Having obtained letters of introduction and a passport, Darwin set out from Lumb’s house on 27th September, to ride to Santa Fé on the banks of the Rio Paraná.
“The Estancias are wide apart; for there is little good pasture, the plains being covered by thistles & an acrid clover.”
He arrived at St. Nicholas on 29th, and next morning crossed the river to enter the province of Santa Fé.
“At the Saladillo I saw the curious occurrence of a rapidly running brook with water too salt to drink. — Entered Rozario, a large & striking looking town, built on a dead level plain which forms a cliff about 60 feet high over the Parana. — The river here is very broad with many islands which are low & wooded, as is also the coast of the opposite shore ... The cliffs are the most picturesque part, sometimes absolutely perpendicular & of a red colour, at other times in large broken masses covered with Cacti & Mimosa trees.”
Arriving at the Rio Carcaván, Darwin “staid here the greater part of the day, searching for bones in the cliff ... I found a curious & large cutting tooth.” By 2nd October, he had reached the town of Santa Fé where, being unwell, he found an unfurnished room and retreated to bed for a few days to recover.