Sept. 1833. 



PAMPAS. 



145 



reason ; but the inhabitants of the country are quite ignorant 

 respecting it. 



The little owl [Nodua cunicularia), which has been so often 

 mentioned, on the plains of Buenos Ayres exclusively in- 

 habits the holes of the bizcacha; but in Banda Oriental it is 

 its own workman. During the open day, but more especially 

 in the evening, these birds may be seen in every direction 

 standing frequently by pairs on the hillock near their bur- 

 rows. If disturbed they either enter the hole, or, uttering a 

 shrill harsh cry, move with a remarkably undulatory flight to 

 a short distance, and then turning round, steadily gaze at 

 their pursuer. Occasionally in the evening they may be 

 heard hooting. I found in the stomachs of two which I 

 opened the remains of mice, and I one day saw a small 

 snake killed and carried away. It is said these latter 

 animals are their common prey during the daytime. I 

 may here mention, as showing on what various kinds of food 

 owls subsist, that a species that was killed among the islets 

 of the Chonos Archipelago, had its stomach full of good- 

 sized crabs. 



In the evening we crossed the Rio Arrecife, on a simple 

 raft made of barrels lashed together, and slept at the post- 

 house on the other side. I this day paid horse hire for 

 thirty-one leagues ; and although the sun was glaring hot I 

 was but very little fatigued. When Captain Head talks of 

 riding fifty leagues a day, I do not imagine the distance is 

 equal to 150 English miles. At all events the thirty-one 

 leagues was only 76 miles in a straight line, and in an open 

 country I should think four additional miles for turnings 

 would be a sufficient allowance. 



29th and 30th. — We continued to ride over plains of 

 the same character. At San Nicholas I first saw the noble 

 river of the Parana. At the foot of the clilF on which the 

 town stands, some large vessels were at anchor. Before 

 arriving at Rozario, we crossed the Saladillo, a stream of 

 fine clear running v/ater, but too saline to drink. Rozario 

 is a large town built on a dead level plain, which forms 



VOL. III. L 



