76 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES. [CHAP. vi. 



two picked horses, which they keep ready for any urgent occasion. On 

 one of these, an old white horse, the cacique sprung, taking with him 

 his Hi tie son. The horse had neither saddle nor bridle. To avoid the 

 shots, the Indian rode in the peculiar method of his nation ; namely, 

 with an arm round the horse's neck, and one leg only on its back. 

 Thus hanging on one side, he was seen patting the horse's head, and 

 talking to him. The pursuers urged every effort in the chase; the 

 Commandant three times changed his horse, but all in vain. The old 

 Indian father and his son escaped, and were free. What a fine picture 

 one can form in one's mind, the naked, bronze-like figure of the old 

 man with his little boy, riding like a Mazeppa on the white horse, thus 

 leaving far behind him the host of his pursuers ! 



I saw one day a soldier striking fire with a piece of flint, which I 

 immediately recognized as having been a part of the head of an arrow. 

 He told me it was found near the island of Cholechel, and that they 

 are frequently picked up there. It was between two and three inches 

 long, and therefore twice as large as those now used in Tierra del 

 Fuego : it was made of opaque cream-coloured flint, but the point and 

 barbs had been intentionally broken off. It is well known that no 

 Pampas Indians now use bows and arrows. I believe a small tribe in 

 Banda Oriental must be excepted ; but they are widely separated from 

 the Pampas Indians, and border close on those tribes that inhabit the 

 forest, and live on foot. It appears, therefore, that these arrow-heads 

 are antiquarian * relics of the Indians, before the great change in habits 

 consequent on the introduction of the horse into South America. 



CHAPTER VI. 



BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES. 



Set out for Buenos Ayres Rio Sauce Sierra Ventana Third Posta 

 Driving Horses Bolas Partridges and Foxes Features of the 

 Country Long-legged Plover Teru-tero Hail Storm Natural En- 

 closures in the Sierra Tapalguen Flesh of .Puma Meat Diet Guardia 

 del Monte Effects of Cattle on the Vegetation Cardoon Buenos Ayres 

 Corral where Cattle are slaughtered. 



September ^>lh. I HIRED a Gaucho to accompany me on my ride to 

 Buenos Ayres, though with some difficulty, as the father of one man was 

 afraid to let him go, and another, who seemed willing, was described to 

 me as so fearful, that I was afraid to take him, for I was told that even 

 if he saw an ostrich at a distance, he would mistake it for an Indian, 

 and would fly like the wind away. The distance to Buenos Ayres is 

 about four hundred miles, and nearly the whole way through an unin- 

 habited country. We started early in the morning ; ascending a few 

 * Azara has even doubted whether the Pampas Indians ever used bows. 



