Music Welcome to snoozecast. The podcast is on to help you fall asleep. Find us at snoozecast.com and to learn more about snoozecast plus for ad-free listening and expanded content, go to snewscast.com-plus. This episode is brought to you by Delightful Aromatics. Tonight we'll read from the eighth chapter of British naturalist Charles Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle, titled Banda Oriental and Patagonia. The voyage of the beagle is the title most commonly given to the book first published in 1839 as Darwin's journal and remarks, bringing him considerable fame and respect.

If you'd like to start from the beginning, the first episode of this series aired on June 10, 2024 with subsequent monthly episodes exploring Darwin's journey in detail.

In this chapter, Darwin recounts his travels through Banda Oriental, modern-day Uruguay, and into the vast landscapes of Patagonia. He describes the rugged beauty of the region, contrasting the rolling hills, and fertile pastures of Uruguay with the harsh, wind-swept planes of Patagonia. As he moves south, Darwin observes the local people, particularly Gouchos and indigenous groups, noting their customs, resilience, and way of life in these remote lands. Wildlife continues to capture Darwin's attention, especially the large herds of wild cattle and the presence of predators such as jaguars. This chapter marks Darwin's growing appreciation for Patagonia's stark, untamed beauty and the scientific potential hidden within its desolate expanses. His observations, from fossils to animal behavior,

continued to shape his revolutionary ideas about natural selection and adaptation,

which would later be realized in the origin of species.

Let's get cozy. Close your eyes. Relax your body into the softness of your bed. Now take a few deep breaths. been delayed for nearly a fortnight in the city, I was glad to escape onboard a packet bound for Montefideo. A town and a state of blockade must always be a disagreeable place of residence. In this case moreover, there were constant apprehensions from robbers within. The sentinels were the worst of all. For from their office, and from having arms in their hands, they robbed with a degree of authority, which other men could not imitate. Our passage was a very long and tedious one. The plata looks like a noble estuary on the map. But is in truth a pore of air, a wide expanse of muddy water, as neither grandeur nor beauty. At one time of the day, the two shores, both of which are extremely low, could just be distinguished from the deck. On arriving at Montevideo, I found that the beagle would not sail for some time. So I prepared for a short excursion in this part of Banda Oriental. Everything which I have said about the country near Maldonado is applicable to Montevideo, but the land with the one exception of the green mount 450 feet high from which it takes its name is far more level. Very little of the undulating grassy plain is enclosed, but near the town there are a few hedge banks covered with agaves, cacti and fennel. November 14th. We left Montevideo in the afternoon. I intended to proceed to Colonia del Sacre Miento, situated on the northern bank of the Plata and opposite to Buenos Aires, and then, following up to Uruguay, to the village of Mercedes and from this point to return direct to Montevideo. We slept at the house of my guide. In the morning we rose early in the hopes of being able to ride a good distance, but it was a vain attempt for all the rivers were flooded. We passed in boats the streams of St. Lucia and San Jose and thus lost much time. On a former excursion, I crossed the Lucia near its mouth and was surprised to observe how easily our horses, although not used to swimming, passed over a width of at least 600 yards. On mentioning this at Montevideo, I was told that a vessel containing some montabanks and their horses being wrecked in the plata, one horse swam seven miles to the shore. In the course of the day I was amused by the dexterity with which a goucho forced a rest of horse to swim or river. He stripped off his clothes and jumping on its back, rode into the water till it was out of its depth. Then slipping off over the crupper, he caught hold of the tail, and as often as the horse turned round, the man frightened it back by splashing water in its face. As soon as the horse touched the bottom on the other side, the man pulled himself on and was firmly seated, bridal in hand, before the horse skamed the bank. I had no idea how well the two animals suited each other. I have passed a river in a boat with four people in it, which was varied across in the same way as the Goucho. If a man and horse have to cross a broad river, the best plan is for the man to catch hold of the pommel or mane and help himself with the other arm. We slept and stayed the following day at the post of Cufrey. In the evening, the postman, or letter carrier, arrived. He was a day day after his time, owing to the Rio Rosario being flooded.

It would not, however, be of much consequence. For, although he had passed through some of the principal towns in Bonda, Oriental, his luggage consisted of two letters. The view from the house was pleasing, and undulating green surface

with distant glimpses of the plata. I find that I look at this province with very different eyes from what I did upon my first arrival. I recollect I then thought it singularly But now after galloping over the pompous, my only surprise is what could have induced me ever to call it level. The country is a series of undulations in themselves perhaps not absolutely great, but as compared to the planes of Santa Fe, real mountains, from these inequalities, there is an abundance of small rivulets, and the turf is clean and luxuriant. November 17th. We crossed the Rosario, which was deep and rapid, and passing the village of Colonya arrived at Midday, at Cologne del Sacrameanto. The distance is 20 leagues, through a country covered with fine grass, but poorly stocked with cattle or inhabitants. I was invited to sleep at Colonya, and to accompany on the following day a gentleman to his Estancia where there were some limestone rocks. The town is built on a stony promontory, something in the manner as at Montevideo. It is strongly fortified, but both fortifications in town suffered much in the Brazilian more. It is very ancient, and there are regularity of the streets, and the surrounding groves of old orange and peach trees gave it a pretty appearance. The church is a curious ruin. It was used as a powder magazine and was struck by lightning in one of the ten thousand thunders storms of the Rio Plata. Two thirds of the building were blown away to the very foundation, and the rest stands a shattered and curious monument of the united powers of lightning and gunpowder.

In the evening, I wondered about the half demolished walls of the town. It was the chief seat of the Brazilian War. A war most injurious to this country, not so much in its immediate effects as in being the origin of a multitude of generals and all other grades of officers. More generals are numbered, but not paid, in the united provinces of Laplata, then in the united kingdom of Great Britain. These gentlemen have learned to like power, and do not object to a little skirmishing. Hence, there are many always on the watch to create disturbance and to overturn a government, which as yet has never rested on any staple foundation. I noticed, however, both here and in other places, a very general interest in the ensuing election for the President. And this appears a good sign for the prosperity of this little country. The inhabitants do not require much education in their representatives. I heard some men discussing the merits of those for Colonia. And it was said that although they were not men of business, they could all sign their names. With this, they seemed to think every reasonable man ought to be satisfied. 18th, wrote with my host to his Estancia, that there were royal desanuan. In the evening we took a ride around the estate. It contained two square leagues and a half, and was situated in what is called a rinkon, that is, one side was fronted by the plata, and the two others guarded by impassable prox. There was an excellent port for little vessels and an abundance of small wood, which is valuable as supplying fuel to Buenos Aires. I was curious to know the value of so complete and Estancia. Of cattle there were 3,000, and it would well support three or four times that number of mayors, eight hundred, together with 150 broken-in horses and a six hundred sheep. There was plenty of water and limestone, a rough house, excellent corals, and a peach orchard. For all this he had been offered at two,000 pounds, and he only wanted 500 pounds additional, and probably would sell it for less. The chief trouble with Anastasia is driving the cattle twice a week to a central spot in order to make them tame and to count them. This latter operation would be thought difficult, where there are ten or fifteen thousand head together, it is managed on the principle that the cattle invariably defied themselves into little troops from forty to one hundred. Each troop is recognized by a few peculiarly marked animals, and its number is known. So that, one being lost out of ten thousand, it is perceived by its absence from one of the tropeas. During a stormy night, the cattle all mingle together, but the next morning, the tropeas separate as before, so that each animal must know its fellow out of 10 thousand others. On two occasions I met with in this province some oxen of a very curious breed called Nata or Nata. They appear externally to hold nearly the same relation to other cattle, which bull or pug dogs do to other dogs. Their forehead is very short and broad, with the nasal end turned up, and the upper lip much drawn back. Their lower jaws project beyond the upper and have a corresponding upward curve, hence their teeth are always exposed. Their nostrils are seated high up and are very open. Their eyes project outwards. When walking, they carry their heads low on a short neck, and their hindal legs are rather long compared with the front legs than as usual. Their bare teeth, their short heads, and upturned nostrils, give them the most ludicrous, self-confident air of defiance imaginable. The breed is universally believed to have originated amongst the indigenous southward of the Plata, and that it was with them the communist kind. Even to this day, those rare in the provinces near the Plata show their less civilized origin and being fiercer than common cattle. It is a singular fact that an almost similar structure to the abnormal 82, one of the Neata breed, characterizes as I am informed by Dr Dr. Falconir, that great extinct ruminant of India, the syphotherium, the breed is very true, and a Neatable and cow invariably produce Neatakavs. A Neatable with a common cow, or the reverse, produces offspring having an intermediate character, but with the niata characters strongly displayed, according to senior munis. There is the clearest evidence, contrary to the common belief of agricultureists in analogous cases, that the niata cow, wind crossed with a common bull, transmits her peculiarities more strongly than the niata bull, when crossed with a common cow. When the pasture is tolerably long, the niata cattle feed with the tongue and to pal it as well as common cattle. But during the great drought, out. When so animals perish, the Nyatta breed is under a great disadvantage, and would be exterminated if not attended to. For the common cattle, like horses, are able just to keep alive by browsing with their lips on twigs of trees and reeds. This, the Nyatas, cannot so well do, as their lips do not join. This strikes me as a good illustration of how out little we are able to judge from the ordinary habits of life, on what circumstances, occurring only at long intervals, the rarity or extinction of a species may be determined. November 19th, passing the valley of Las Vacas, we slept at a house of an North American who worked a lime kiln. In the morning we rode to a protecting headland on the banks of the river called Puntigorda. On the way we tried to find a janguar, there were plenty of fresh tracks, and we visited the trees on which they are said to sharpen their claws. But we did not succeed in disturbing one. From this point, the rear-yurakwe presented to our view a noble volume of water. From the clearness and rapidity of the stream, its appearance was far superior to that of its neighbor. On the opposite coast, several maranches from the latter river intert the Uruguay, as the sun was shining, the two colors of the waters could be seen quite distinct. the evening, we proceeded on our road towards Mercedes. At night, we asked permission to sleep at an Estancia, which we happened to arrive. It was a very largest state, being 10-league square, and the owner is one of the greatest landowners in the country. His nephew had charge of it, and with him there was a captain in the army, who the other day ran away from Buenos Aires. Considering their station, their conversation was rather amusing. They expressed, as was usual, unbounded astonishment at the globe being round, and could scarcely credit that a whole wood, if deep enough, come out on the other side. They had, however, heard of a country where there were six months of light and six of darkness, and where the inhabitants were very tall and thin. were curious curious about the price and condition of horses and cattle in England. Upon finding out we did not catch our animals with the lasso, they cried out, all then, you used nothing but the bullas. The idea of an enclosed country was quite new to them. The captain at last said, he had one question to ask me, which he should be very much obliged if I would answer with all truth. I trembled to think how deeply scientific it would be. It was whether the ladies of one's aries were not the handsomeist in world. I replied, like a renegade, charmingly so. He added, I have one other question. Do ladies in any other part of the world wear such large combs? I solemnly assured him that they did not. They were absolutely delighted. The captain exclaimed, look there, a man who has seen half the world says it is the case. We always thought so, but now we know it. My excellent judgment in combs and beauty procured me a most hospitable perception. The captain forced me to take his bed, and he would sleep on his vricado. 21st, started at sunrise, and rode slowly during the whole day. The geological nature of this part of the province was different from the rest, and closely resembled that of the pompous. And consequence, there were a mercs' beds of the Thistle, as well as of the Cardoon. The whole country, indeed, may be called one great bed of these plants. The two swords grow separate. Each plant in company with its own kind. The cartoon is as high as a horse's back, but the pompous thistle is often higher than the crown of the writer's head. To leave the road for a yard is out of the question, and the road itself is partly and in some cases entirely closed. Pasture, of course, there is none. If cattle or horses once enter the bed, they are for the time completely lost. Hence, it is very hazardous to attempt to drive cattle at this season of the year. For when jaded enough to face the Thessels, they rush among them, and are seen no more. In these districts, there are very few Estoncias, and these few are situated in the neighborhood of damp valleys. We're fortunately neither of these overwhelming plants can exist. night came on before we arrived at our journey's end, we slept at a miserable little huffle. The extreme, though rather formal courtesy of our host and hostess, considering their great of life, was quite delightful. November 22nd arrived at Anastancia on the Berquelo, belonging to a very hospitable Englishman, to whom I had a letter of introduction from my friend Mr. Lam. I stayed here three days. One morning I rode with my host to the Sierra del Pedro Flaco, about twenty miles up the river. Nearly the whole country was covered with good, though coarse grass, which was as high as a horse's belly. Yet, there were square leagues without a single head of cattle. The province of Banda Oriental, if well-stocked, would support an astonishing number of animals. At present, the annual export of hides from Montevideo amounts to 300,000, and the home consumption from waste is very considerable. Astanciairo told me that he often had to send large herds of cattle a long journey to assaulting establishment. The view of the river from the Sierra was more picturesque than any other which I saw in this province. river river, broad, deep, and rapid, wound at the foot of a rocky cliff. A belt of wood followed its course, and the horizon terminated in the distant on jolations of the turf plane. When in this neighborhood, I several times heard of the Sierra de las Quentas, a hill distant many miles to the northward. The name signifies hill of beads. I was assured that vast numbers of little round stones of various colors, each with a small cylindrical hole are found there. Formally the indigenous used to collect them, for the purpose of making necklaces and bracelets. A taste I may observe, which is common to all nations. I did not know what to understand from the story, but upon mentioning it at the Cape of Good Hope to Dr. Andrew Smith, he told me that he recollected finding on the southeastern coast of Africa about 100 miles to the eastward of St. John's River, some quartz crystals with their edges blunted from attrition, and mixed with gravel on the sea beach. Each crystal was about five lines in diameter, and from an inch to an inch and a half in length. Many of them had a small canal extending from one extremity to the other. Perfectly cylindrical, and of a size that readily admitted a coarse thread or a piece of fine cat gut. Their color was red or dull white. I have mentioned these circumstances because, although no crystallized body is at present known to assume this form, it may lead some future traveler to investigate the real nature of such stones. While staying at the Sistancia, I was amused with what I saw and heard of the shepherd dogs of the country.

When riding, it is a common thing to meet a large flock of sheep guarded by one or two

dogs at the distance of some miles from any house or man.

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