162 



CHARLES DARWIN 



people. The extreme though rather formal courtesy of our 

 host and hostess, considering their grade of life, was quite 

 delightful. 



November 22nd. — Arrived at an estancia on the Berquelo 

 belonging to a very hospitable Englishman, to whom I had 

 a letter of introduction from my friend Mr. Lumb. I stayed 

 here three days. One morning I rode with my host to the 

 Sierra del Pedro Flaco, about twenty miles up the Rio 

 Negro. Nearly the whole country was covered with good 

 though coarse grass, which was as high as a horse's belly; 

 yet there were square leagues without a single head of cattle. 

 The province of Banda Oriental, if well stocked, would sup- 

 port an astonishing number of animals; at present the an- 

 nual export of hides from Monte Video amounts to three 

 hundred thousand; and the home consumption, from waste, 

 is very considerable. An " estanciero " told me that he often 

 had to send large herds of cattle a long journey to a salting 

 establishment, and that the tired beasts were frequently 

 obliged to be killed and skinned; but that he could never 

 persuade the Gaucnos to eat of them, and every evening 

 a fresh beast was slaughtered for their suppers ! The view 

 of the Rio Negro from the Sierra was more picturesque than 

 any other which I saw in this province. The river, broad, 

 deep, and rapid, wound at the foot of a rocky precipitous 

 cliff: a belt of wood followed its course, and the horizon 

 terminated in the distant undulations of the turf-plain. 



When in this neighbourhood, I several times heard of 

 the Sierra de las Cuentas : a hill distant many miles to the 

 northward. The name signifies hill of beads. I was assured 

 that vast numbers of little round stones, of various colours, 

 > each with a small cylindrical hole, are found there. For- 

 merly the Indians used to collect them, for the purpose Qf 

 making necklaces and bracelets — a taste, I may observe, 

 which is common to all savage nations, as well as to the most 

 polished. I did not know what to understand from this 

 story, but upon mentioning it at the Cape of Good Hope 

 to Dr. Andrew Smith, he told me that he recollected find- 

 ing on the south-eastern coast of Africa, about one hundred 

 miles to the eastward of St. John's river, some quartz crys- 

 tals with their edges blunted from attrition, and mixed wi th 



