EXPEDITION AGAINST THE INDIANS. 129 



ti-ansformetl into different natures. Of these we 

 gathered and brought home many." 



During my stay at Bahia Blanca, while waiting 

 for the Beagle, the place was in a constant state of 

 excitement, from rumours of wars and victories be- 

 tween the troops of Rosas and the wild Indians. 

 One day an account came that a small party, form- 

 ing one of the postas on the line to Buenos Ayres, 

 had been found all murdered. The next day three 

 hundred men arrived from the Colorado, under the 

 command of Commandant Miranda. A large por- 

 tion of these men were Indians {7/iansos, or tame) 

 belonging to the tribe of the Cacique Bemantio. 

 They passed the night here, and it was impossible 

 to conceive anything more wild and savage than 

 the scene of their bivouac. Some drank till they 

 were intoxicated ; others swallowed the steaming 

 blood of the cattle slaughtered for their suppers, 

 and then, being sick from drunkenness, they cast it 

 up again, and were besmeared with filth and gore. 



Nam simul expletus dapibus, vinoque sepultus 

 Cervicem inflexain posuit, jacuitque per antrum 

 Immensus, saniem eructans, ac frusta cruenta 

 Per somnum commixta mero. 



In the morning they started for the scene of the 

 murder, with orders to follow the " rastro," or 

 track, even if it led them to Chile. We subse- 

 quently heard that the wild Indians had escaped 

 into the great Pampas, and fiom some cause the 

 track had been missed. One glance at the rastro 

 tells these people a whole history. Supposing they 

 examine the track of a thousand horses, they will 

 soon guess the number of mounted ones by seeing 

 how many have cantered ; by the depth of the 

 other impressions, whether any horses were load- 

 ed with cargoes ; by the iiTegularity of the foot- 

 VoL. 1—9 



