80 BAHIA BLANCA. [chap. iv. 



a hundred reasons why they could not have been Indians ; but 

 all these were forgotten at the time. We then rode on in peace 

 and quietness to a low point called Punta Alta, whence we could 

 see nearly the whole of the great harbour of Bahia Blanca. 



The wide expanse of water is choked up by numerous great 

 mud-banks, which the inhabitants call Cangrejales, or crabberies, 

 from the number of small crabs. The mud is so soft that it is 

 impossible to walk over them, even for the shortest distance. 

 Many of the banks have their surfaces covered with long rushes, 

 the tops of which alone are visible at high water. On one oc- 

 casion, when in a boat, we were so entangled by these shallows 

 that we could hardly find our way. Nothing was visible but 

 the flat beds of mud ; the day was not very clear, and there was 

 much refraction, or as the sailors expressed it, " things loomed 

 high." The only object within our view which was not level 

 was the horizon ; rushes looked like bushes unsupported in the 

 air, and water like mud-banks, and mud-banks like water. 



We passed the night in Punta Alta, and I employed myself in 

 searching for fossil bones ; this point being a perfect catacomb 

 for monsters of extinct races. The evening was perfectly calm 

 and clear ; the extreme monotony of the view gave it an interest 

 even in the midst of mud-banks and gulls, sand-hillocks and 

 solitary vultures. In riding back in the morning we came across 

 a very fresh track of a Puma, but did not succeed in finding 

 it. We saw also a couple of Zorillos, or skunks, odious 

 animals, which are far from uncommon. In general appearance 

 the Zorillo resembles a polecat, but it is rather larger, and much 

 thicker in proportion. Conscious of its power, it roams by day 

 about the open plain, and fears neither dog nor man. If a dog 

 is urged to the attack, its courage is instantly checked by a few 

 drops of the fetid oil, which brings on violent sickness and run- 

 ning at the nose. Whatever is once polluted by it, is for ever 

 useless. Azara says the smell can be perceived at a league dis- 

 tant ; more than once, when entering the harbour of Monte 

 Video, the wind being off shore, we have perceived the odour 

 on board the Beagle. Certain it is, that every animal most will- 

 ingly makes room for the Zorillo. 



