FROM MENDOZA TO SAN LUIS DE LA PUNTA. 25 



represas are not protected by any shade^ the water is warm and disagreeable ; but still, it is 

 better than that of mud-puddles, from which both cattle and men are frec^uently obliged to 

 quench their thirst. 



From here the cordillera is still in sight, and a view of it bothered me a good deal. At 

 Acorocorto I took a general look at the whole chain, and saw nothing higher than Tupun- 

 gato ; but just before arriving at the Desaguadero, I turned to look, and discovered that there 

 was another peak to the northward, much higher. At first I supposed it to be a cloud ; but as 

 it did not change appearance, I concluded it was Aconcagua, and determined to take angles 

 on. it, but on dismounting, found myself too much knocked up with my lame knee ; and before 

 I was sufiiciently recovered, the cordillera was enveloped in clouds, so that I was left in doubt 

 as to whether I had really seen Aconcagua or not. 



At 4 p. M. we set out, and at 6.30 camped at the Eepresa de las Cabras. There is one hut 

 at this place. Country as usual. Liebres and large partridges abundant. Grrasshoppers in 

 myriads. 



December 12. — Started at 2 o'clock A. M., and after travelling twelve miles, passed the Ee- 

 presa de Chomes, where there are two wretched huts. From this the lake called the Bebedero 

 is in sight, about nine miles to the southward. It appears to be nearly circular, and is perhaps 

 ten miles in diameter. Thence twelve miles further, brought us to the post-house and represa 

 called '"'El Balde." Country up to this point less thinly wooded. 



This post-house is built of adobes, is square and high like a block-house, and surrounded by 

 a stout palisade made of trunks of trees. There are three or four ranches about it, in one of 

 which dwells the owner of the land bordering the Bebedero. Being referred to him as the 

 person best acquainted with the country and streams thereabout, I made him a visit, and, after 

 answering the usual questions as to whether I was a medico, or had any remedios, succeeded in 

 obtaining the following information: That the Desaguadero, and a part of the Tunuyan, 

 enter together a small laguna called the "Corral de Tortoras," which is sometimes nearly dry; 

 and that from this pond or marsh, a stream flows to the northward, and empties into the lake 

 called the Bebedero, or drinker, from which there is no outlet. To account for what becomes 

 of the water that enters it, the popular belief was, that there was a whirlpool (resumidero) in 

 its centre, through which it is discharged into the earth. That part of the Tunuyan which 

 does not unite with the Desaguadero turns to the southward, and after receiving the waters of 

 the Atuel and Diamante, finally ends in a salt lake far to the south. 



From El Balde we proceeded sis miles farther, and stopped at a represa. Our road lay 

 through a country with very little undergrowth, but with larger trees than any we had seen, 

 some of the algarrobas being sixteen inches in diameter, and thirty feet high. Weather warm 

 and clear, the thermometer in the shade being 93°, and in the sun 101° — not as comfortable as 

 it might be for a ride of nine hours. 



This represa, which is now abandoned, consists of a collection of about a dozein huts, formerly 

 occupied by soldiers, stationed there to protect the country from the Indians, and has on its most 

 elevated ground the trunk of a large tree, with a scaffolding on top, where a look-out used to be 

 kept. The represa itself — that is, the pond of water — had been neglected so long, it had dwindled 

 to a mere puddle, some twelve yards long by three yards wide, and six inches deep. The water 

 was perfectly green, and had to be strained through a handkerchief before it was fit to drink. 



Saw a large iguana and a number of liebres in the course of the morning's ride. 



Twenty miles from the represa brought us to San Luis, where Aldao and myself arrived at 

 sunset, having pushed on at a gallop, leaving the rest of the party behind. The country 

 through which we passed is more cheerful, the approach to the town being marked, of course, 

 by the presence of occasional farms and houses. About half way there is another represa, with 

 a few huts in its neighborhood. 



Feeling the effects of the impure water we had drank at the place where we passed the siesta, 



we made it a point on our arrival to call for and drink three several tumblers of water each, 



4.# 



