269 



domesticated, and performs in houses the office of a cat, freeing 

 them from mice, M^hich it eats very readily ; but it is kept by few 

 on account of its disagreeable note, and a mischievous propensity 

 of carrying away, in its beak and concealing whatever it finds. Of 

 turtle doves, besides the common species, there is one that is not 

 larger than a sparrow. Ostriches are common, and bees are found 

 every where, particularly in the eastern plains, and produce ex- 

 cellent honey. Grasshoppers appear there occasionally in such 

 number that they cover many miles of country, and destroy every 

 green thing that they meet with ; these are usually three inches 

 in length, but they are sometimes to be seen as large asa pilchard, 

 and from seven to eight inches long. 



There are many animals in Cujo that are not to be found in 

 Chili, as tigers, boars, stags, the land tortoise, the viper, iguana, 

 and several others. The tigers are ferocious like those of Africa, 

 and as large as an ass, but with shorter legs ; the skin is mottled 

 with white, yellow and black. The inhabitants kill them with 

 lances of five or six feet in length, armed with a sharp iron. The 

 method they adopt is for two persons to be in readiness, while a 

 third, who has the spear, provokes the tiger, who rushes upon him 

 with inconceivable fury, and impales himself upon the weapon, 

 which the hunter keeps constantly directed towards him, when the 

 two others come up and dispatch him. The Iguana is an animal 

 of the lizard kind, about three feet in length ; the colour is black- 

 ish, the eyes round, aad the flesh white and tender. It feeds upoH 

 grass and wild fruits. The country people, who eat it, think its flesh 

 far preferable to that of a chicken. 



In the northern parts of this province are mines of gold and 

 copper, but they are not worked, owing to the indolence of the in- 

 habitants. There are also rich mines of lead, vitriol, sulphur, 

 salt, coal, gypsum and talc. The mountains in the neighbourhood 

 of St. Juan are wholly composed of strata of white marble, from 

 five to six feet in length, and from six to seveixinches thick, which 

 are regularly cut and polished by the hand of nature. The inhabi- 

 tants make from it a beautiful lime, and employ it in building bridges 

 over their canals. Between the cities of Mendoza and La Punta, 

 upon a low range of hills, is a large stone pillar, one hundred and 

 fifty feet high, and twelve feet in diameter. It is called the giant, 

 and contains certain marks or inscriptions, resembling Cbinese 

 characters. Near the Diamond river is also another stone, con- 

 taining some marks, which appear to be ciphers or characters, and 

 the impression of a man's feet, with the figures of several ani« 



