A couple of quiet days for Darwin as he enjoyed the “sterility” of his surroundings and moved the boat:
“The weather is most beautiful.— Passing from the splendor of Brazil to the tame sterility of Patagonia has shown to me how very much the pleasure of exercise depends on the surrounding scenery.” (Sept 26)
“That no time may be lost during the altering of the Schooner, we have changed our anchorage & stood further out, so as to survey some of the outer banks.” (Sept 27)
The “rhinoceros” that Darwin pulled out of the cliffs of Punta Alta a couple of days ago was actually the jaw of a Mylodon – a giant ground sloth. In fact, Richard Owen called it Mylodon darwinii – possibly the first species that Darwin discovered to bear his name.
Mylodon jaw fossil collected at Punta Alta, Published by Smith, Elder & Co, 65 Cornhill, London…
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