126 ST. F. [CHAP. vii. 



had been obliged to dig to supply his own family with water; and 

 that the partridges had hardly strength to fly away when pursued. 

 The lowest estimation of the loss of cattle in the province of 

 Buenos Ayres alone, was taken at one million head. A proprietor 

 at San Pedro had previously to these years 20,000 cattle ; at the 

 end not one remained. San Pedro is situated in the middle of the 

 finest country ; and even now abounds again with animals ; yet, 

 during the latter part of the " gran seco," live cattle were brought 

 in vessels for the consumption of the inhabitants. The animals 

 roamed from their estancias, and, wandering far southward, were 

 mingled together in such multitudes, that a government commission 

 was sent from Buenos Ayres to settle the disputes of the owners. 

 Sir Woodbine Parish informed me of another and very curious 

 source of dispute ; the ground being so long dry, such quanti- 

 ties of dust were blown about, that in this open country the land- 

 marks became obliterated, and people could not tell the limits of 

 their estates. 



I was informed by an eye-witness that the cattle in herds of 

 thousands rushed into the Parana, and being exhausted by hunger 

 they were unable to crawl up the muddy banks, and thus were 

 drowned. The arm of the river which runs by San Pedro was 

 so full of putrid carcasses, that the master of a vessel told me 

 that the smell rendered it quite impassable. Without doubt 

 several hundred thousand animals thus perished in the river: 

 their bodies when putrid were seen floating down the stream; 

 and many in all probability were deposited in the estuary of the 

 Plata. All the small rivers became highly saline, and this caused 

 the death of vast numbers in particular spots ; for when an anims 

 drinks of such water it does not recover. Azara describes * the 

 fury of the wild horses on a similar occasion, rushing into the 

 marshes, those which arrived first being overwhelmed and crushec 

 by those which followed. He adds that more than once he has 

 seen the carcasses of upwards of a thousand wild horses thus 

 destroyed. I noticed that the smaller streams in the Pampas were 

 paved with a breccia of bones, but this probably is the effect of a 



fiture of the invaders, but not until they had killed one man, and wounded 

 several others." The town is said to have a population of nearly three 

 thousand ! Dr. Malcolmson informs me that, during a great drought in 

 India, the wild animals entered the tents of some troops at Ellore, and 

 that a hare drank out of a vessel held by the adjutant of the regiment. 

 * Travels, vol. i. p. 374. 



