T10 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
first half of this century, when cattle-breeding 
began to be profitable, and wool was not worth the 
trouble of shearing, and the gaucho workman 
would not eat mutton when beef was to be had, 
some of the estancieros on the southern pampas 
determined to get rid of their sheep, which were of 
no value to them; and many flocks were driven a 
distance out and lost in the wilds. Out of many 
thousands thus turned loose to shift for themselves, 
not one pair survived to propagate a new race of 
feral sheep; in a short time pumas, wild dogs, and 
other beasts of prey, had destroyed them all. The 
sterling qualities of the pampa sheep had their 
value in other times; at present the improved kinds 
are alone considered worth having, and the original 
sheep of the country is now rapidly disappearing, 
though still found in remote and poor districts, 
especially in the province of Cordova ; and probably 
before long it will become extinct, together with 
the curious pug-nosed cow of the pampas. 
I have had frequent opportunities of observing 
the young, from one to three days old, of the 
Cervus campestris—the common deer of the pampas, 
and the perfection of its instincts at that tender age 
seem very wonderful in a ruminant. When the 
doe with fawn is approached by a horseman, even 
when accompanied with dogs, she stands perfectly 
motionless, gazing fixedly at the enemy, the fawn 
motionless at her side; and suddenly, as if at a 
preconcerted signal, the fawn rushes directly away 
from her at its utmost speed; and going to a dis- 
tance of six hundred to a thousand yards conceals 
