134 BAHIA BLANCA, 



I heard also some account of an engagement 

 which took place a few weeks previously to the 

 one mentioned at Cholechel. This is a very im- 

 portant station on account of being a pass for hor- 

 ses ; and it was, in consequence, for some time the 

 headquarters of a division of the army. When the 

 troops first arrived there they found a tribe of In- 

 dians, of whom they killed twenty or thirty. The 

 cacique escaped in a manner which astonished ev- 

 ery one. The chief Indians always have one or 

 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 little 

 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 ann 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 rnind — 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 recognised 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 be- 

 tween two and three inches long, and therefore 

 twice as large as those now used in Tierra del Fu- 

 ego : it was made of opake cream-coloured flint, 

 but the point and barbs had been intentionally bro- 

 ken off. It is well known that no Pampas Indians 



