AN EXTENSIVE ESTANCIA. 185 



their names :" with tliis they seemed to think every 

 reasonable man ought to be satisfied, 



IQtJi. — Rode with my host to his estancia at the 

 Arroyo de San Juan. In the evening we took a 

 ride round the estate : it contained two square 

 leagues and a lialf, and was situated in what is 

 called a rincon ; that is, one side was fronted by 

 the Plata, and the two others guarded by impass- 

 able brooks. There was an excellent port for 

 little vessels, and an abundance of small wood, 

 which is valuable as supplying fuel to Buenos 

 Ayres. I was curious to know the value of so 

 complete an estancia. Of cattle there were 3000, 

 and it would well support three or lour times that 

 number; of mares 800, together with 150 broken- 

 in horses, and 600 sheep. There was plenty of 

 water and limestone, a rough house, excellent cor- 

 rals, and a peach orchard. For all this he had 

 been offered d£2000, and he only wanted <£500 ad- 

 ditional, and probably would sell it for less. The 

 chief trouble with an estancia is driving the cattle 

 twice a week to a central spot, in order to make 

 them tame, and to count them. This latter opera- 

 tion would be thought difficult, where there are ten 

 or fifteen thousand head together. It is managed 

 on the principle that the cattle invariably divide 

 themselves into little troops of from forty to one 

 hundred. Each troop is recognised by a few pe- 

 culiarly marked animals, and its number is known : 

 so that, one being lost out of ten thousand, it is per- 

 ceived by its absence from one of the tropillas. 

 During a stormy night the cattle all mingle to- 

 gether, but the next morning the ti'opillas separate 

 as before, so that each animal must know its fellow 

 out of ten thousand others. 



On two occasions I met with in this province 

 some oxen of a very curious breed, called nata or 

 Q2 



