152 STRANGE QUESTIONS. [ch^ 



is under a great disadvantage, and would be exterminated 

 if not attended to ; for the common cattle, like horses, are 

 able just to keep alive, by browsing with their lips on twigs 

 of trees and reeds ; this the niatas cannot so well do, as 

 their lips do not join, and hence they are found to perish 

 before the common cattle. This strikes me as a good 

 illustration of how little we are able to judge from the 

 ordinary habits of life, on what circumstances, occurring 

 only at long intervals, the rarity or extinction of a species 

 may be determined. 



November i()th. — Passing the valley of Las Vacas, we 

 slept at a house of a North American, who worked a 

 lime-kiln on the Arroyo de las Vivoras. In the morning 

 we rode to a projecting headland on the banks of the river, 

 called Punta Gorda. On the way we tried to find a jaguar. 

 There were plenty of fresh tracks, and we visited the trees 

 on which they are said to sharpen their claws ; but we 

 did not succeed in disturbing one. From this point the 

 Rio Uruguay presented to our view a noble volume of 

 water. From the clearness and rapidity of the stream, its 

 appearance was far superior to that of its neighbour the 

 Parana. On the opposite coast, several branches from the 

 latter river entered the Uruguay. As the sun was shining, 

 the two colours of the waters could be seen quite distinct. 



In the evening we proceeded on our road towards 

 Mercedes on the Rio Negro. At night we asked permission 

 to sleep at an estancia at which we happened to arrive. 

 It was a very large estate, being ten leagues square, and 

 the owner is one of the greatest landowners in the country. 

 His nephew had charge of it, and with him there was a 

 captain in the army, who the other day ran away from 

 Buenos Ayres. Considering their station, the conversation 

 was rather amusing. They expressed, as was usual, un- 

 bounded astonishment at the globe being round, and could 

 scarcely credit that a hole would, if deep enough, come out 

 on the other side. They had, however, heard of a country 

 where there were six months' light and six of darkness, and 

 where the inhabitants were very tall and thin ! They were 

 curious about the price and condition of horses and cattle 

 in England. Upon finding out we did not catch our 

 animals with the lazo, they cried out, **Ah, then, you 

 use nothing but the bolas : " the idea of an enclosed country 

 was quite new to them. The captain at last said, he had 

 one question to ask me, which he should be very much 



