Aspects of flic Valley. 57 



liis gun and fired, and we heard the shot rattle loudly 

 on the stiff quills of the broad motionless wings. 

 There is no doubt that some of the shot entered its 

 flesh, as it quickly swept down over the edge of the 

 cliff and disappeared from our sight. We got off 

 our horses, and crawling to the edge of the dreadful 

 cliff looked down, but could see nothing of the bird. 

 Remounting we rode on for a little over a mile, until 

 coming to the end of the cliff we went down under 

 it and galloped back over the narrow strip of beach 

 which appears at low tide. Arrived at the spot 

 where the bird had been lost we caught sight of it 

 once more, perched at the mouth of a small cavity 

 in the face of the rocky wall near the summit, and 

 lookinof at that heigfht no biffger than a buzzard. 

 He was far beyond the reach of shot, and safe, and 

 if not fatally wounded, may soar above that desolate 

 coast, and fight with vultures and grey eagles over 

 the carcases of stranded fishes and seals for half a 

 century to come. 



Close to the mouth of the river there is a low flat 

 island, about half a mile in length, covered in most 

 part by a dense growth of coarse grass and rushes. 

 It is inhabited by a herd of swine ; and although 

 these animals do not increase, they have been able 

 to maintain their existence for along period without 

 diminishing in number, in spite of the occasional 

 great tides that flood the whole island, and of multi- 

 tudes of hungry eagles and caranchos always on the 

 look out foT' stray sucklings. Many years ago, 

 while some gauchos were driving a troop of half wild 

 cows near the shore on the neighbouring mainland. 



