Aug. 1833. 



ZORILLO. 



93 



mained in this position for some time^ and at last, bursting 

 out in laughter, exclaimed, Mugeres l^' (women !) He knew 

 them to be the wife and sister-in-law of the major^s son, 

 hunting for ostrich's eggs. I have described this man's con- 

 duct, because he acted under the full impression that they 

 were Indians. As soon, however, as the absurd mistake was 

 found out, he gave me 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 th,eir surfaces co- 

 vered with long rushes, the tops of which alone are visible at 

 high water. On one occasion, when in a boat, we were so en- 

 tangled 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 my- 

 self 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 him. 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 pro- 

 portion. Conscious of its power, it roams by day about 



