1833.] THE AGOUTI. 79 



when the Indian commenced making the same loud noise, 

 which is usual at the first sight of the distant tree ; putting 

 his hand to his head, and then pointing in the direction of 

 the Sierra. Upon being asked the reason of this, the 

 Indian said in broken Spanish, "First see the Sierra." 

 About two leagues beyond this curious tree we halted for 

 tlie night ; at this instant an unfortunate cow was espied 

 by the lynx-eyed Gauchos, who set off in full chase, and in 

 a few minutes dragged her in with their lazos, and 

 slaughtered her. We here had the four necessaries of life 

 "en el campo," — pasture for the horses, water (only a 

 muddy puddle), meat and firewood. The Gauchos were in 

 high spirits at finding all these luxuries ; and we soon set 

 to work at the poor cow. This was the first night which I 

 passed under the open sky, with the gear of the recado for 

 my bed. There is high enjoyment in the independence of 

 the Gaucho life — to be able at any moment to pull up your 

 horse, and say, "Here we will pass the night." The 

 death-like stillness of the plain, the dogs keeping watch, 

 the gipsy-group of Gauchos making their beds round the 

 fire, have left in my mind a strongly-marked picture of this 

 first night, which will never be forgotten. 



The next day the country continued similar to that above 

 described. It is inhabited by few birds or animals of any 

 kind. Occasionally a deer, or a Guanaco (wild Llama) may 

 be seen ; but the Agouti {Cavia Patagonicai) is the commonest 

 quadruped. This animal here represents our hares. It 

 differs, however, from that genus in many essential respects ; 

 for instance, it has only three toes behind. It is also nearly 

 twice the size, weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds. 

 The Agouti is a true friend of the desert ; it is a common 

 feature in the landscape to see two or three hopping quickly 

 one after the other in a straight line across these wild plains. 

 They are found as far north as the Sierra Tapalguen (lat. 

 37" 30'), where the plain rather suddenly becomes greener 

 and more humid ; and their southern limit is between Port 

 Desire and St. Julian, where there is no change in the 

 nature of the country. It is a singular fact, that although 

 the Agouti is not now found as far south as Port St. Julian, 

 yet -that Captain Wood, in his voyage in 1670, talks of them 

 as being numerous there. What cause can have altered, in 

 a wide, uninhabited, and rarely-visited country, the range 

 of an animal like this ? It appears also from the number 

 shot by Captain Wood in one day at Port Desire, that they 



