1833.1 HILL OF I3EADS. US 



:vaste, is very considerable. An estanciero told ine that he often 

 had to send large herds of cattle a long journey to a salting esta- 

 blishment, and that the tired beasts were frequently obliged to be 

 killed and skinned ; but that he could never persuade the Gauchos 

 to eat of them, and every evening a fresh beast was slaughtered for 

 their suppers ! The view of the Rio Negro from the Sierra was 

 more picturesque than any other which I saw in this province. 

 The river, broad, deep and rapid, wound at the foot of a 

 rocky precipitous cliff: a belt of wood followed its course, 

 and the horizon terminated in the distant undulations of the 

 turf-plain. 



When in this neighbourhood, I several times heard of the 

 Sierra de las Cuentas : a hill distant many miles to the north- 

 ward. The name signifies hill of beads. I was assured that 

 vast numbers of little round stones, of various colours, each 

 with a small cylindrical hole, are found there. Formerly the 

 Indians used to collect them, for the purpose of making neck- 

 laces and bracelets — a taste, 1 may observe, which is common to 

 all savage nations, as well as to the most polished. I did not 

 know what to understand from this story, but upon mentioning 

 it at the Cape of Good Hope to Dr. Andrew Smith, he told me 

 that he recollected finding on the south-eastern coast of Africa, 

 about one hundred miles to the eastward of St. John's river, 

 some quartz crystals with their edges blunted from attrition, and 

 mixed with gravel on the sea-beach. Each crystal was about 

 five lines in diameter, and from an inch to an inch and a half in 

 length. Many of them had a small canal extending from one 

 extremity to the other, perfectly cylindrical, and of a size that 

 readily admitted a coarse thread or a piece of fine catgut. Their 

 colour was red or dull white. The natives were acquainted 

 with this structure in crystals. I have mentioned these circum- 

 stances because, although no crystallized body is at present 

 known to assume this form, it may lead some future traveller to 

 investigate the real nature of such stones. 



While staying at this estancia, I wa» amused with what I saw 

 and heard of the shepherd-dogs of the country.* When riding, 



* M. A. d'Orbigny has given nearly a similar account of these dogs, 

 torn. i. p. 175. 



