APRIL 13, 1834. -- The Beagle anchored within the mouth of the
Santa Cruz. This river is situated about sixty miles south of
Port St. Julian. During the last voyage Captain Stokes proceeded
thirty miles up it, but then, from the want of provisions, was
obliged to return. Excepting what was discovered at that time,
scarcely anything was known about this large river. Captain Fitz
Roy now determined to follow its course as far as time would
allow. On the 18th three whale-boats started, carrying three
weeks' provisions; and the party consisted of twenty-five
souls -- a force which would have been sufficient to have
defied a host of Indians. With a strong flood-tide and a fine
day we made a good run, soon drank some of the fresh water,
and were at night nearly above the tidal influence.

The river here assumed a size and appearance which, even at
the highest point we ultimately reached, was scarcely
diminished. It was generally from three to four hundred yards
broad, and in the middle about seventeen feet deep. The
rapidity of the current, which in its whole course runs at
the rate of from four to six knots an hour, is perhaps its
most remarkable feature. The water is of a fine blue colour,
but with a slight milky tinge, and not so transparent as at
first sight would have been expected. It flows over a bed of
pebbles, like those which compose the beach and the surrounding
plains. It runs in a winding course through a
valley, which extends in a direct line westward. This valley
varies from five to ten miles in breadth; it is bounded by
step-formed terraces, which rise in most parts, one above the
other, to the height of five hundred feet, and have on the