gfi ST. F. [CHAP. vu. 



told me that the deer * used to come into his courtyard to the well, 

 which he had been obliged to dig to supply his own family with water ; 

 and that the partridges had hardly strength to fly away when pursued. 

 The lowest estimation of the less of cattle in the province of Buenos 

 Ayres alone, was taken at one million head. A proprietor 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 con- 

 sumption of the inhabitants. The animals roamed from their estancias, 

 and, wandering far southward, were mingled together in such multi- 

 tudes, 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 eyewitness that the cattle in herds of thousands 

 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 carcases, 

 that the master of a vessel told me that the smell rendered it quite 

 impassable. Without doubt several hundred thousand animals thus 

 perished in the river ; their bodies when putrid were seen floating 

 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 f 

 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 

 carcases 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 period. Subsequently to the 

 drought of 1827 to 1832, a very rainy season followed, which caused 

 great floods. Hence it is almost certain that some thousands of the 



* In Capt. Owen's " Surveying Voyage (vol. ii., p. 274) there is a curious 

 account of the effects of a drought on the elephants, at Benguela (west coast 

 of Africa). "A number of these animals had some time since entered the 

 town, in a body, to possess themselves of the wells, not being able to procure 

 any water in the country. The inhabitants mustered, when a desperate 

 conflict ensued, which terminated in the ultimate discomfiture of the in- 

 vaders, but not until they had killed one man, and wounded se% 7 eral others." 

 The town is said to have a population of nearly three thousand ! Dr. Mai- 

 colmson 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 

 vessel held by the adjutant of the regiment, 



f " Travels," vol. i., p. 374. 



