80 BAHIA BLANCA. _ (CHAP. Iv. 
a hundred reasons why they could not have been Indians; but 
all these were forgotten at the time. We then rode on in peace 
and quietness to a low point called Punta Alta, whence we could 
see nearly the whole of the great harbour of Bahia Blanca. 
The wide expanse of water is choked up by numerous great 
mud-banks, which the inhabitants call Cangrejales, or crabberies, 
from the number of small crabs. The mud is so soft that it is 
impossible to walk over them, even for the shortest distance. 
Many of the banks have their surfaces covered with long rushes, 
che tops of which alone are visible at high water. On one oc- 
casion, when in a boat, we were so entangled by these shallows 
that we could hardly find our way. Nothing was visible but 
the flat beds of mud ; the day was not very clear, and there was 
much refraction, or as the sailors expressed it, “ things loomed 
high.” The only object within our view which was not level 
was the horizon ; rushes looked like bushes unsupported in the 
air, and water like mud-banks, and mud-banks like water. 
We passed the night in Punta Alta, and I employed myself in 
searching for fossil bones; this point being a perfect catacomb 
for monsters of extinct races. The evening was perfectly calm 
and clear ; the extreme monotony of the view gave it an interest 
even in the midst of mud-banks and gulls, sand-hillocks and 
solitary vultures. In riding back in the morning we came across 
a very fresh track of a Puma, but did not succeed in finding 
it. We saw also a couple of Zorillos, or skunks,—odious 
animals, which are far from uncommon. In general appearance 
the Zorillo resembles a polecat, but it is rather larger, and much 
thicker in proportion. Conscious of its power, it roams by day 
about the open plain, and fears neither dog nor man. Ifa dog 
is urged to the attack, its courage is instantly checked by a few 
drops of the fetid oil, which brings on violent sickness and run- 
ning at the nose. Whatever is once polluted by it, is for ever 
useless. Azara says the smell can be perceived at a league dis- 
tant; more than once, when entering the harbour of Monte 
Video, the wind being off shore, we have perceived the odour 
on board the Beagle. Certain it is, that every animal most will- 
ingly makes room for the Zorillo. 
