132 



PAMPAS. 



Sept. 1833. 



weight eleven hens' eggs ; so that we ohtained from this one 

 nest as much food as 297 hens' eggs would have yielded. 



September 14th. — As the soldiers belonging to the next 

 posta meant to return^ and we should together make a party 

 of five^ and all armed^ I determined not to wait* for the ex- 

 pected troops. After galloping some leagues^ we came to a 

 low swampy country, which extends for nearly eighty miles 

 to the northward, as far as the Sierra Tapalguen. In some 

 parts there were fine damp plains, covered with grass, while 

 others had a soft, black, and peaty soil. There were also 

 many extensive but shallow lakes, and large beds of reeds. 

 The country on the whole resembled the better parts of the 

 Cambridgeshire fens. At night we had some difficulty in 

 finding, amidst the swamps, a dry place for our bivouac. 



September 15th. — Rose very early in the morning, and 

 shortly after passed the posta, where the Indians had mur- 

 dered the five soldiers. The officer had eighteen chuzo 

 wounds in his body. By the middle of the day, after a hard 

 gallop, we reached the fifth posta : on account of some diffi- 

 culty in procuring horses we staid there the night. As this 

 point was the most exposed on the whole line, twenty-one 

 soldiers were stationed there ; at sunset they returned from 

 hunting, bringing with them seven deer, three ostriches, 

 and many armadilloes and partridges. When riding 

 through the country, it is a common practice to set fire to 

 the plain ; and hence at night, as on this occasion, the hori- 

 zon was illuminated in several places by brilliant conflagra- 

 tions. This is done partly for the sake of puzzling any stray 



* The lieutenant pressed me much to stop. As he had been very 

 obliging — not only providing me with food, but lending me his private 

 horses — I wanted to make him some remuneration. I asked my guide 

 whether I might do so, but he told me certainly not ; that the only answer 

 I should receive, probably would be, " We have meat for the dogs in our 

 country, and therefore do not grudge it to a Christian." It must not be 

 supposed that the rank of lieutenant in such an array, would at all prevent 

 the acceptance of payment : it was only the high sense of hospitality, which 

 every traveller is bound to acknowledge as nearly universal throughout 

 these provinces. 



