110 BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES. [CHAP. vr. 



others larger. One which goes by the name of the " Corral," is said 

 to be two or three miles in diameter, and encompassed by perpen- 

 dicular cliffs, between thirty and forty feet high, excepting at one 

 spot, where the entrance lies. Falconer * give a curious account of 

 the Indians driving troops of wild horses into it, and then by 

 guarding the entrance, keeping them secure. I have never heard 

 of any other instance of table-land in a formation of quartz, and 

 which, in the hill I examined, had neither cleavage nor stratifica- 

 tion. I was told that the rock of the " Corral " was white, and 

 would strike fire. 



We did not reach the posta on the Bio Tapalguen till after it was 

 dark. At supper, from something which was said, I was suddenly 

 struck with horror at thinking that I was eating one of the favourite 

 dishes of the country, namely, a half-formed calf, long before its 

 proper time of birth. It turned out to be Puma ; the meat is very 

 white, and remarkably like veal in taste. Dr. Shaw was laughed 

 at for stating that " the flesh of the lion is in great esteem, haying 

 no small affinity with veal, both in colour, taste, and flavdnr." 

 Such certainly is the case with the Puma. The Gauchos differ in 

 their opinion, whether the Jaguar is good eating, but are unanimous 

 in saying that cat is excellent. 



September 17th. We followed the course of the Rio Tapalguen, 

 through a very fertile country, to the ninth posta. Tapalguen, it- 

 self, or the town of Tapalguen, if ft may be so called, consists of a 

 perfectly level plain, studded over, as far as the eye can reach, with 

 the toldos or oven-shaped huts of the Indians. The families of tlio 

 friendly Indians, who were fighting on the side of Rosas, residcc 

 here. We met and passed many young Indian women, riding 

 two or three together on the same horse : they, as well as many 

 the young men, were strikingly handsome, their fine ruddy cor 

 plexions being the picture of health. Besides the toldos, there wei 

 three ranchos ; one inhabited by the Commandant, and the two 

 others by Spaniards with small shops. 



We were here able to buy some biscuit. I had now been several 

 days without tasting anything besides meat : I did not at all 

 dislike this new regimen ; but I felt as if it would only have agreed 

 with me with hard exercise. I have heard that patients in England, 

 when desired to confine themselves exclusively to an animal diet, 

 even with the hope of life before their eyes, have hardly been able 

 * Falconer's Patagonia, p. 70. 



