( 28 ) 



was before stated, join the various branches of the Godoy, and flo\v* 

 into the lake Meni ; those on the other side the mountains in a 

 northerly direction empty themselves principally through the Ria- 

 chuelo and the St. Lucia, into the Plata. 



The want of cultivation in this vast territory may be inferred from 

 the numbers and varieties of wild animals which breed upon it. 

 Tigers, ounces, and lions are common. The former are heavy 

 sluggish animals ; their chief prey is the young cattle, which they 

 find in such abundance that they rarely attack a man. Hence 

 little danger is to be apprehended from them by any person 

 travelling on horseback*, unless when inadvertently approaching 

 the haunt of a female with young. The ounce has the same cha- 

 racter, and the lion is considered less vicious than either. There 

 is an animal of the pig kind, called the pig of the woods, which has 

 an aperture on its back, whence it emits a most intolerable stench 



* Among the many daring and active feats performed by the Peons, one of the most 

 «xtraordinary of late years, was the capture of a tiger by a female of that tribe. She was a 

 mulatto-woman, brought up in the vicinity of Barriga Negra. She was accustomed at an 

 early age to ride horses, and prided herself in doing offices which belonged to the stronger 

 sex, such as catching cattle with the noose, killing them, &c. Her form was masculine, 

 and she became so inured to men's work, that she was hired as a Peon, and fulfilled that 

 office much to the satisfaction of her employers. She was noted for selecting spirited 

 horses, and for riding them at full speed. One day on her return from labour, as she was 

 passing a rivulet, she observed a large tyger at no great distance. Surprized that the 

 animal did not steal away, as is generally the case when he sees a person mounted, she 

 drew nearer, still keeping her horse's head from him, so as to be ready to gallop off if 

 he should make a spring. He was still inattentive and motionless ; the woman ob- 

 serving this, and thinking he ailed something, after some minutes' pause backed her horse 

 until she came within twenty yards of him, loosening at the same time her noose from the 

 saddle, which she threw most dexterously over his neck, and immediately galloped away 

 with him to a considerable distance. Whether ill or not before, she knew he must now be 

 dead ; she therefore alighted, flayed him, and carried home the skin as a trophy. The 

 animal was above the ordinary size, and not smaller than a calf of six weeks old. This 

 exploit was long the talk of the neighbourhood, and I have heard the woman herself re- 

 late it. 



