V ESCAPE OF INDIANS 109 



containing two and three thousand inhabitants. Even in 

 Falconer's time (1750) the Indians made inroads as far as 

 Luxan, Areco, and Arrecife, but now they are driven beyond 

 the Salado. Not only have whole tribes been exterminated, 

 but the remaining Indians have become more barbarous : 

 instead of living in large villages, and being employed in 

 the arts of fishing, as well as of the chase, they now wander 

 about the open plains, without home or fixed occupation. 



I heard also some account of an engagement which took 

 place, a few weeks previously to the one mentioned, at Cholechel. 

 This is a very important station on account of being a pass for 

 horses ; and it was, in consequence, for some time the head- 

 quarters of a division of the army. When the troops first 

 arrived there they found a tribe of Indians, of whom they killed 

 twenty or thirty. The cacique escaped in a manner which 

 astonished every one. The chief Indians always have one or 

 two picked horses, which they keep ready for any urgent 

 occasion. On one of these, an old white horse, the cacique 

 sprung, taking with him his little son. The horse had neither 

 saddle nor bridle. To avoid the shots, the Indian rode in the 

 peculiar method of his nation ; namely, with an arm round the 

 horse's neck, and one leg only on its back. Thus hanging on 

 one side, he was seen patting the horse's head, and talking to him. 

 The pursuers urged every effort in the chase ; the Commandant 

 three times changed his horse, but all in vain. The old Indian 

 father and his son escaped, and were free. What a fine 

 picture one can form in one's mind, — the naked, bronze-like 

 figure of the old man with his little boy, riding like a Mazeppa 

 on the white horse, thus leaving far behind him the host of his 

 pursuers ! 



I saw one day a soldier striking fire with a piece of flint, 

 which I immediately recognised as having been a part of the 

 head of an arrow. He told me it was found near the island 

 ot Cholechel, and that they are frequently picked up there. 

 It was between two and three inches long, and therefore twice 

 as large as those now used in Tierra del Fuego : it was 

 made of opaque cream-coloured flint, but the point and barbs 

 had been intentionally broken off. It is well known that 

 no Pampas Indians now use bows and arrows. I believe 

 a small tribe in Banda Oriental must be excepted ; but 



