantile or for human exports.

If the South Sea Islanders want red cloth we send them yellow, and if in Patagonia there is an opening for men who are decent practical blacksmiths, we send them a stream of youths who have never fullered a shoe, but who are well up in the rudiments of Greek.

FOOTNOTE:

[32] I have watched with considerable interest the methods adopted by the Germans as opposed to those of the young man of our own race. I remember an instance of a German who set up as a chemist in a town out Central America way, and whose chief source of income came from the sale of drugs to rather impressionable negroes. In his place the Englishman would have laid in decent English drugs, would have sat behind his counter, and would have dispensed in stolid fashion to the limit of the abilities with which he was blessed. Not so our German friend. His drugs were good, but not supremely so; his prices were cost prices, with a mere shaving of profit.

But his method was excellent.

He made a character-study of each of his customers. He sold a fine tonic, coloured red and reported invincible. He put the title of Dr. before his name, and advertised free consultations, provided the patients bought their medicines at his store. He throve.

APPENDIX A

The expedition sent out to Patagonia under my charge by Mr. C. Arthur Pearson owed its origin to the discoveries made in that country by Dr. F. P. Moreno of certain remains of an animal, the Pampean Mylodon or Giant Ground Sloth, long believed to belong to the category of extinct prehistoric mammals. The marvellous state of preservation of the remains found at Last Hope Inlet seemed to give some ground for the supposition that the animal might possibly have survived to a recent period. Professor Ray Lankester, the Director of the British Museum of Natural History, in commenting upon the chance of the Mylodon being still alive in some remote and unknown region of Patagonia, said: "It is quite possible--I don't want to say more than that--that he still exists in some of the mountainous regions of Patagonia." These words from such an authority carried weight, and the question assumed an importance that made it worth all practicable examination. I have in the following pages put the whole case as clearly and as definitely as lies in my power.

To begin with, I give the story of Dr. Moreno's discovery as he himself told it to the Zoological Society, and the description of the remains by Dr. A. Smith Woodward, LL.D., F.R.S.

I. ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY. By Dr. MORENO.

In November 1897 I paid a visit to that part of the Patagonian territory which adjoins the Cordillera of the Andes, between the 51st and 52nd degrees of South latitude, where certain surveyors, under my direction, were carrying out the preliminary studies connected with the boundary-line between Chile and Argentina; and in the course of this expedition I reached Consuelo Cove, which lies in Last Hope Inlet. In that spot, hung up on a tree, I found a piece of a dried skin, which attracted my attention most strangely, as I could not determine to what class of Mammalia it could belong, more especially because of the resemblance of the small incrusted bones it contained to those of the Pampean _Mylodon_. On inquiring whence it came, I was informed that it was only a fragment of a large piece of skin which had been discovered two years before, by some Argentine officers, in a cavern which existed in the neighbouring heights. Immediately on receiving this news, I hastened to the spot, guided by a sailor who had been present when the original discovery had been made. As, at that moment, I had no means of making more than a few hurried excavations, which gave no further traces of the discovery, I left orders that the search should be continued after my departure; but this once more also failed to give any ultimate results. Nothing could be found but modern remains of small rodents, and these chiefly on or near the surface of the ground. From the most careful inquiries which I set on foot, it appeared that, when the first discovery was made, no bones were found, the skin being half buried in the dust which had accumulated from the gradual falling away of the roof of the cavern, composed of Tertiary Conglomerate. It was only in the broad entrance to the cavern that were found a few human bones, borne thence to the shore of the Cove and afterwards broken up.

As already stated, the skin here presented to you formed but a small part of a larger one. One small piece had been carried off by Dr. Otto Nordenskjöld, and others by officers of the Chilian Navy, who later on had visited the spot. The inhabitants of the locality looked upon it as an interesting curiosity, some of them believing that it was the hide of a cow incrusted with pebbles, and others asserting that it was the skin of a large Seal belonging to a hitherto unknown species.

In Consuelo Cove, I embarked on board a small Argentine transport, which had been placed at my disposal to carry out the study of the western coast as far as Port Montt, in lat. 42°. At this latter place I left the steamer, which then proceeded to make a series of surveys. These lasted until her return to La Plata, at the latter end of July 1898, when she brought back to me the fragment of skin in question.

This is an accurate and true version of the discovery of this skin, which gave rise to the publication of Señor Ameghino's small pamphlet,[33] in which he gave an account of the discovery of a living representative of the "Gravigrades" of Argentina, distinguishing it by the name of "_Neomylodon listai_".

I have an idea that Señor Ameghino never saw the skin itself, but only some of the small incrusted bones, of which he had obtained possession. The vague form in which he draws up his account compels me to believe this suspicion to be true.

My opinion is that this skin belongs to a genuine Pampean _Mylodon_, preserved under peculiar circumstances resembling those to which we owe the skin and feathers of the Moa. I have always maintained that the Pampean Edentates, now extinct, disappeared only in the epoch which is called the "historical epoch" of our America. In the province of Buenos Aires, buried chiefly in the humus, I have found remains of _Panochthus_, and others of the same _Mylodon_ from the seashore, all of which present the same characteristic marks of preservation as the remains of human beings discovered in the same spot. In this identical layer of the sea-shore, close to the bones I have also found stones polished by the hand of man, and flints cut like those found in the Pampean formation. In 1884, in a cavern near to the Rio de los Patos, in the Cordillera, I discovered some paintings in red ochre, one of which, in my opinion, resembles the _Glyptodon_ on account of the shape of the carapace.

Ancient chroniclers inform us that the indigenous inhabitants recorded the existence of a strange, ugly, huge hairy animal which had its abode in the Cordillera to the south of lat. 37°. The Tehuelches and the Gennakens have mentioned similar animals to me, of whose existence their ancestors had transmitted the remembrance; and in the neighbourhood of the Rio Negro, the aged cacique Sinchel, in 1875, pointed out to me a cave, the supposed lair of one of these monsters, called "Ellengassen"; but I must add that none of the many Indians with whom I have conversed in Patagonia have ever referred to the actual existence of animals to which we can attribute the skin in question, nor even of any which answer to the suppositions of Señor Ameghino according to Señor Lista. It is but rarely that a few Otters (_Lutra_) are found in the lakes and rivers of the Andes, as in the neighbourhood of Lake Argentino, in the "Sierra de las Viscachas," and in the regions which I believe Señor Lista visited, there are only a few scarce Chinchillas (_Lagidium_), which have a colouring more dark greyish than those found to the north, and are in every case separated from these by a large extent of country.

The Pampean Edentata have in former days certainly existed as far south as the extreme limit of Patagonia. In 1874, in the bay of Santa Cruz, I met with the remains of a _pelvis_ of one of these animals in Pleistocene deposits, and also remains of the mammals which are found in the same formation, such as the _Macrauchenia_ and _Auchenia_. It would not be astonishing that the skin of one of these should have been preserved so long, because of the favourable conditions of the spot in which it was found.

The state of preservation of this piece of skin, at first sight, makes it difficult for one to believe it to be of great antiquity; but this is by no means an impossibility, if we consider the conditions of the cave in which it was found, the atmosphere of which is not so damp as one might at first imagine it to be, although it is situated in the woody regions near to the glaciers and lakes. It is well to mention that in 1877, under similar conditions, and in a much smaller cave, scarcely five metres from the waters of Lake Argentino, situated sixty miles more to the north, I discovered a mummified human body painted red, with the head still covered in part with its short hair wonderfully preserved, and wrapped up in a covering made of the skin of a Rhea, and holding in its arms a large feather of the Condor, also painted red; this was all covered up with a layer of grass and dust fallen from the roof of the cave. In another cave in the neighbourhood I discovered a large trunk of a tree, painted with figures in red, black, and yellow. The sides of the rock close to the entrance of the cave were covered with figures, some representing the human hand, others combinations of curved, straight, and circular lines, painted white, red, yellow, and green. Now, this mummy, which is preserved in the Museum of La Plata, does not belong to any of the actual tribes of Patagonia. Its skull resembles rather one of those more ancient races found in the cemeteries in the valley of the Rio Negro--a most interesting fact, since they belong to types which have completely disappeared from the Patagonian regions, and it is well known that the actual Tehuelches may be considered to have been the last indigenous races which reached the territory of Patagonia. Many a time the Tehuelches have spoken to me of these caves as abodes of the evil "spirits," and of the enigmatical painted figures they contained: some attributed the latter to these same "spirits," others to men of other races, of whom they have no recollection. In another cave, four hundred miles farther to the north, in 1880, I discovered other human bodies, more or less mummified and in good preservation, but of a different type, and beside them some painted poles which served to hold up their small tents, the use of which had already disappeared more than three centuries ago; together with the upper part of the skull of a child perfectly scooped out like a cup. And yet the historical Tehuelches, the same as all the indigenous races in the southern extremity of South America, hold their dead in great respect, and never use such drinking-vessels.

These proofs of the favourable conditions of the climate and of the lands near to the Cordillera, which are revealed to us by the preservation of objects undoubtedly dating from very remote epochs, strengthen my opinion that this skin of a huge mammal, which has long since disappeared, may well have been preserved till the present time.

I may add that a further careful search is now being made in the earth forming the floor of the cave, and I hope in due time to have the honour of communicating the results to this Society.

II. DESCRIPTION AND COMPARISON OF THE SPECIMEN.

By A. SMITH WOODWARD.

(a) _Description._

The problematical piece of skin discovered by Dr. Moreno measures approximately 0.48 m. in the direction of the main lie of the hair, while its maximum extent at right angles to this direction is about 0.55 m. The fragment, however, is very irregular in shape; and it has become much distorted in the process of drying, so that the anterior portion, which is directed upwards in the drawing, is bent outwards at a considerable angle to the main part of the specimen which will be claimed to represent the back. The skin, as observed in transverse section, presents a dried, felt-like aspect; but there is a frequent ruddiness, suggestive of blood-stains, while the margin exhibits distinct indications of freshly dried once-fluid matter, which Dr. Vaughan Harley has kindly examined and pronounced to be serum. Its outer face is completely covered with hair, except in the region marked C and above B, where this covering seems to have been comparatively fine and may have been accidentally removed. The inner face of the skin is only intact in a few places, the specimen having contracted and perhaps been somewhat abraded, so that a remarkable armour of small bony tubercles, irregularly arranged and of variable size, is exposed over the greater part of it. At one point there is an irregular rounded hole about 0.02 m. in diameter, which might possibly have been caused by a bullet or a dagger, but in any case was probably pierced when the skin was still fresh. Owing to its direction, this hole is partly obscured by the overhanging hair.

The skin in its dried state varies in thickness in different parts. The average thickness of the flattened portion, which must be referred to the back, is shown by the cleanly-cut right margin of the specimen to be 0.01 m. This is slightly increased towards the posterior (lower) end of the border, while above it the thickness becomes 0.015 m. The latter thickness also seems to be attained in the much-shrivelled corner marked C--a circumstance suggesting bilateral symmetry between at least part of the two anterior outer angles of the specimen. The thinnest portion preserved is the border above B; and the skin must also have been comparatively thin in the region of the accidental notch to the left, considerably below C.

The portion of skin above B is interesting not only from its relative thinness, but also from the occurrence of an apparently natural rounded concavity in the margin. This excavation, which measures 0.05 m. along the curve, is marked by the remains of a thin flexible flap, which is sharply bent outwards, and is covered with short hairs on its outer face. It is especially suggestive of the base of an ear-conch; and if this appearance be not deceptive, it is worthy of note that the dried skin hereabouts and in the region which would have to be interpreted as cheek (C) is much more wrinkled than elsewhere.

As already mentioned, the outer aspect of the skin is completely covered with hair, which is very dense everywhere except on the left anterior corner. Here it seems to have been removed by abrasion. A small patch of hair has also clearly been pulled out near the gap in the left border of the specimen; and close to the middle (where marked D) there is a small hairless depression which may perhaps be interpreted as a wound inflicted and healed during life. The hair is only of one kind, without any trace of under-fur, and it is still very firmly implanted in the skin, without signs of decay. Its arrangement seems to be quite regular, there being no tendency towards its segregation into small groups or bundles. It is of a uniform dirty yellowish or light yellowish-brown colour, and, making due allowance for slight ruffling and distortion of the specimen, it may be described as all lying in one direction, vertically in the photograph, except at the two upturned anterior corners of the specimen, where there is an inclination from the right and left respectively towards the centre. The longest hairs, which usually measure from 0.05 m. to 0.065 m. in length, are observed in the half of the specimen in front of (above) the letter D. Those in the middle of the extreme anterior (upper) border measure from 0.03 m. to 0.05 m. in length, those at the hinder (lower) border about the same; while some of the comparatively small and delicate hairs on the supposed cheek are not longer than 0.01 m. The hairs are stiff, straight, or only very slightly wavy, and all are remarkably tough. Examined under the microscope, their cuticle is observed to be quite smooth, while the much-elongated cells of the cortex are readily distinguishable. Mr. R. H. Burne has kindly made some transverse sections, which prove the hairs to be almost or quite cylindrical, and none of the specimens examined present any trace of a medulla.

The dermal ossicles are very irregular in arrangement, but are to be observed in every part of the specimen, even in the comparatively thin region near the supposed ear. They form everywhere a very compact armour, and some of them are quite closely pressed together; rarely, indeed, there is a shallow groove crossing a specimen, possibly indicating two components which were originally separate. As shown by every part of the cut margin, and especially well in a small section prepared by Prof. Charles Stewart, they are all confined to the lower half of the dermis, never encroaching upon the upper portion in which the hair is implanted. It is also to be observed that, where the inner surface of the skin is intact, the ossicles are completely embedded and only faintly visible through the dry tissue. The exposure of a considerable number of them, as already mentioned, is due to the rupture and partial abrasion of this surface. No tendency to arrangement in parallel lines or bands can be detected; and large and small ossicles seem to be indiscriminately mingled, although of course allowance must be made, in examining sections and the abraded inner view of the skin, for differences in the plane of adjoining sections and varying degrees of exposure by the removal of the soft tissue. The largest ossicles are oblong in shape when viewed from within, and measure approximately 0.015 m. by 0.010 m.; but the majority are much smaller than these. They are very variable and irregular in form; but their inner face is generally convex, sometimes almost pyramidal, while the outer face of the few which have been examined is slightly convex, more or less flattened, without any trace of regular markings.

In microscopical structure the dermal ossicles are of much interest, and I have examined both horizontal and vertical sections, one of the former kindly prepared by Prof. Charles Stewart. The tissue is traversed in all directions by a dense mass of interlacing bundles of connective-tissue fibres, which exhibit an entirely irregular disposition, except quite at the periphery of the ossicle. Here they are less dense, and are arranged in such a manner as to form at least one darkened zone concentric with the margin in the comparatively translucent border. Occasionally, but not at all points, the fibres in this peripheral area may be observed to radiate regularly outwards. Numerous small vascular canals, frequently branching, are cut in various directions; and the bony tissue, which is developed in every part of the ossicle, exhibits abundant lacunæ. Nearly everywhere, except in the narrow peripheral area just mentioned, it is easy to recognise the bony laminæ arranged in Haversian systems round the canals; and most of the lacunæ between these laminæ are excessively elongated, with very numerous branching canaliculi, which extend at right angles to their longer axis. Near the margin of the ossicle, especially in its more translucent parts, the bone-lacunæ are less elongated, more irregular in shape, and apparently not arranged in any definite order. There is no clear evidence of bony laminæ concentric with the outer margin, though appearances are sometimes suggestive of this arrangement. A vertical section of an ossicle presents exactly the same features as the horizontal section now described. It is thus evident that the vascular canals with their Haversian systems of bone have no definite direction, but are disposed in an entirely irregular manner.

Taking into consideration all characters, and making comparisons with the aid of my friend Mr. W. E. de Winton, I am inclined to regard the fragmentary specimen as the skin of the neck and shoulder-region with part of the left cheek. The apparent bilateral symmetry between at least part of the thickened anterior outer angles of the specimen has already been noted; and if this observation be well founded, the middle line of the back extends vertically down the middle of the photograph, p. 306. If the rounded notch above B be the base of the external ear, as seems probable, the thick wrinkled skin (C) with fine short hair still further to the left must be the cheek. The ear and cheek on the right side have been removed; but at the base of the outwardly-turned angle on this side of the specimen there are the very long hairs which occupy a similar position on the left. It thus seems possible to estimate the transverse measurement between the ears as from 0.25 m. to 0.30 m., which corresponds with a tentative estimate of the same distance in _Mylodon robustus_ based on a skull in the British Museum.

(b) _Comparisons and General Conclusions._

The skin now described differs from that of all known terrestrial Mammalia, except certain Edentata, in the presence of a bony dermal armour. There can therefore be little doubt that the specimen has been rightly referred to a member of this typically South American order. Even among the Edentates, however, the fragment now under consideration is unique in one respect; for all the ossicles are buried deeply in the lower half of the thickened dermis and the hairs are implanted in every part of its upper half, whereas all the forms of bony armour hitherto described in this order reach the outer surface of the dermis and are merely invested with horny epidermis. This is the case, as is well known, in the common existing Armadillos, in which the hair is only implanted in the dermis between the separate parts of the armour. Even in the unique and remarkable skin of an Armadillo from Northern Brazil, described by Milne-Edwards under the name of _Scleropleura bruneti_[34] the bony plates and tubercles are still covered only by epidermis, although most of them are reduced to small nodules and might well have sunk more deeply into the abnormally hairy skin. There is also reason to believe that in the gigantic extinct Armadillos of the family Glyptodontidæ the same arrangement of dermal structures prevailed; for one specimen of _Panochthus tuberculatus_ obtained by Dr. Moreno for the La Plata Museum actually shows the dried horny epidermis in direct contact with the underlying bone, and seems to prove that the numerous perforations in the Glyptodont dermal armour were not for the implantation of hairs (as once supposed), but for the passage of blood-vessels to the base of the epidermal layer. Similarly, among the extinct Ground-Sloths of the family Mylodontidæ dermal ossicles have been found with the remains of _Cœlodon_[35] and various forms (perhaps different subgenera) of _Mylodon_; but the only examples of this armour yet definitely described[36] exhibit a conspicuously sculptured outer flattened face, and it thus seems clear that Burmeister was correct in describing them as originally reaching the upper surface of the dermis and only covered externally by a thickened epidermis. It is, however, to be noted that Burmeister himself actually observed armour of this kind covering only the lumbar region of the trunk. He believed that the other parts of the animal were similarly armoured, because he had found "the same ossicles" on the digits of the manus, where they were "generally smaller and more spherical"; but he unfortunately omits to make any explicit statement as to the presence or absence of the characteristic external ornamentation on the latter.

The omission just mentioned is especially unfortunate, because on careful comparison it is evident that the irregular disposition of the small ossicles in the piece of skin now under consideration is most closely paralleled in the dermal armour of the extinct _Mylodon_, as already observed by Drs. Moreno and Ameghino. There is obviously no approach in this specimen to the definite and symmetrical arrangement of the armour such as is exhibited both by the existing Armadillos and the extinct Glyptodonts. There are, then, two possibilities. Either the dermal armour of _Mylodon_ varied in different parts of the body, being sculptured and covered only by epidermis in the lumbar region, while less developed, not sculptured but completely buried in the dermis in the comparatively flexible neck and shoulder region--in which case Dr. Moreno may be correct in referring the problematical specimen to _Mylodon_; or the dermal ossicles of this extinct genus may have been uniform throughout, only differing in size and sparseness or compactness--in which case Dr. Ameghino is justified in proposing to recognise a distinct genus, _Neomylodon_.

To decide between these two possibilities, it is necessary to wait for additional information concerning the anterior dorsal armour of _Mylodon_ as precise as that published by Burmeister in reference to the lumbar shield. Meanwhile it must suffice to compare the microscopical structure of the ossicles from the new skin with that of the small sculptured tubercles of undoubted _Mylodon_. It must be remembered that the specimen has been buried in the Pampa Formation for a long period, and that the oxides of iron and manganese have infiltrated the margin of the bone, rendering the structure of its outer border more conspicuous than that of its central portion. It must also be noted that some of the manganese has assumed its familiar "dendritic" aspect, in this respect presenting appearances not due to original structure. The calcified interlacing fibres of connective tissue are as abundant here as in the ossicle of the so-called _Neomylodon_; but in a very wide peripheral area they exhibit a marked radial disposition, nearly everywhere extending in bundles at right angles to the border. Rather large vascular canals, infiltrated with the oxides of iron and manganese, are observed in places, often bifurcated and usually bordered by a transparent zone free from the connective-tissue fibres. Well-developed bone-lacunæ are very abundant, many exhibiting short branching canaliculi, and most of the others very irregular in shape, evidently furnished with canaliculi which cannot be seen from lack of infiltration. The lacunæ are never much elongated, and are not arranged in distinctly differentiated Haversian systems in any part of the section; while the only regular disposition of the bony laminæ is traceable near the circumference, where the lacunæ are frequently arranged or clustered in parallel zones concentric with the border. A vertical section of one of the same specimens shows the connective-tissue fibres radiating outwards towards the lateral margins, but not directly towards the upper sculptured face. There are no bony laminæ clearly parallel with the latter face, and at least one vascular canal in transverse section seems to be the centre of a Haversian system.

The histological structure of the ossicles in the skin now under consideration thus resembles that of the sculptured tubercles of _Mylodon_ in all essential features, but differs in two noteworthy respects. In the ossicles of the so-called _Neomylodon_, as already described, the fibres of connective tissue do not exhibit much definite radiation towards the lateral margin; while the bony tissue at most points is disposed in definite Haversian systems. There is thus enough discrepancy to justify the suspicion that the new and the old specimens do not belong to the same animal. In fact, so far as the differentiation of the dermal bone is concerned, the so-called _Neomylodon_ is precisely intermediate between _Mylodon_ and the existing Armadillo (_Dasypus_); sections of the scutes of the latter animal, both in the Royal College of Surgeons and in the British Museum, showing that in this genus nearly the whole of the osseous tissue is arranged in Haversian systems, although abundant interlacing connective-tissue fibres are still entangled in it, at least near the border.

If the characteristic dermal armature does not suffice for the definite expression of an opinion as to the precise affinities of the specimen, a still less satisfactory result can be expected from a comparison of the hair. For, in the first place, no hair has hitherto been discovered in association with the skeleton of any extinct Ground-Sloth; while, secondly, the hairy covering of a mammal is perhaps that part of its organisation most readily adapted to the immediate circumstances of its life. So far as their endo-skeleton is concerned, the extinct Mylodonts and their allies are precisely intermediate between the existing Sloths and Anteaters; they combine "the head and dentition of the former with the structure of the vertebral column, limbs, and tail of the latter."[37] It might therefore be supposed that the hair of this extinct group would exhibit some of the peculiarities of that in one or other of its nearest surviving relatives. The epidermal covering of the piece of skin now described, however, entirely lacks the under-fur which is so thick in the Sloths; while the structure of each individual hair, with its smooth cuticle and lack of a medulla, is strikingly different from that observed both in the Sloths and Anteaters, and identical with that of the hair in the surviving Armadillos. The large hair in the Sloths and _Tamandua_ exhibits a conspicuously scaly cuticle; while that of _Myrmecophaga_ is remarkable for its very large medulla. All these animals now live in the tropics, either in forests or swamps, whereas the Patagonian animal must have existed under circumstances much like those under which the Armadillos still survive. Hence the characters of the hair of the so-called _Neomylodon_ may be of no great importance in determining the affinities of the animal, but may represent a special adaptation to its immediate environment.

Finally, there is the question of the antiquity of the problematical skin. On two occasions I have examined the mummified remains of the extinct Mammoth and Rhinoceros from Siberia in the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg; I have also carefully studied the remains of the neck and legs of the Moa from a cavern in New Zealand, now in the British Museum. Compared with these shrivelled and dried specimens, the piece of skin from Patagonia has a remarkably fresh and modern aspect; and I should unhesitatingly express the opinion that it belonged to an animal killed shortly before Dr. Moreno recognised its interest, had he not been able to give so circumstantial an account of its discovery and strengthened his point of view by recording the occurrence of a human mummy of an extinct race in another cavern in the same district. The presence of an abundant covering of dried serum on one cut border of the skin is alone suggestive of grave doubts as to the antiquity of the specimen; but Dr. Vaughan Harley tells me that similar dried serum has been observed several times among the remains of the Egyptian mummies, and there seems thus to be no limit to the length of time for which it can be preserved, provided it is removed from all contact with moisture. I may add that I have searched in vain in the writings of Ramon Lista (so far as they are represented in the Library of the Royal Geographical Society) for some reference to the statement which the late traveller made verbally to Dr. Ameghino; and as the piece of skin now described certainly represents an animal almost gigantic in size compared with the Old-World Pangolin, I fear it cannot be claimed to belong to Lista's problematical quadruped, whatever that may prove to be.

The final result of these brief considerations is therefore rather disappointing. There are difficulties in either of the two possible hypotheses. We have a piece of skin quite large enough to have belonged to the extinct _Mylodon_; but unfortunately it cannot be directly compared with the dermal armour of that genus, because it seems to belong to the neck-region, while the only dermal tubercles of a Mylodont hitherto definitely made known are referable to the lumbar region. If it does belong to _Mylodon_, as Dr. Moreno maintains, it implies either that this genus survived in Patagonia to a comparatively recent date, or that the circumstances of preservation were unique in the cavern where the specimen was discovered. On the other hand, if it belongs to a distinct and existing genus, as Dr. Ameghino maintains--and as most of the characters of the specimen itself would at first sight suggest--it is indeed strange that so large and remarkable a quadruped should have hitherto escaped detection in a country which has been so frequently visited by scientific explorers.

* * * * *

[P.S.--At the reading of this paper Prof. Ray Lankester remarked that he should regard the characters of the hair as specially important, and would not be surprised if the problematical piece of skin proved to belong to an unknown type of Armadillo. This possibility had occurred to me, but I had hesitated to mention it on account of the considerable discrepancy observable between the arrangement of the bony armour in _Neomylodon_ and that in the known Glyptodonts and the unique Brazilian Armadillo (_Scleropleura_), which happen to exhibit an incompletely developed (incipient or vestigial) shield. In each of the latter cases, the armour is not subdivided into a compact mass of irregular ossicles, but consists of well-separated elements which could only become continuous by the addition of a considerable extent of bone round their margins, or by the special development of smaller intervening ossicles.

Since the paper was read, I have had the privilege of studying Dr. Einar Lönnberg's valuable description of the pieces of the problematical skin mentioned by Dr. Moreno as having been taken to Upsala by Dr. Otto Nordenskjöld.[38] It appears that with the skin was found the epidermal sheath of a large unknown claw, which may have belonged to the same animal. This specimen proves to be different from that of any existing Sloth, Anteater, or Armadillo, and is considered by Dr. Lönnberg to belong probably to the hind foot of a Mylodont, which did not walk on the exterior, lateral surfaces of the toes to the same extent as _Mylodon_. In a section of the skin provisionally ascribed to the leg, he observes that the small ossicles are very irregular, and shows two instances in which two are placed one above the other. In microscopical sections of the ossicles, however, he does not find the distinct Haversian systems of bone so conspicuous in my slides; and hence he fails to remark the differences between the structure of the armour in _Neomylodon_ and _Mylodon_, which seem to me to be particularly noteworthy. His so-called "pigment cellules" in _Mylodon_ are the dendritic infiltrations of oxide of manganese and stains of oxide of iron, to which I have made special reference. His observations as to the absence of a medulla in the hair confirm my own; but I have not seen any evidence of the suspected loss or disintegration of the hair-cuticle. Finally, Dr. Lönnberg has boiled a piece of the skin, thereby extracting glue, "which proves that the collagen and gelatinous substances are perfectly preserved." The latter observation confirms the evidence of the serum recorded above, and indicates that if the specimen is "of any considerable age, it must have been very well protected against moisture and bacteria."--A. S. W.]

III. DESCRIPTION OF ADDITIONAL DISCOVERIES.

By A. SMITH WOODWARD.[39]

Last February, when presenting to the Zoological Society an account of the skin of a Ground-Sloth discovered in a cavern in Southern Patagonia, Dr. Moreno mentioned that further excavations were being made in the hope of finding other remains of the same animal. The task referred to was undertaken by Dr. Rudolph Hauthal, geologist of the La Plata Museum, who met with complete success.[40] He not only found another piece of skin, but also various broken bones of more than one individual of a large species of Ground-Sloth in a remarkably fresh state of preservation. Moreover, he discovered teeth of an extinct horse and portions of limb-bones of a large feline carnivore, in association with these remains; he likewise met with traces of fire, which clearly occurred in the same deposits as the so-called _Neomylodon_. All these remains were found beneath the dry earth on the floor of an enormous chamber which seemed to have been artificially enclosed by rude walls. In one spot they were scattered through a thick deposit of excrement of some gigantic herbivore, evidently the Ground-Sloth itself; in another spot they were associated with an extensive accumulation of cut hay. Dr. Hauthal and his colleagues, indeed, concluded that the cavern was an old corral in which the Ground-Sloths had been kept and fed by man.

As the result of these explorations, Dr. Moreno has now the gratification of exhibiting to the Society complete proof that the piece of skin described on the former occasion belongs to a genuine Pampean Ground-Sloth, not _Mylodon_ itself, but a very closely related genus _Grypotherium_, of which skulls are already known from Pampean deposits in the Province of Buenos Aires.[41] The collection which we now have the privilege of examining distinctly supports his contention that the large quadruped in question belongs to an extinct fauna, though contemporary with man. The discovery is thus unique in the history of palæontology, on account of the remarkably fresh state of preservation of all the remains. Some of the new specimens exhibit no indication whatever of having been buried. Many of the bones retain their original whitish colour, apparently without any loss of gelatine; while both these and other bones, which have evidently been entombed in brownish dust, bear numerous remnants not only of the dried periosteum, but also of shrivelled muscles, ligaments, and cartilages. Very few of the bones are fossilised, in the ordinary sense of the term.

An admirable brief description of this collection has already been published (_op. cit._) by Dr. Roth, who was the first to recognise the generic identity of _Neomylodon_ with _Grypotherium_. Some of the specimens, however, are worthy of a more detailed examination; and Dr. Moreno has kindly entrusted them to me for study in connection with the collections in the British Museum and the Royal College of Surgeons. The following notes, supplementing Dr. Roth's original memoir, are the result of this further investigation.

1. REMAINS OF _GRYPOTHRIUM LISTAI_.

_Number of Individuals._

Among the fragmentary bones of the Ground-Sloth, it is easy to recognise evidence of three individuals, which do not differ much in size. There are three distinct examples of the occiput and fragments of the dentigerous portion of three mandibles. It is also noteworthy that the three malar bones preserved are all different in shape, while three corresponding fragments of the acromial process of the scapula differ in size. One portion of maxilla seems to represent a fourth individual, being probably too small for either of the skulls to which the occiputs belong. Finally, as Dr. Roth has pointed out, one shaft of a humerus, which appears to be the bone of an adult, belongs to a much smaller animal than is indicated by any other specimen in the collection.

Remains of three individuals are thus recognisable with certainty; two others can probably be distinguished; while some of the fragments may even belong to a sixth specimen. It must also be noted that other portions of jaws are said to have been discovered by E. Nordenskjöld.[42]

_Skull and Mandible._

The largest portion of cranium (No. 1) is not stained in any way, and does not retain a trace of the material in which it was buried in any hollow or crevice. It does not appear to have been damaged during excavation, but exhibits fractures which were almost certainly made when the animal was freshly killed. The cranial roof near the occipital region is battered in four places, though the injuries do not affect the brain-case itself; while the right occipital condyle is partly removed by a sharp, clean cut. There can, indeed, be no doubt that the animal was killed and cut to pieces by man.

This skull is evidently that of an adult animal, all the sutures in the hinder region being closed. The inner wall of the temporal fossa is much flattened, without any irregular convexities, but marked with the characteristic reticulately-decussating, fine ridges of bone, and studded with adherent patches of muscle-fibre. The upper border of the fossa is a remarkably sharp edge, while the narrow flattened cranial roof is only marked by a faint longitudinal median furrow and by a diminutive tuft of fibre in a small median pit near the occipital edge.[43] The fractures exhibit the very large cancellated chambers surrounding the brain-case dorso-laterally; while a median longitudinal section shows both these cells and others in the basi-sphenoid. The basi-cranial axis is nearly straight, inclining a little upwards in front. The anterior condyloid foramina piercing the basi-occipital are remarkably large, as usual; the basi-sphenoid is very long and narrow, flattened mesially on its lower face, but with one slight median prominence near its hinder end; the pre-sphenoid forms a short acute rostrum, above which there are remains of the vomer. The hinder ends of the pterygoids are shown to be inflated with large cancellæ, but the sides of the base of the skull are somewhat obscured by the dried soft parts. The mastoid process of the periotic, with its articular facette for the stylohyal, seems to be rather smaller than in _Mylodon_. The tympanic bone is preserved on the right side, though wanting on the left. It is an irregular curved plate only slightly bullate, but forming a complete floor to the tympanic cavity. As usual in Edentata, it is not produced into an auditory meatus.

The right maxilla (No. 4) is in precisely the same state of preservation as the specimen just described, and probably belongs to the same skull. Its anterior margin is perfectly preserved, indicating that the facial region is very short in front of the anterior end of the zygomatic arch, which is pierced by a rather large suborbital canal. Its upper border proves that the nasal region was raised into a slightly convex dome; while its antero-superior angle is not rounded as in _Mylodon_, but curves upwards and forwards and ends in a point as in _Grypotherium_. At the oral border there are the shattered bases of four teeth.

A fragment of the nasal region (No. 13) may also have belonged to the same skull, but its state of preservation is a little different from that of the two specimens just described. It has clearly been buried in a powdery deposit, which has stained it brown; but the enveloping dust must have been extremely dry, for fragments of cartilage adhere to it, as well preserved as in the nasal chamber of the cranium itself (No. 1). It also bears traces of the integument.

Judging by the figures of the skull of _Grypotherium_ published by Reinhardt (_loc. cit._), this specimen seems to have occupied an anterior position in the nasal region. It is thus of great interest, because the three known skulls of _Grypotherium_ leave the precise nature of the bony arcade separating the narial openings undecided. According to Reinhardt, the nasal bones terminate as in _Mylodon_, and the arcade is an element interposed between them and the premaxillæ. According to Burmeister, the nasals themselves extend forwards and constitute the greater part, if not the whole, of the problematical bar. The fragment now under consideration is clearly in favour of the latter interpretation. Its lower thickened end is a massive bone, not bilaterally symmetrical, and not showing any trace of a median suture. Its inferior face is irregular and roughened, and can scarcely be regarded as an articular facette. Its upper portion consists of a pair of bones separated by a very well-marked median longitudinal suture. These are not thickened at their contracted upper end, where they have evidently been broken, and are not quite bilaterally symmetrical. They doubtless fuse at their lower end with the problematical azygous bone already mentioned, but the arrangement is obscured by the enveloping soft parts. A pair of bones, which may be regarded as nasals, thus extend forwards in a narrow arch to a point just above the anterior end of the premaxillæ; while the massive bone effecting a union between the two normal pairs of elements is probably an ossification in the internasal septum. It is interesting to note that there is an incipient trace of a similar forward production of the nasals in the genus _Scelidotherium_; while there is sometimes an ossification of the internasal septum in _Megatherium_.[44]

The three specimens now described, when placed approximately in their natural positions, afford a very satisfactory idea of the form and proportions of the skull when complete. The malar bone is the only important part to be added; but unfortunately it is impossible to decide which of the three specimens of this element in the collection belongs to the individual now under consideration. As already mentioned, these three bones are all different in the shape and proportions of the hinder bifurcated end. They are all very fresh in appearance, but have been stained reddish-brown by the earth in which they must have been buried.

The hinder portion of the second skull already mentioned (No. 2) comprises the occiput and brain-case as far forward as the front of the cerebral hemispheres. It is much battered and broken, and in quite as fresh a state as the cranium already described, with a considerable investment of dried soft parts on its base. It is only very slightly smaller than No. 1, but is of interest as exhibiting some of the sutures, besides a roundness and smoothness indicative of immaturity. The supraoccipital is shown to be very large; a small median point of it enters the foramen magnum, while the suture separating it from the parietals and squamosals extends along the rounded lambdoidal ridge. The horizontally extended suture between the squamosal and parietal on the inner wall of the temporal fossa is seen in the position where Owen determined it to occur in _Mylodon_.[45] Both tympanics are preserved, but they are more obscured by soft parts than in No. 1.

To this cranium probably belongs a detached portion of the left side of the facial region (No. 5), in a similar state of preservation and slightly smaller than the maxilla (No. 4). The suture between the frontal and the maxilla still persists, while the oral border is preserved farther forward than in the last-mentioned specimen, showing a fragment of the much-reduced premaxilla united with the maxilla by a jagged suture.

The third imperfect occiput is about as large as the immature specimen No. 2, but does not exhibit any features worthy of special note.

The largest and most important portions of the mandible are Nos. 9 and 11, which evidently belong to the right and left rami of one and the same jaw. They are much broken and are in the same fresh condition as the skulls, with traces of the periosteum and even considerable portions of the soft parts of the gum. The right ramus is preserved sufficiently far forwards to show that there was no caniniform tooth in front of the series of four ordinary molars. Judging by the extent of the latter series, the specimen probably belongs to the same individual as the skull No. 1.

Another portion of a mandibular ramus (No. 10) of the left side is slightly smaller than the last and may well have belonged to the immature individual No. 2. It is similarly quite fresh in appearance, and bears the shrivelled remains of the gum. It is interesting as exhibiting the two posterior molars slightly different in shape from those of the former mandible. In this specimen the longer axis of the third molar is oblique, whereas in No. 9 it is coincident with the axis of the mandible; while in the former the fourth molar is not so long in proportion to its width as in the latter. Such slight differences, however, cannot be regarded in the Edentata as more than individual variations.

_Brain-cavity and Cerebral Nerves._

By the kind permission of Dr. Moreno, the cranium No. 1 has been vertically bisected to display the character of the cranial cavity and the nerve-foramina. An instructive plaster-cast of the cavity has thus been made by Mr. C. Barlow, the Formatore of the British Museum.

The olfactory lobes are shown to have been well developed, projecting a little in front of the cerebral hemispheres. These hemispheres are together somewhat longer than broad, slightly broader behind than in front, and a little constricted in the middle. They do not overlap the cerebellum, which is relatively large. The origins of the nerves are very imperfectly shown in the cast; only their exits from the cranial cavity are clear. The most interesting are the optic and trigeminal nerves, which pass out of the cranial cavity at first by a common exit, which is soon subdivided by a bony partition into two canals, the former no less than 0.08 m., the latter 0.045 m. in length. The fourth, seventh, eighth and twelfth nerves are also recognisable on the cast; and one prominence of plaster has filled the foramen lacerum posterius.

Compared with the brains of _Mylodon_ and _Scelidotherium_, so far as known from casts of the cranial cavity,[46] that of _Grypotherium_ is observed to be more elongated, with less divergent and prominent olfactory lobes, less constricted cerebral hemispheres, and a larger cerebellum. In the form and proportions of the cerebrum and cerebellum, it similarly differs from _Megatherium_.[47] The cerebral hemispheres of the existing _Cholœpus didactylus_ and _Bradypus tridactylus_[48] are more tapering forward, and their cerebellum is relatively smaller than in _Grypotherium_.

_Auditory Ossicles._

The auditory ossicles were preserved in the tympanic cavities of both skulls, Nos. 1 and 2, being retained by the dried soft parts. They were detected by Prof. Charles Stewart, who kindly extracted them, with great skill, from both sides of each skull. Comparing these ossicles with the fine collection in the Royal College of Surgeons, they prove to be closely similar to those of all the existing Sloths, but most nearly resembling those of _Cholœpus didactylus_. The malleus is bent exactly as in the latter species, and is of similar shape. As observed by Prof. Stewart, it is remarkable in articulating with the incus not only by the head, but also by a diminutive lower facet, which is in contact with a small facetted process on the anterior arm of the incus. A feeble indication of the same secondary articulation is also observable in _Cholœpus_; but it is curiously absent in the second specimen of _Grypotherium_. The two divergent arms of the incus are equal in length, as usual in the Sloths. The stapes is only very slightly perforated in both specimens; while a small circular disc firmly fixed to the incus represents the orbicular bone in the second skull. The auditory ossicles of _Grypotherium_, therefore, are very different from those of _Myrmecophaga_, in which the malleus is less sharply bent, the incus has divergent arms of unequal length, and the stapes exhibits a large perforation.[49]

_Vertebræ and Limb-bones._

Nearly all the remains of vertebræ and limb-bones are in the same state of preservation as the portions of skull and mandible already described, with adherent cartilage and traces of muscles and ligaments. With some of the ungual phalanges there are also well-preserved examples of the epidermal sheath. As already remarked by Roth, the edges of one sheath probably belonging to the fourth digit of the manus, are quite sharp, and indicate that if the animal walked on its fore feet it resembled _Myrmecophaga_ in the peculiar twist of the manus.

All the specimens in this series seem to have been accurately determined and sufficiently described by Roth. It is only necessary to emphasise the fact that the two shafts of humerus with abraded, not sharply broken, ends have a much more fossilised appearance than any other specimen in the collection, and are deeply stained throughout by ferruginous matter. The small shaft, No. 22, certainly seems to have belonged to an adult animal, as remarked by Roth, and it was probably much smaller than any individual indicated by the other remains.

_Skin and Hair._

The new piece of skin, which is stated by Hauthal to have been found in the deposit of excrement, is not quite so well preserved as the original piece. It is much folded in an irregular manner; and the hair, which is yellower than in the previous specimen, is preserved only in patches on the outer face. It must have been stripped from the body of the animal by man; but the only distinct marks of tools, which were evidently made when the skin was fresh, are a few indents and small pits on the outer face. The indents must have been made by oblique thrusts of a stick, or a small, blunt, chisel-shaped instrument. The small pittings are nearer the middle of the specimen and less conspicuous. A vacuity in the skin seems to be due to accidental tearing or to a thrust after it was dry: it may even have been caused by the fallen blocks of stone found lying upon it.

The specimen, as preserved, measures about a metre across in one direction by 93 centimetres in another direction. As already observed by Roth, its irregular folding makes the determination of its position on the trunk very difficult; but I am convinced that its state of preservation is not sufficiently good to justify an attempt to unfold the skin by the ordinary method of steaming. Taking all facts into consideration, Roth seems to be correct in ascribing it to the right flank and the postero-superior part of one of the limbs. It most probably belongs to the fore limb, as Roth supposes; but there is no clear proof that it is not referable to the hind-quarters.

The original situation of the piece of skin being thus determined, it is interesting to observe the disposition of the ossicles in the lower layer. Owing to abrasion, contraction, and partial disintegration, they are conspicuous in most parts of the specimen. They are very irregular in shape and size, and closely compacted together, as in the previous specimen. It is, however, to be noted that in some parts there is a distinct tendency to arrangement in regular, straight, parallel rows. The long axes of the elongated ossicles are nearly always coincident with the direction of these rows. They are especially well shown on the middle of the flank; and, as might be expected, the rows are here disposed vertically, parallel with the ribs.

In some parts of the skin the ossicles are exposed on their outer face; but appearances render it almost certain that this exposure is due to the disintegration and abrasion of the specimen. In one patch thus uncovered by the removal of the soft parts, the ossicles are seen to form a closely arranged, flattened pavement; and their outer face is much more conspicuously marked by pittings than that of any ossicle extracted from the first discovered piece of skin. In fact, as Roth remarks, the pitting is here quite similar to that observable on many ossicles dug up in association with the fossil skeletons of _Mylodon_; though it does not form so regular a reticulate pattern as that of the dermal ossicles of _Mylodon_ in the British Museum figured on the former occasion.[50]

Another interesting feature of the new piece of skin consists in the dwindling and even total absence of the ossicles towards the ventral border. A section along the edge exhibits only two diminutive nodules of bone in a length of 0.1 m.; while another similar section taken vertically from the skin of the limb shows no trace of ossicles, except perhaps two little specks. It must, however, be noted that the limb was not entirely destitute of armour; for on the border the bones are as well developed and conspicuous as on the middle of the flank. In the newly-cut sections the skin has a translucent aspect, showing that it is merely dried and not tanned in any way.

The hair on the new specimen varies in length from 0.07 m. or 0.10 m. to 0.15 m. or 0.22 m. It is thus longer than that of the previous piece of skin. Masses of still longer hairs--some 0.30 m. in length--were found detached among the excrement, and these are also believed by Roth to belong to the same animal. His determination is probably correct; for, when examined microscopically, these long hairs are observed to have a perfectly smooth cuticle, while some transverse sections (kindly made by Mr. R. H. Burne) demonstrate the complete absence of a medulla, exactly as in the short hairs. The latter feature proves that they cannot be referred either to the horse or to the guanaco.

_Excrement._

The large cylindrical pieces of excrement, which may be referred to _Grypotherium_ without any hesitation, have already been described and figured by Dr. Roth. They consist of irregular discoids of herbaceous matter closely pressed together, the largest measuring no less than 0.18 m. in diameter. Mr. Spencer Moore has kindly examined them from the botanist's point of view and reports that they are composed "in large part apparently of grasses, as the haulms, leaf-sheaths, fragments of leaves, &c., of these plants are frequent in the mass. A spikelet, almost entire, of what seems to be a species of _Poa_, and the flowering glume of another grass, probably avenaceous, have also been found. Besides these there are at least two dicotyledonous plants, one herbaceous and the other almost certainly so, the latter having a slender greatly sclerotised stem. Unfortunately, as no leaves have hitherto been observed attached to the fragments of stem, their affinities are altogether doubtful. There are numerous silicious particles in the excrement, and there are many pieces of the underground parts of the plants, suggesting that they have been pulled out of the ground. A few pieces of stems are sharply cut, not bruised or torn at the end." The latter fact is especially important in connection with Dr. Hauthal's discovery of cut hay in the cavern, and his theory that the _Grypotherium_ was kept in captivity and fed by man.

_Generic and Specific Determination._

The fortunate discovery of all parts of the skull and dentition renders the generic determination of this Ground-Sloth now quite certain. The teeth show that it belongs to the family Mylodontidæ; the presence of only four instead of five upper molars separates it from the genera _Mylodon_, _Lestodon_, and _Scelidotherium_; the forward production of the nasals and the ossification of part of the internarial septum place it definitely in the allied genus _Grypotherium_, as originally diagnosed by Reinhardt. The only question needing consideration is, whether the fragment of cranium described by Owen in 1840 as the type of the genus _Glossotherium_[51] is really identical with that subsequently described by Reinhardt under the name of _Grypotherium darwini_, as now seems to be commonly believed.

Darwin's original specimen, on which the genus _Glossotherium_ of Owen was founded, is preserved in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. It has thus been possible to compare it directly with the undoubted cranium of _Grypotherium_ from the Patagonian cavern. The specimen is merely the left half of the hinder part of the cranium, and is therefore very inadequate for discussion; but several features seem worthy of note. Compared with the new skull No. 1, the fragment named _Glossotherium_ has (i.) the inner wall of the temporal fossa less flattened, (ii.) the digastric fossa deeper in proportion to its width, (iii.) the hinder border of the inflated pterygoid vertical, instead of sloping downwards and forwards, (iv.) a much larger and deeper pit for the articulation of the stylohyal, and (v.) a longer canal penetrating the base of the occipital condyle for the passage of the hypoglossal nerve. In all these respects the so-called _Glossotherium_ agrees much more closely with the typical _Mylodon_; and Owen was probably correct in 1842 when he expressed the opinion that the two are at least generically identical.[52]

I am therefore of opinion that _Grypotherium_ is the correct generic name for the Ground-Sloth from the Patagonian cavern, while _Glossotherium_ must be relegated to the synonymy of _Mylodon_.

The specific determination of the new specimens is more difficult. As remarked by Roth, only two species of _Grypotherium_ seem to be already known from the Pampa formation--_G. darwini_ by three skulls[53] and _G. bonaerense_ solely by a maxilla.[54] The portions of skull and dentition now under discussion indicate an animal much larger than _G. bonaerense_ (assuming the original maxilla to be that of an adult); while they are considerably smaller than any known specimen of _G. darwini_. Moreover, the nasal arcade now described is narrower and more concave on its outer face than that of _G. darwini_, as already observed by Roth. It thus seems very probable that the animal from the Patagonian cavern represents a distinct species, which must bear the name of _G. listai_. This specific name was given by Ameghino to a fragment of the first-discovered piece of skin, and the curious argument which leads Roth to propose the substitution of a new name for it does not affect its validity.

It may be added that Dr. Erland Nordenskjöld has recently compared his specimens from the Patagonian cavern with the skull of _Grypotherium darwini_ at Copenhagen, and finds no specific difference.[55] No particulars however, have yet been published.

2. ASSOCIATED MAMMALIAN REMAINS.

_Felis_, sp.

A feline carnivore larger than the existing Jaguar (_Felis onca_), but about the same size as an average Tiger (_F. tigris_), is represented in the collection by the distal half of a right humerus (No. 44), a left fourth metatarsal (No. 46), and the distal end of another metatarsal (No. 47). These bones have evidently been buried in dust, but are in the same fresh state of preservation as those of _Grypotherium_.

Careful comparison of these bones shows that they are undoubtedly feline; and there is no difficulty in determining that they belong to _Felis_ rather than to the extinct _Machærodus_. A humerus of _M. neogæus_, from a Brazilian cavern, now in the British Museum (No. 18972 _b_), is readily distinguished from the new Patagonian humerus by the remarkable lateral compression of its shaft and the much greater downward extension of its prominent and sharp deltoid ridge. The humerus in all the large species of _Felis_, on the other hand, only differs from the fossil now under discussion in very small particulars. In fact, the humerus and metatarsals of the existing _Felis onca_ are essentially identical with the bones from the Patagonian cavern, except that they are rather smaller. I am therefore inclined to regard the newly discovered remains as indicating a comparatively large variety of _F. onca_, which once lived in the temperate regions of Patagonia, beyond the present range of this species. Such an occurrence would be a precise parallel to that of the Cave-Lion in Europe. It is well known that nearly all the remains of _F. leo_ found in the Pleistocene formations of the temperate parts of the Old World indicate animals of somewhat larger size than any surviving in the warmer regions to which the species is now confined.[56]

It may be noted that bones of the Jaguar of ordinary dimensions have been recorded from the Pampa formation of the Province of Buenos Aires.[57]

_Arctotherium_, sp.

With the bones of _Felis_ just noticed, Roth provisionally associates the imperfect distal end of a remarkably large right femur. He is thus induced to suppose that the carnivore represented by the fragments will prove to be a new genus and species of the Felidæ. He suggests for it the name of _Iemisch listai_, on the assumption that it is the mysterious quadruped which Ameghino states is known to the natives as the Iemisch.

A comparison of the distal end of the femur in question with the femora of Felidæ in the British Museum seems to prove conclusively that it cannot be referred even to the same family. Its width across the condyles is much greater, compared with its antero-posterior diameter, than that observed in any feline. Moreover, the pit for the tendon of the popliteus muscle below the external condyle is unusually deep. In both these respects the bone closely resembles the distal end of the femur of a Bear. I have been therefore led to compare it with the corresponding part of the extinct Bear of the Pampean formation, _Arctotherium_.

Fortunately, the fine and nearly complete skeleton of _Arctotherium bonaerense_ in the Bravard Collection in the British Museum comprises the right femur and enables direct comparison to be made. The fragment lacks the inner condyle; but enough of the trochlea remains to show its broad and gently-rounded form, with a wide and deep intertrochlear notch, precisely as in _Arctotherium_. It has the same development of the external condyle as in the latter, while the fossa for the popliteal tendon is equally deep, only slightly differing in shape. In fact, there is very little discrepancy, except in its smaller size; and species of _Arctotherium_ smaller than _A. bonaerense_ are already known both from the Pampa formation of Argentina[58] and the caverns of Brazil.[59]

The fragment just described has evidently been severed from the rest of the bone by a sharp, clean cut made by man; and Dr. Hauthal is quite certain that this was not done by one of his workmen during excavation (_op. cit._ p. 59). At least one medium-sized species of _Arctotherium_ must therefore have survived until the human period in Southern Patagonia.[60]

_Onohippidium saldiasi._

A horse is represented in the collection by an upper molar, a fragment of premaxilla with two incisors, an imperfect atlas and two well-preserved hoofs apparently of a fœtus or perhaps of a newly-born animal. Of these remains only the upper molar is capable of satisfactory determination.

This tooth is the second upper molar of the left side, and has been exhaustively compared with corresponding teeth by Dr. Roth, who gives a good series of figures. It is readily distinguished from the homologous molar in the genus _Equus_ by the peculiar form of its two inner columns--a fact which I have been able to verify by the examination of an extensive series of specimens, both recent and fossil, in the British Museum. Further comparison, indeed, shows that it must be referred to the extinct Pampean genus _Onohippidium_.[61] Roth assigns it, apparently quite rightly, to the same species as a maxilla from the Pampean formation of the Province of Buenos Aires, for which he proposes the name of _Onohippidium saldiasi_.

_Large Extinct Rodent._

The proximal end of the femur of a large rodent has already been recognised by Roth, and compared with the extinct _Megamys_. It cannot be more exactly determined.

_Existing Species._

One imperfect fragment of pelvis and sacrum seems to belong to a puma (_Felis concolor_) of rather large size; but it is not sufficient for precise determination.

The small mandibular ramus of a musteline referred by Dr. Roth to _Mephitis suffocans_, does not pertain to this genus and species. Mr. Oldfield Thomas determines it to belong to the rare _Lyncodon patagonicus_, which still lives in Patagonia and has not hitherto been found fossil. A slightly larger extinct species of the same genus has been described by Ameghino on the evidence of a skull from the Pampean formation near Lujan, in the Province of Buenos Aires.[62]

A cranium, some vertebræ, and a tibia and fibula appear to represent the existing _Ctenomys magellanicus_, as noted by Roth.

The remains of the Guanaco (_Lama huanacos_) do not present any features worthy of special remark.

Man is represented by a diseased scapula and by two bone awls, which are clearly made from the tibia of a species of _Canis_ intermediate in size between _C. jubatus_ and _C. magellanicus_.

3. RELATIVE AGE OF THE REMAINS.

As the result of Dr. Roth's researches, supplemented by the additional observations now recorded, it is evident that the majority of the mammalian remains from the cavern near Last Hope Inlet belong to the extinct fauna which occurs in the Pampean formation of more northern regions. To this category are referable the genera _Grypotherium_, _Onohippidium_, _Megamys_, and _Arctotherium_; also _Macrauchenia_, which is said to have been discovered in the same deposit on the floor of the cave by Dr. E. Nordenskjöld. The large _Felis_ likewise probably belongs to the same series. Remains of mammals of the existing fauna, on the other hand, are comparatively few and insignificant, referable to the genera _Ctenomys_, _Cervus_, _Lama_, _Lyncodon_, and _Felis_.

Although Dr. Hauthal's explorations were rather hurried and Dr. Nordenskjöld's results have only been published hitherto in abstract,[63] their account of the deposits on the floor of the cavern seem to confirm the suspicion that the remains of these two faunas were introduced at two successive periods. According to Hauthal, the remains of the Guanaco were found along with fragmentary bones of Deer, shells of _Mytilus chorus_, branches of trees, and dried leaves, in the superficial dust of the cavern near the outer wall. The skin of _Grypotherium_ and all the other remains of this and the associated Pampean genera were discovered in the deeper layer of excrement and cut hay between the mound and the inner wall of the cavern. According to Nordenskjöld, three distinct strata can be recognised on the floor of the cavern as follows:

A. A thin surface layer, containing ashes, shells, and bones of recent animals broken by man.

B. A middle layer, containing numerous branches of trees and dried leaves, with remains of _Lama_ and the extinct horse, _Onohippidium_. Said to be probably the stratum in which the original piece of skin was found.

C. A bottom layer, usually about a metre in thickness, without any traces of branches or leaves, but only dried herbs. Remains of _Grypotherium_ numerous and confined to this stratum, associated with its excrement and hair, also with remains of a large variety of _Felis onca_, _Macrauchenia_, and _Onohippidium_.

It is unfortunate that the question of the contemporaneity of the various bones cannot be tested by the ingenious method of chemical analysis which has been applied with success to similar problems by M. Adolphe Carnot in France. The French chemist has shown that when bones are buried in ordinary sediments they undergo changes which gradually cause the percentage of contained fluorine to increase. According to him, the longer a bone has been buried, the greater is the percentage of fluorine found in it on analysis. In one case[64] he examined the scapula of a deer and a human tibia, discovered together in fluviatile sand near Billancourt (Seine); he found that the former had seven or eight times its usual percentage of fluorine, while the human bone did not differ in any respect from the normal in this constituent. He therefore concluded that the latter bone was not of the same age as the former, but had been introduced comparatively recently by burial. In this and the other recorded cases, however, it is to be observed that the sediment was of a uniform character and admitted of free percolation of water. In the Patagonian cavern, on the contrary, the bones occur partly in dust, partly in dried herbage, partly in dried excrement, and partly in the burnt residue of the same. Moreover, they must always have been subjected to intense dryness, and the usual process of chemical alteration cannot have taken place.

Considering all circumstances, I think that, even without chemical evidence, zoologists and geologists cannot fail now to agree with Dr. Moreno and his colleagues of the La Plata Museum, that the remarkably preserved _Grypotherium_ from the Patagonian cavern belongs to the extinct Pampean fauna of South America, and need not be searched for in the unexplored wilds of that continent. If we accept the confirmatory evidence afforded by Mr. Spencer Moore, we can also hardly refuse to believe that this great Ground-Sloth was actually kept and fed by an early race of man.

IV. NOTE CONCERNING TEHUELCHE LEGENDS.

By HESKETH PRICHARD.

I now proceed to give the testimony of Dr. F. Ameghino, whose brother Carlos was well acquainted with the country and who early gave it as his opinion that the animal, which is named the _Neomylodon listai_, was still living in Patagonia. In support of his opinion he adduced tales which Carlos Ameghino had gathered from the Indians, who roam the pampas, of a vast mysterious beast said by them to haunt the distant lagoons and forests of the unexplored regions near the Andes. These stories had, moreover, been confirmed in Dr. Ameghino's opinion by the experience of the late well-known geographer and traveller, Señor Ramon Lista, who verbally told both Dr. Ameghino and his brother that he had seen and fired at a mysterious creature, which, however, disappeared in the brushwood and could not afterwards be traced. He described it as being covered with reddish-grey hair, and he believed it to be a pangolin or scaly-anteater.[65] Taking all things into consideration, Dr. Ameghino announced his conviction that the mysterious animal referred to was the last representative of a group, long believed extinct, related to the Mylodon.

According to Dr. Ameghino the Indians had bestowed upon the mysterious animal the name of Iemisch. Nothing would induce them to penetrate into the supposed haunts of this monster. It was described as amphibious, equally at home on land or in the water; in remote mountain recesses it lurked in caves, or had its lairs by the shores of lonely lagoons and rivers, or at times lay in wait among the lower passes of the Cordillera. In habits it was nocturnal, and its strength so great that it could seize a horse in its claws, and hold itself down to the bottoms of the lakes! The head was supposed to be short and without external ears, but showing enormous dog-teeth: the feet short and bear-like, armed with formidable claws united by a swimming membrane; the long tail, tapering and prehensile, the hair hard and of a uniform yellowish-brown. In size it far exceeded any creature they knew of, its legs, though short, being almost as great in girth as its body. It followed, naturally that narratives of personal experiences and encounters with this terrific animal were varied.

These data, it must be confessed, were bewildering. In fact, as described by the Indians the Iemisch was scientifically absurd; but the Indian is like a child in many ways and would naturally endow a creature he feared with extraordinary attributes.

I will quote here an extract from Winwood Reade's "Savage Africa," one of the finest books of travel ever written.

"It must be laid down as a general principle that man can originate nothing; that lies are always truths embellished, distorted, or turned inside out. There are other facts beside those which lie on the surface, and it is the duty of the traveller and the historian to sift and wash the gold-grains of truth from the dirt of fable.... It is true that some of the ancient myths have been sobered down to natural beings. The men with dogs' heads of whom Herodotus speaks are the barking baboons which I saw in Senegal: the men with their head under their shoulders, their eyes in their breast, are the ill-formed negroes, whose shoulders are shrugged up, and whose heads drop on their breasts: the mermaids of the Arab tales are the sea-cows of the African rivers, which have feminine dugs and a face almost human in expression: the huge serpent which opposed the army of Regulus is now well known as the python: the burning mountains which Hanno saw, and the sounds of the lutes which were believed to proceed from the strife of the elements, are only caused by the poor negroes burning the grass of their hill-tops: the music being that of their flutes, as I have heard it often in those long and silent African nights far away.

"Incredulity has now become so vulgar a folly, that one is almost tempted, out of simple hatred for a fashion, to run into the opposite extreme. However, I shall content myself with citing evidence respecting certain unknown, fabulous and monstrous animals of Africa, without committing myself to an opinion one way or the other; preserving only my conviction that there is always a basis of truth to the most fantastic fables, and that, by rejecting without inquiry that which appears incredible, one throws away ore in which others might have found a jewel. A traveller should believe nothing, for he will find himself so often deceived: and he should disbelieve nothing, for he will see so many wonderful things; he should doubt, he should investigate, and then, perhaps, he may discover."

It was in this spirit that I set out for the interior of Patagonia. Although the legends of the Indians were manifestly to a large extent the result of imaginative exaggeration, yet I hoped to find a substratum of fact below these fancies. After thorough examination, however, I am obliged to say that I found none. The Indians not only never enter the Cordillera but avoid the very neighbourhood of the mountains. The rumours of the Iemisch and the stories concerning it, which, in print, had assumed a fairly definite form, I found nebulous in the extreme when investigated on the spot.

Finally, after much investigation I came to the conclusion that the Indian legends in all probability refer to some large species of otter. Musters, in his book "At Home with the Patagonians," makes mention of an animal much feared by the tribe with whom he travelled, which they called "water-tiger," and which they said lived in a rapid and deep river near to Nahuel-huapi, a lake the name of which lends colour to the tale, for it means Tigers' Island. Musters says he himself saw two ostriches, that, being considered in too poor a condition to be worth taking to camp for food, were left on the bank of the river referred to, torn and partly devoured when on the following day he and his party revisited the spot. Tracks of an animal were also plainly visible leading down into the water.

Compare this with a story told me by Mr. Von Plaaten Hallermund. He described the case of a mule which had fallen over a precipice in the vicinity of the River Deseado. When on the following day the _peones_ climbed down to salve its cargo, they found the animal on the edge of the water half eaten, and in its neighbourhood were tracks strange to them. "Like those of a puma, yet not those of a puma," as they said.

The manager of Messrs. Braun and Blanchard's store at Santa Cruz gave me a description of a skin brought in by Indians which, though not a puma-skin, was quite as large as the skin of the common silver-grey puma generally is. I myself saw a very large otter in the River Senguerr, but unluckily had not my rifle with me, and although I returned as quickly with it as I could, all trace of the otter had vanished.

Taking into consideration the amphibious nature attributed by the Indians to the Iemisch, there seems to be little reason to doubt that the real animal underlying the rumours of a mysterious monster is a sub-species of the large Brazilian otter (_Lutra brasiliensis_).

To return to the possible survival of the Mylodon, as far as our travels led us both north and south on the eastern side of the Cordillera, we could discover no trace whatever either by hearsay or from the evidence of our own experience to warrant the supposition that it continues to exist to the present day. But there are hundreds of square miles of dense forest still unexplored along the whole length of the Patagonian Andes, and I do not undertake to declare positively that no such animal exists in some unknown and hidden spot among their recesses. Roughly speaking, there are many thousand square miles of snowy summits, ravines, high plateaus and valleys in this region. The task of finding a final answer to the Mylodon problem on the drag-net principle of passing to and fro throughout the whole district would be so gigantic and prolonged where the natural difficulties are great, as to be practically impossible. Such an answer must be left to time and the slow process of things. In the meanwhile I can merely state my own conviction that the odds are very heavily against the chances of such a survival. The probable habitat of the Mylodon would naturally be the forests. I penetrated these in more than one direction, and one of the most striking characteristics of the forests was the absence of animal life, evidence of which grew less and less the farther we forced our way into their depths. It is a matter of common knowledge that, where the larger forms of life are to be found, there also a liberal catalogue of lesser creatures co-exist. The conditions which favour the life of the greater favour also the existence of the less. This is presumptive evidence only, and though it has certainly influenced my own conclusions, I do not wish to force it upon others. I have stated the case as fairly as I can, and I leave my readers to form their own opinions.

FOOTNOTES:

[33] F. Ameghino, "Première Notice sur le _Neomylodon listai_, un Représentant vivant des anciens Edentés Gravigrades fossiles de l'Argentina" (La Plata, August 1898); translated under the title "An Existing Ground-Sloth in Patagonia," in "Natural Science," vol. xiii (1898), pp. 324-326.

[34] A. Milne-Edwards, "Note sur une nouvelle Espèce de Tatou à cuirasse incomplète (_Scleropleura bruneti_)," Nouv. Arch. Mus., vol. vii. (1871), pp. 177-179, pl. xii.

[35] P. W. Lund, K. Dansk. Vidensk. Selsk. Afhandl., vol. viii. (1841), p. 85 (footnote).

[36] H. Burmeister, Anales Mus. Publico Buenos Aires, vol. i. (1864-69), p. 173, pl. v. Fig. 8.

[37] Flower and Lydekker, "Introduction to the Study of Mammals," p. 183.

[38] E. Lönnberg, "On some Remains of '_Neomylodon listai_," Ameghino, brought home by the Swedish Expedition to Tierra del Fuego, 1895-1897, Wissensch. Ergebn. schwedisch. Exped. Magellansländ, unter Leitung v. Otto Nordenskjöld, vol. ii. pp. 149-170, pls. xii.-xiv. (1899).

[39] "On some Remains of _Grypotherium (Neomylodon) listai_ and associated Mammals from a Cavern near Consuelo Cove, Last Hope Inlet, Patagonia." _Proc. Zool. Soc._, 1900, pp. 64-79, pls. v.-ix.

[40] R. Hauthal, S. Roth, and R. Lehmann-Nitsche, "El Mamifero Misterioso de la Patagonia, _Grypotherium domesticum_," Revista Mus. La Plata, vol. ix. pp. 409-474, pls. i.-v. (1899).--F. P. Moreno, "Note on the Discovery of _Miolania_ and of _Glossotherium (Neomylodon)_ in Patagonia," Geol. Mag. [4] vol. vi. pp. 385-388 (1899).

[41] J. Reinhardt, "Beskrivelse af Hovedskallen af et Kæmpedovendyr, _Grypotherium darwinii_, fra La Plata-Landenes plejstocene-Dannelser," K. Dansk. Vidensk. Selsk Skr. [5] vol. xii. (1879), pp. 353-380, pls. i. ii.--H. Burmeister, "Atlas de la Description physique de la République Argentine," sect. ii. (1881), p. 119, woodc. (_Mylodon darwinii_),--R. Lydekker, "The Extinct Edentates of Argentina," Anales Mus. La Plata--Paleont. Argentina, vol. iii. pt. 2 (1894), p. 85, pl. liv.

[42] R. Hauthal, _op. cit._ p. 4.

[43] See S. Roth, _op. cit._ pl. ii. Fig. 1.

[44] R. Lydekker, Anales Mus. La Plata--Paleont. Argentina, vol. iii. pt. 2 (1894), p. 73, pl. xlv. Fig. 1.

[45] R. Owen, "Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth, _Mylodon robustus_, Owen" (1842), p. 18.

[46] P. Gervais, "Mémoire sur les Formes Cérébrales propres aux Édentés vivants et fossiles," _Nouv. Arch. Mus._, vol. xv. (1869), p. 39, pl. iv. Figs. 1, 2.

[47] P. Gervais, _loc. cit._ p. 39, pl. v.

[48] _Ibid._ p. 38, pl. iv. Figs. 3, 4.

[49] J. Hyrtl, "Vergleichendanatomische Untersuchungen über das innere Gehörorgan des Menschen und der Säugethiere" (1845), p. 135, pl. v. Fig. 6.

[50] _P. Z. S._ 1899. pl. xv. Figs. 4-6.

[51] R. Owen, "The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. _Beagle_.--Part I. Fossil Mammalia" (1840), p. 57, pl. xvi.

[52] R. Owen, "Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth, _Mylodon robustus_, Owen" (1842), p. 154, foot-note.

[53] Described respectively by Reinhardt, Burmeister, and Lydekker, _loc. cit._

[54] F. Ameghino, "Contribucion al Conocimiento de los Mamiferos de la Republica Argentina" (1889), p. 738, pl. xliv. Fig. 8.

[55] E. Nordenskjöld, "La Grotte du _Glossotherium_ (_Neomylodon_) en Patagonie," Comptes Rendus, vol. cxxix. (1899), p. 1217.

[56] Dawkins and Sanford, "The British Pleistocene Mammalia" (Palæont. Soc., 1869), p. 150.

[57] F. Ameghino, "Contribucion al Conocimiento de los Mamiferos de la Republica Argentina" (1889), p. 342.

[58] F. Ameghino, _op. cit._ (1889), p. 317.

[59] H. Winge, "Jordfundne og nulevende Rovdyr (Carnivora) fra Lagoa Santa, Minas Geraes, Brasilien" (E. Museo Lundii, 1895), p. 31.

[60] Dr. Moreno has lately received reports of bear-like tracks in remote parts of the Cordillera, which he thinks may imply that a species of _Arctotherium_ still lives in Patagonia.

[61] F. P. Moreno, "Revista Mus. La Plata," vol. ii. (1891). p. 56, R. Lydekker, "Anales Mus. La Plata--Paleont. Argentina," vol. ii. pt. 3 (1893), p. 77. pl. xxix.

[62] F. Ameghino, _op. cit._ (1889), p. 324.

[63] E. Nordenskjöld, "La Grotte du _Glossotherium_ (_Neomylodon_ )en Patagonie" Comptes Rendus, vol. cxxix. (1899), pp. 1216, 1217.

[64] A. Carnot, "Sur une Application de l'Analyse chimique pour fixer l'Age d'Ossements humains préhistoriques," Comptes Rendus, vol. cxv. (1892), pp. 337-339.

[65] Pangolins, armadillos, and sloths are more or less related.

APPENDIX B

_On a new Form of Puma from Patagonia._

By OLDFIELD THOMAS, F.R.S.

The National Collection owes to the generosity of Mr. C. Arthur Pearson the skin of a fine puma, obtained by Mr. Hesketh Prichard during the recent _Daily Express_ expedition to Patagonia. The skin is remarkably unlike any known form of puma, and appears certainly to represent a new sub-species.

Dr. Matschie has already shown[66] that the red puma of the tropics to which he restricts the name _Felis concolor_, is replaced south of 25° S. lat. by the silver-grey form for which Molina's name, _F. puma_, is used.

Now, again, south of about 44° S. lat., there proves to be another form, represented in the British Museum not only by Mr. Prichard's skin from Santa Cruz, but by a second much younger specimen from the Rio Senguerr. Both show the same characteristics, and are equally different from the Argentine silver-grey form.

In commemoration of Mr. Pearson's scientific spirit in sending out the expedition, and in presenting the specimen to the National Museum, I would propose to call it

_Felis concolor Pearsoni_, sub-sp. n.

General build thick and sturdy, with comparatively short limbs and tail. Fur thick and woolly, the specimens evidently in winter pelage. General colour nearest to Ridgway's "clay-colour," therefore exceedingly different from the nearly "drab-grey" of _F. c. puma_. This colour is most vivid along the back, paler laterally on the sides, but there is nothing that can be called a distinct dorsal dark line. Undersurface whitish-fawn, the hairs sandy at their bases, whiter terminally. Face very much like back, darker markings practically obsolete; the usual lighter markings near the eye present but not conspicuous. Ears of normal length, their backs uniformly whitish-fawn, without darker markings. Outer sides of limbs like back, inner sides like belly; ends of fingers and toes whitish, without any darker markings round the pads. Tail proportionally very short, brownish clay-colour above, whitish below, the tip not or scarcely darker.

Dimensions of the typical skin, which has been tanned and stretched, so that the measurements are merely approximate:--Head and body 1370 millim., tail 530, ear 80.

_Hab._ Santa Cruz, Patagonia; about 70 miles inland.

_Type._ Female. B.M. No. 1. 8. 12. 1. Brought home by Mr. H. Prichard and presented by Mr. C. Arthur Pearson.

The skin was bought by Mr. Prichard from Indians in the region mentioned, so that neither flesh-measurements nor skull were obtained.

The second skin is that of a young male, killed on the Senguerr River, in March 1897, by one of the collectors from the La Plata Museum, by whom it was presented to the British Museum. Owing to its youth, its peculiarities had not been previously noticed.

_F. c. Pearsoni_ is distinguished from _F. c. puma_ not only by its very different general colour, but also by its shorter tail, light-coloured ear-backs, and the absence of the dark markings round the digital pads.

FOOTNOTE:

[66] SB. Ges. nat. Fr. Berlin, 1892, p. 220; 1894, p. 58.

APPENDIX C

LIST OF PLANTS.[67] BY JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S., AND A. B. RENDLE, M.A., D.SC.

Hamadryas Kingii, Hook. fil. Top of mountains. Ranunculus peduncularis, Sm. Low slopes of mountains. Anemone, _cf._ lanigera, Gay. Low slopes and pampa. Berberis buxifolia, Lam. Berberis empetrifolia, Lam. Slopes of mountains. Senebiera pinnatifida, DC. Low slopes of mountains. Thlaspi gracile, Phil. Swamp. Draba Gilliesii, Hook. High slopes and top of mountains. Cardamine pratensis, L. var. Swamp. Nasturtium, _aff._ palustre, L. Sheltered slopes of mountains. Viola maculata, Cav. Sheltered slopes and forests. Polygala Salasiana, Gay. North slope of Mount Frias. Lychnis magellanica, Lam. High slopes of mountains. Stellaria debilis, D'Urv. Low slopes of mountains. Cerastium arvense, L. Low slopes of mountains. " " var. Low slopes of mountains. Arenaria serpens, H.B.K., several forms Low slopes of mountains, beach, lake and sheltered pampa. Calandrinia cæspitosa, Gill. Top of hills among stones. Geranium magellanicum, Hook. fil. Low slopes of mountains. Erodium cicutarium, L'Herit. Low slopes of mountains. Oxalis enneaphylla, Cav., var. pumila, Hook, fil. High slopes and top of Mount Frias. Oxalis sp. Bare sandy ground. Colletia discolor, Hook. Low slopes of mountains. Adesmia boronoides, Hook. fil. Low sandy ground. Astragalus _cf._ alpinus, L. High slopes of mountains. Lathyrus nervosus, Lam. Low slopes of mountains. " _cf._ pubescens, Hook. & Arn. Low slopes of mountains. Vicia, _aff._ bijuga Low slopes of mountains. " sp. Low slopes of mountains. Anarthrophyllum desideratum, Benth. Top of Mount Frias. Potentilla anserina, L. Swamps in open places of forests. Geum magellanicum, Comm. Slopes of Punta Bandera. Acæna adscendens, Vahl. By springs and streams. " cuneata, Hook. & Arn. Low sandy soil. " sp. _aff._ multifida, Hook. fil. Pampa slopes and low slopes. Saxifraga Pavonii, D. Don. On rocks, low slopes overhanging lake. Donatia fascicularis, Forst. Top of mountain. Escallonia macrantha, Hook. & Arn. Low slopes, Mount Buenos Aires. " _cf._ alpina, Poepp. Low slopes, Mount Buenos Aires. Ribes cuneifolium, Ruiz & Pav. Valleys and low hillsides. Hippuris vulgaris, L. Standing water. Œnothera odorata, Jacq. Mountain slope and low slopes. Fuchsia coccinea, Ruiz & Pav. Low slopes and Punta Bandera. Epilobium, _cf._, densifolium, Haussk Bed of dried up stream. " sp. Punta Bandera. Grammatocarpus volubilis, Presl. Low slopes, Mount Buenos Aires. Azorella trifurcata, Hook. fil. Top of mountain. " sp. _aff._ bryoides, Phil. Mountain tops. " _cf._ trifoliolata, Hook. fil. Shingle on beach. Mulinum spinosum, Pers. Pampa under Mount Buenos Aires and low slopes. Osmorrhiza chilensis, DC. Forests of Mount Buenos Aires. Bowlesia, sp. Low slopes of mountains. Sanicula macrorrhiza, Colla. Top of Mount Buenos Aires. Oreopolus glacialis, Schlecht. Tops of mountains. Galium Aparine, L. Forest, Mount Buenos Aires. " sp. Mountain slopes and low slopes, shingle banks of stream. Valeriana carnosa, Sm. Low slopes, Mount Buenos Aires. Boopis sp. Nitrate pampa. " " Top of mountains and shingle beach. Nardophyllum Kingii, A. Gray. Mountain tops. Chiliotrichum amelloides, Cass. Springs in slopes of mountains. Erigeron alpinus, L. Low slopes of mountains. Erigeron sp. Mountain slopes, Mount Buenos Aires. Baccharis sp. Beach, Punta Bandera. Antennaria sp. Pampas. Gnaphalium spicatum, Lam. Low slopes of mountains. Madia, _cf._ viscosa, Cav. Slopes of mountains. Matricaria Chamomilla, L. Low slopes of mountains. Senecio magellanicus, Hook. & Arn. Among stones, top of Mount Buenos Aires. " albicaulis, Hook. & Arn. Mountain slopes. " Kingii, Hook. fil. High slopes of mountains. Chabræa purpurea, DC. Pampa and high slopes of mountains. " multifida, DC. Low slopes of mountains. " sp. East slope of Mount Frias. Perezia linearis, Less. High slopes of mountains. Panargyrum Darwinii, Hook. & Arn. Tops of mountains. Nassauvia, sp. Tops of mountains. " " Beaches and mud flats. " pygmæa, Hook. fil. Top of mountains. Hieracium patagonicum, Hook. fil. Low slopes of mountains. Achyrophorus tenuifolius, DC. Low slopes of mountains. Taraxacum officinale, Wigg., var. Low slopes of mountains. Sonchus asper, Vill., var. Punta Bandera. Pernettya pumila, Hook. Mountain tops. " mucronata, Gaud., two forms Low slopes of mountains, high and wooded slopes of Mount Buenos Aires. Primula magellanica, Lehm. Swamp. Samolus spathulatus, Duby. Swamp on pampa. Armeria chilensis, Poepp. Low slopes of mountains. Phacelia circinata, Jacq., two forms North slope Mount Frias. Collomia coccinea, Lehm. Low shingly ground. " gracilis, Dougl. Low slopes of mountains. Amsinckia angustifolia, Lehm. Forest on mountain slope and low ground. Calceolaria Darwinii, Benth. High slopes of mountains. " sp. aff. lanceolata Low slopes of mountains and banks of streams, low ground. Veronica peregrina, L. Sheltered pampa. Verbena _aff._ microphylla, Phil. Mount Buenos Aires. Micromeria _cfr._ Darwinii, Benth. Pampa. Scutellaria nummulariæfolia, Hook. fil. Shingle beach. Plantago uniglumis, Wallr. Stony top of mountains. " maritima, L. Nitrate pampa. Rumex crispus, L. By water slopes of pampa. " magellanicus, Griseb. Shingle beach. Embothrium coccineum, Forst. Low slopes of mountains. Myzodendron punctulatum, Soland. Forests on mountains; parasitic on _Fagus antarctica_. " quadriflorum, DC. Forests, parasitic on _Fagus antarctica_. Arjona patagonica, Hombr. & Jacquem. Low slopes and pampas. Quinchamalium procumbens, Ruiz & Pav. Pampa. Euphorbia portulacoides, Spreng. Pampa. Urtica magellanica, Poir. Low slopes of mountains. Fagus antarctica, Forst. Forests and mountains. Empetrum nigrum var. andinum, DC. Grassy top of mountain. Chloræa magellanica, Hook. fil. Slopes of Mount Buenos Aires. Asarca araucana, Phil. Slopes of Mount Buenos Aires. " _cf._ cardioglossa, Phil. Slopes of Mount Buenos Aires. Stipa sp. Sandy slopes of foothills. Phleum alpinum, L. Mountain slopes. Alopecurus alpinus, Sm. Springs. Arundo pilosa, D'Urv. Low slopes of mountains. Poa pratensis, L. Sheltered pampa. Festuca sp. Pampa. Bromus sp. Pampa. Hordeum jubatum, L. Slopes of mountains. Carex Banksii, Boott. Swampy springs in forest on mountain slope. Sisyrinchium filifolium, Gaud. Pampa. Aspidium mohrioides, Bory. Low slopes. " coriaceum, Sw. Punta Bandera; mountain slope; bush slope. Lomaria alpina, Spreng. Swamp. Cystopteris fragilis, Bernh. Forest. Bryum sp. (immature) Wet forest. Marchantia polymorpha, L. Forest swamp. Usnea barbata, Ach. Growing on _Fagus antarctica_. " melaxantha. Ach. On rocks.

FOOTNOTE:

[67] Owing to the very short time allowed before going to press we are unable to furnish a complete list. We hope, however, to give in a future number of the _Journal of Botany_ a full list with notes on critical or otherwise interesting species.

GLOSSARY

_Alazan_, a chestnut horse.

_Alpargatas_, shoes made of canvas with jute or hemp soles.

_Asado_, roast meat. In the camp cooked on a spit over the fire.

_Asador_, the spit on which meat is roasted.

_Asulejo_, a blue-eyed, grey and white horse.

_Bandurria_, an ibis.

_Barranca_, cliff-like banks of river or lagoon.

_Bayo_, a cream-coloured dun horse.

_Blanco_, white; a white horse or cow.

_Bocado_, a thong of raw hide passed twice round the lower jaw of a young horse as a bit.

_Bolas_, _Boleadores_, three balls of stone covered with raw hide and attached to one another by twisted thongs of raw hide; used for catching wild animals.

_Boliche_, a small drinking-store.

_Bombilla_, a metal tube for sucking the tea from the _maté_ cup.

_Bozal_, a halter.

_Cabresto_, a leading rein always attached to the _bozal_ for tying up the horse; from the Spanish word _cabestro_.

_Cacique_, an Indian chief or leader.

_Cañadon_, a dale or dip of low land between stretches of high land.

_Capa_, a cape or cloak.

_Carancho_, the large, eagle-like carrion hawk (_Polyborus tharus_).

_Carguero_, a pack-horse or mule.

_Carpa_, a tent, or shelter of a movable kind.

_Casa_, a house, even if only a mud hut.

_Cebruno_, a dark mouse-coloured horse with a reddish tinge.

_Chico_, little.

_Chimango_, a harrier-like carrion hawk (_Milvago Chimango_).

_China_, Indian woman; also a native Criska woman.

_Chiripá_, a loin-cloth the size of a _poncho_, and worn so as to form loose, baggy trousers.

_Cinch_, English spelling of "Cincha," the raw-hide girth used with native saddles.

_Colorado_, red; a bay horse.

_Cordillera_, the chain of mountains called the Andes.

_Cruzado_, a horse having crossed white feet--_i.e._, one fore-foot white and one hind-foot of opposite sides; always expected to be good horses.

_Estancia_, a farm in Argentina.

_Estanciero_, a stock-farmer in Argentina.

_Gateado_, a yellow dun horse with a black stripe down the back.

_Gaucho_, the Argentine cowboy.

_Horqueta_, a fork; the separation of two streams forming a fork; name of a horse with a forked cutting in the ear.

_Macho_, a male animal; especially a mule.

_Madrina_, the bell-mare followed by all the horses or mules of a _tropilla_.

_Manada_, a herd of mares.

_Manea_, hobbles for a horse made of raw hide generally.

_Mañero_, a cunning, tricky horse or person.

_Martineta_, the "large partridge" (_Calo dromas elegans_).

_Maté_, the small gourd in which the _Yerba_ tea is made; also the tea itself.

_Moro_, a dark blue roan horse.

_Mula_, female mule.

_Muy limpio_, literally "very clean."

_Oscuro_, a dark or black horse.

_Overo_, a spotted or splashed horse.

_Palenque_, posts or rails put up for tying-up horses.

_Pampa_, the great plains of South America.

_Pampero_, the south-west wind, often a hurricane in South America, blowing across the Pampas.

_Pangaré_, a bay horse, with the peculiar mule-like colouring of the nozzle.

_Pantano_, a mud hole; a sticky muddy place.

_Peon_, a working man or porter.

_Picaso_, a black horse with white feet and face.

_Plaza_, open square in a town.

_Poncho_, the rug or shawl, with a hole in middle, to slip over the head.

_Potro_, a colt or wild horse.

_Puchero_, mutton or beef boiled with rice, and vegetables when there are any.

_Rincon_, a corner.

_Rosado_, a light strawberry roan horse.

_Rosillo_, a red-roan horse.

_Soga_, a cord or strip of hide.

_Toldo_, an awning; the Indian tent of raw hides.

_Tordillo_, a grey horse.

_Tostado_, a dark chestnut horse.

_Travesia_, a desert.

_Tropilla_, the troop of horses or mules driven in front of travellers in South America.

_Vaqueano_, a guide.

_Vega_, a valley.

_Yerba_, the Paraguayan tea, universal in Argentina.

_Zaino_, a brown horse.

INDEX

Alazan, 59, 139

Alpargatas, 231

Andes, _see_ Cordillera

Antiguos, Rio de los, 144-155

Arctotherium, 326-327

Ariel, _see_ launch

Argentino, Lake, 181, 188, 214 description, 190, 262, 263, 284 fish, 269 forests, 224, 272, 273, 274-276 glaciers, 266-268, 272-275 Lake Rica or South Fjord, 193, 271-74 North Fjord, 262-270, 278-279 storms, 215-219, 267-269

Armadillo, 40, 67, 248

Ascensio's Bay, 214-215

Asulejo, 53, 54, 167

Banduria, 135, 187, 189

Barckhausen, F., 31, 148-153

Basecamp, Horsham, 123, 124, 168

Beech, antarctic, 126, 149, 233, 275

Belgrano, River, 174

Bernardo, _see_ Hähansen

Bernicla poliocephala, _see_ ashy-headed goose

Boat, canvas, 266, 282 oleadores, 32, 52, 62, 81, 90, 234

Brunel, Ascensio, 194-195

Buenos Aires, Lake, 120, 121, 126, 130-143, 159

Burbury, T. R. D., 20, 26, 37, 47, 109, 181, 201, 242, 264, 268, 277

Califate-bush, 78, 99, 100, 203, 218, 265, 269

Calodromas elegans, _see_ martineta

Canis griseus, _see_ pampa-fox

Canis magellanicus, _see_ red-fox

Canis montanus, 260

Camera, 266

Carancho, 191

Cat, wild, 151

Cattle, E., 86, 193, 197, 206-219, 244, 249, 253, 255, 264, 266, 268, 282

Cattle, wild, 79-81, 140, 224-234

Cavy, 27, 46, 60, 67, 248, 257-258

Chico, River, 43, 46, 47, 58, 59

Chimango, 191

Chloephaga magellanica, _see_ upland goose

Christmas Day, 167-168

Colohuapi, 61, 63-65, 257

Colhué, Lake, 61

Columba maculosa, _see_ pigeon

Como No, 117, 118

Condor, 45, 147, 161, 164, 187, 191

Conepatus patagonicus, _see_ skunk

Cordillera, 2, 8, 121, 188, 215, 296

Corelli, M., 266

Coyly, River, 76, 289

Cruzado, 59, 137

Cygnus nigricollis, _see_ black-headed swan

Cypress, 275

Dafila spinicauda, _see_ brown pintail

Darwin, 2, 9, 27, 163, 181, 185, 187, 192, 252, 255, 257

Dasypus minutus, _see_ armadillo

Deseado, River, 136

Dogs, 46, 60, 245 Indian, 92, 111, 117-119

Dolichotis patagonica, _see_ cavy

Drake, Francis, 7-8

Duck, rosy-billed, 136

Farina, 269

Felis concolor puma, _see_ puma

Felis concolor pearsoni, 155, 253, 334-335

Felis onca, _see_ jaguar

Fenix, River, 127, 133

Fires, pampa, 140, 142, 143, 154, 220-222

FitzRoy, 254

Flamingo, 136, 187, 189

Forests, 224, 233, 265, 272-276, 296

Fox, pampa or grey, 26, 120, 231, 245-246, 258-259 red or Cordillera wolf, 132, 134, 142, 244-246, 259-265, 269, 274, 280 (Canis montanus), 260

Fuchsia, 228, 272

Gallegos, 2, 287, 289-291

Gateado, 51, 55, 61

Gaucho, 1, 12, 13, 32, 35-36, 38, 141

Genguel, River, 75, 120

Glaciers, 266-268, 272-275

Glaucidium nanum, _see_ pigmy owl

Gleditzsch, Fritz, 36-37, 68-69

Goose, ashy-headed, 37 upland, 73, 76, 79, 107, 123, 136

Grebe, 126, 209

Greenshields, 17, 30

Guanaco, description, 27, 31, 81, 83, 105, 156, 256 habitat, 68, 107, 236, 254, 269, 280 habits, 43, 147, 236-239, 246, 255, 256 hunting with bolas, 105-107 with dogs, 106, 169, 237, 257 with rifle, 31, 49, 59-60, 138-140 mortality, 189, 203, 254 numbers, 27, 169, 189, 231, 254 skins, 83, 95

Gun, shot, 78

Hæmatopus palliatus, _see_ American oyster catcher

Hähansen, Bernardo, 183, 205-207, 213, 217, 264-265, 283, 286, 291

Hardy, Mrs., 185

Hawk, 275

Hell Gate, 220, 261-263, 277, 278

Hollesen, 68

Horqueta, 56

Horses, branding, 66 buying, 22 cargoing, 50-51, 55-56, 74 crossing river, 199, 211 friendships, 52 Indian, 110 names, 35 number, 26, 33 shoeing, 183 shooting with, 160 size, 110 straying, 37, 39 taming, 35, 36, 110

Huemul, description, 146, 243, 249-250 habitat, 128, 248-249, 269, 280 habits, 163, 240-242, 249-251

Ibis, black-faced, 135

Icebergs, 267, 270, 274, 279

Incensio, 90

Indians, _see_ Tehuelches

Indian trail, 5, 109, 140, 171

Jaguar (felis onca), 68, 248, 325-326

Jeinemeni, River, 159, 161

Jones, H., 23, 76, 77, 139, 158, 166, 178, 242, 248

Katarina, River, 261, 279, 283-285

La Cancha, Laguna, 117

La Gaviota, 177, 179

Lama huanachus, _see_ Guanaco

Lapwings, cayenne, 187

Lasso, 77, 80

Launch, breakdown, 213, 268, 271 description, 197, 200-201 passage of Leona, 204-212 North Fjord, 262-270, 278-280 South Fjord, 271-274

Leña dura, 228, 263, 265, 269, 286

Leona, River, 198, 201-212

Lion, _see_ puma

Madrina, 34

Magellan, 5, 87

Mareca sibilatrix, _see_ widgeon

Martineta, 49

Maté, 28, _passim_

Mauser, 49, 151, 157, 164, 233

Metopiana peposaca, _see_ rosy-billed duck

Mirage, 4, 29, 47

Moreno, Dr. F. P., 10, 242, 248, 261-262, 301-304

Moro, 290

Musters, Capt. G. C., 79, 88, 93, 99, 101, 247, 251, 332

Musters, Lake, 61

Mylodon, antiquity, 312-313, 315, 317, 329, 330 description of auditory ossicles, 321 brain cavity, 320 excrement, 323-324 skin, 305-309, 322-323 skull and mandible, 317-320 vertebræ and limb-bones, 321 discovery of remains, 302-304, 315-316 identification, 309-315, 324-325 number, 316 Tehuelche Legends, 330-333

Olin, River, 172

Onas, hunting, 107 ill-treatment of, 109 physique, 108 weapons, 7 women, 108

Onohippidium saldiasi, 327

Orchids, 276

Ostrich, 26, 42, 43, 106, 231, 239 eggs, 45, 63, 146, 163 feathers, 119 habits, 136, 163, 239 hunting, 136, 137

Otter, 260

Overo, 41, 52

Owl, 275 pigmy, 269

Oyster-catchers, 117

Pampas, 1, 2, 4, 29, 30, 192

Paradox, 233

Parrot, 275

Patagonia, climate, 5, 294 exploration, 5, 6-10 physical features, 2-4, 13 settlements, 11, 21-23

Pearson, Lake, 283-286, 334-335

Pearson's puma, 155, 253

Phœnicopterus ignipalliatus, _see_ flamingo

Picnics, 278

Pigafetta, 6

Pigeon, 158

Pintails, brown, 58, 74-78, 136

Plover, cayenne, 27

Primero de Mayo, 15-19

Puerto Belgrano, 17

Puerto Madryn, 19

Puma, description, 45, 251 destructiveness, 30, 252 habitat, 44, 68, 212, 251 habits, 62, 242-244, 252 hunting, 62, 251 number, 251 size, 251

Punta Arenas, 2, 292

Querquedula cyanoptera, _see_ blue-winged teal

Querquedula versicolor, _see_ grey teal

Redwood, 275

Rhea Darwini, _see_ ostrich

Rica Lake, _see_ Lake Argentino

Roblé-wood, 265, 269

Rosada, 34, 52, 53

Santa Cruz, 178-180, 182, 192

Santa Cruz River, 181, 184, 198-199

Sarcorhamphus gryphus, _see_ condor

Scorpion, 127

Scrivenor, J. B., 17, 39, 49, 170, 181

Senguerr, River, 71, 72

Sheep farming, 17, 29, 62, 177, 294-295

Shoveller, red, 136

Skunk, 260

Snipe, 76, 189

Spatula platalea, _see_ red shoveller

Swan, black-necked, 78, 136

Teal, grey, 61 blue-winged, 77, 136 yellow-billed, 169

Tehuelches, 82-115 cacique, 7, 101 ceremonies at birth, 96 at marriage, 93 at burial, 97 character, 87, 90, 91, 92, 101-103 comparison with Esquimaux, 100

Tehuelches, comparison with Onas, 107-108 dance, 92 dress, 87, 94 drink, 88-89, 96, 102, 111-114 food, 87, 100 half-bloods, 91, 93, 94 horses, 99, 106, 110 hunting, 104-117 language, 101 marriage, 93 numbers, 88, 101, 109 occupation, 88, 94-95 physique, 6, 8, 9, 87-88, 90, 99, 101 religion, 97-99 skull-deformation, 92 smoking, 100-101 superstition, 86, 96-98 toldos, 82, 83, 85 weapons, 7, 89-90 women, 90-94, 288

Temperature, 58, 67, 120

Tent, 127, 173

Theristicus caudatus, _see_ black-faced ibis

Traders, 111-113, 295

Trelew, 20-22

Trelew, Mrs., 52, 170, 182

Vanellus cayennensis, _see_ cayenne plover

Ventana, Sierra, 175

Viedma, Lake, 9, 197, 203

Waag, H. P., 10, 62, 129, 174, 242, 291

Waggon, 42, 44, 47-49

Waldron, 11

Welsh colonies, 11, 21-23 colonists, 12, 22, 23, 64

Widgeon, 49, 58, 61, 133, 136, 269, 282

Wind, 116, 127

Wolf, Cordillera, 132, 134, 142, 244-246, 259-265, 269, 274, 280

Woodpecker, red-crested, 279

Xenelaphus bisulcus, _see_ huemul

Zaino, Little, 160, 167 old, 55, 71