When we first arrived at Bahia Blanca, September 7th, 1832, we thought nature had granted scarcely a living creature to this sandy and dry country.

By digging, however, in the ground, several insects, large spiders, and lizards were found in a half-torpid state.

On the 15th, a few animals began to appear, and by the 18th (three days from the equinox), everything announced the commencement of spring.

The plains were ornamented by the flowers of a pink wood-sorrel, wild peas, oenotherae, and geraniums; and the birds began to lay their eggs.

Numerous Lamellicorn and Heteromerous insects, the latter remarkable for their deeply sculptured bodies, were slowly crawling about; while the lizard tribe, the constant inhabitants of a sandy soil, darted about in every direction.