80 



RIO NEGRO. 



Aug. 1833. 



had been suspended. Poor people not having any thing 

 better, only pulled a thread out of their ponchos, and 

 fastened it to the tree. The Indians, moreover, were accus- 

 tomed to pour spirits and mate into a certain hole, and like- 

 wise to smoke upwards, thinking thus to afford all possible 

 gratification to Walleechu. To complete the scene, the tree 

 was surrounded by the bleached bones of the horses which 

 had been slaughtered as sacrifices. All Indians of every age 

 and sex, made their offerings ; they then thought that their 

 horses would not tire, and that they themselves should be 

 prosperous. The Gaucho who told me this, said that in the 

 time of peace he had witnessed this scene, and that he and 

 others used to wait till the Indians had passed by, for the 

 sake of stealing their offerings from Walleechu. 



The Gauchos think that the Indians consider the tree as 

 the god itself ; but it seems far more probable that they 

 regard it as the altar. The only cause which I can imagine 

 for this choice, is its being a landmark in a dangerous pas- 

 sage. The Sierra de la Ventana is visible at an immense 

 distance ; and a Gaucho told me that he was once riding 

 with an Indian a few miles to the north of the Rio Colo- 

 rado, when the latter commenced making the same loud 

 noise, which is usual at the first sight of the distant tree ; 

 putting his hand to his head, and then pointing it in the 

 direction of the Sierra. Upon being asked the reason of 

 this, the Indian said in broken Spanish, First see the 

 Sierra/^ This likewise would render it probable that the 

 utility of a distant landmark is the first cause of its adora- 

 tion. About two leagues beyond this curious tree we 

 halted for the night : at this instant an unfortunate cow was 

 spied by the lynx-eyed Gauchos. Off they set in chase, 

 and in a few minutes she was dragged in by the lazo, and 

 slaughtered. We here had the four necessaries of life en 

 el campo,^^ — pasture for the horses, water (only a muddy 

 puddle), meat, and firewood. The Gauchos were in high spirits 

 at finding all these luxuries ; and we soon set to work at the 

 poor cow. This was the first night which I had ever passed 



