I20 AN OSTRICH'S NEST. [chap. vi. 



out hunting at Bahia Blanca, but the men there merely 

 rode in a crescent, each being about a quarter of a mile 

 apart from the other. A fine male ostrich being turned by 

 the headmost riders, tried to escape on one side. The 

 Gauchos pursued at a reckless pace, twisting their horses 

 about with the most admirable command, and each man 

 whirling the balls round his head. At length the foremost 

 threw them, revolving through the air; in an instant the 

 ostrich rolled over and over, its legs fairly lashed together by 

 the thong. 



The plains abound with three kinds of partridge,* two of 

 which are as large as hen pheasants. Their destroj^er, a 

 small and pretty fox, was also singularly numerous ; in the 

 course of the day we could not have seen less than forty or 

 fifty. They were generally near their earths, but the dogs 

 killed one. When we returned to the posta, we found two 

 of the party returned who had been hunting by themselves. 

 They had killed a puma, and had found an ostrich's nest 

 with twenty-seven eggs in it. Each of these is said to equal 

 in weight eleven hens' eggs ; so that we obtained from this 

 one nest as much food as two hundred and ninety-seven 

 hens' eggs would have given. 



September i/^th. — As the soldiers belonging to the next 

 posta meant to return, and we should together make a 

 party of five, and all armed, I determined not to wait for 

 the expected troops. My host, the lieutenant, pressed me 

 much to stop. As he had been very obliging — not only 

 providing me with food, but lending me his private horses — 

 I wanted to make him some remuneration. I asked my 

 guide whether I might do so, but he told me certainly not ; 

 that the only answer I should receive, probably would be, 

 "We have meat for the dogs in our country, and therefore 

 do not grudge it to a Christian." It must not be supposed 

 that the rank of lieutenant in such an army would at all 

 prevent the acceptance of payment ; it was only the high 

 sense of hospitality, which every traveller is bound to 

 acknowledge as nearly universal throughout these provinces. 

 After galloping some leagues, we came to a low swampy 

 country, which extends for nearly eighty miles northward, 

 as far as the Sierra Tapalguen. In some parts there were 

 fine damp plains, covered with grass, while others had a 

 soft, black, and peaty soil. There were also many extensive 



* Two species of Tinamus and Eudromia elegans of A. d'Orbigny, which 

 can only be called a partridge with regard to its habits. 



