Scientific Intelligence — Meteorology. 393 



the well, which he had been obliged to dig to supply his own family 

 with water ; and that the pai'tridges had hardly strength to fly when 

 pursued. The lowest estimation of the loss of cattle, in the province 

 of Buenos Ayres alone, was taken at one million head. A proprie- 

 tor at San Pedro had, previously to these years, 20,000 cattle ; at 

 the end not one remained. San Pedro is situated in the middle of 

 the finest country, and even now abounds again with animals ; yet, 

 during the latter part of the " gran seco," live cattle were brought 

 in vessels for the consumption of the inhabitants. The animals 

 roamed from their estancias, and, wandering far southward, were 

 mingled together in such multitudes, that a Government commission 

 was sent from Buenos Ayres to settle the disputes of the owners. 

 Sir Woodbine Parish informed me of another and very curious source 

 of dispute : the ground being so long dry, such quantities of dust 

 were blown about, that in this open country the landmarks became 

 obliterated, and people could not tell the limits of their estates. 



I was informed by an eye-witness that the cattle, in herds of thou- 

 sands, rushed into the Parana, and being exhausted by hunger they 

 were unable to crawl up the muddy banks, and thus were drowned. 

 The arm of the river which runs by San Pedro was so full of putrid 

 carcasses, that the master of a vessel told me that the smell rendered 

 it quite impassable. Without doubt several hundred thousand ani- 

 mals thus perished in the river ; their bodies, when putrid, were seen 

 floatinor down the stream ; and many in all probability were deposited 

 in the estuary of the Plata. All the small rivers became highly 

 saline, and this caused the death of vast numbers in particular spots ; 

 for when an animal drinks of such water it does not recover. Azara 

 describes* the fury of the wild horses on a similar occasion, rushing 

 into the marshes, those which arrived first being overwhelmed and 

 crushed by those which followed. He adds that more than once he 

 has seen the carcasses of upwards of a thousand wild horses thus 

 destroyed. I noticed that the smaller streams in the Pampas were 

 paved with a breccia of bones, but this probably is the effect of 

 a gradual increase, rather than of the destruction at any one pe- 

 riod. Subsequently to the drought of 1827 to 1832, a very rainy 

 season followed, which caused great floods. Hence, it is almost cer- 

 tain that some thousands of the skeletons were buried by the deposits 

 of the very next year. What would be the opinion of a geologist, 

 viewinof such an enormous collection of bones, of all kinds of animals 

 and of all ages, thus embedded in one thick earthy mass ? Would he 

 not attribute it to a flood having swept over the surface of the land, 



thousand. Dr I^Ialcolmson informs me, that, during a great drought in 

 India, the wild animals entered the tents of some troops at Ellore, and 

 that a hare drank out of a vessel held by the adjutant of the regiment. 

 * Travels, vol. i., p. 374. 



