THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 



117 



being a pass for horses; and it was, in consequence, for 

 some time the head-quarters of a division of the army. 

 When the troops first arrived there they found a tribe of 

 Indians, of whom they killed twenty or thirty. The cacique 

 escaped in a manner which astonished every one. The chief 

 Indians always have one or two picked horses, which they 

 keep ready for any urgent occasion. On one of these, an old 

 white horse, the cacique sprung, taking with him his little 

 son. The horse had neither saddle nor bridle. To avoid the 

 shots, the Indian rode in the peculiar method of his nation ; 

 namely, with an arm round the horse's neck, and one leg 

 only on its back. Thus hanging on one side, he was seen 

 patting the horse's head, and talking to him. The pursuers 

 urged every effort in the chase; the Commandant three 

 times changed his horse, but all in vain. The old Indian 

 father and his son escaped, and were free. What a fine pic- 

 ture one can form in one's mind, — the naked, bronze-like 

 figure of the old man with his little boy, riding like a 

 Mazeppa on the white horse, thus leaving far behind him the 

 host of his pursuers ! 



I saw one day a soldier striking fire with a piece of flint, 

 which I immediately recognised as having been a part of the 

 head of an arrow. He told me it was found near the island 

 of Cholechel, and that they are frequently picked up there. 

 It was between two and three inches long, and therefore 

 twice as large as those now used in Tierra del Fuego : it was 

 made of opaque cream-coloured flint, but the point and barbs 

 had been intentionally broken off. It is well known that no 

 Pampas Indians now use bows and arrows. I believe a small 

 tribe in Banda Oriental must be excepted; but they are 

 widely separated from the Pampas Indians, and border close 

 on those tribes that inhabit the forest, and live on foot. It 

 appears, therefore, that these arrow-heads are antiquarian 28 

 relics of the Indians, before the great change in habits 

 consequent on the introduction of the horse into South 

 America. 



Azara has even doubted whether the Pampas Indians ever used bows. 



