64 



A DIARY OF THE 



river, over which they swam without difficulty ; 

 and, on landing, the lasso was thrown over their 

 necks, which immediately stopped them. Here 

 we went into a raucho, where our waterwoman 

 assumed the character of hostess, and appeared 

 to keep an Indian eating-house, from the quan- 

 tity of dried beef hanging about the raucho, and 

 some boiling in an earthenware pot on the fire, 

 which she served up in a wooden bowl, when it 

 proved to be cascuella, made from cherqui and 

 ahi (capsicums) boiled together. As a substi- 

 tute for spoons we used muscle-shells, and for 

 bread we had heated corn, beaten between stones, 

 and moistened with water, something about the 

 consistency of birdlime. Our beverage was a 

 mixture of water and roasted barley, pounded ; 

 which, being put into a bullock's horn and 

 violently stirred, produces an effervescence, in 

 which state it is drank. I need not say, how- 

 ever foreign as this was to our usual fare, we 

 made a hearty meal, not having eaten any thing 

 substantial since the night of the wreck. This 

 repast occupied us about ten minutes ; after 

 which we lighted our pajitas, and resumed our 

 journey towards the patraco of our guide, called 

 Eurihuillin, from the river of that name, which 



