72 
RIO COLORADO 
CHAP. 
About two leagues beyond this curious tree we halted for 
the night : at this instant an unfortunate cow was spied by the 
lynx-eyed Gauchos, who set off in full chase, and in a few 
minutes dragged her in with their lazos, and slaughtered her. 
We here had the four necessaries of life “ en el campo,”— 
pasture for the horses, water (only a muddy puddle), meat 
and firewood. The Gauchos were in high spirits at finding 
all these luxuries ; and we soon set to work at the poor 
cow. This was the first night which I passed under the open 
sky, with the gear of the recado for my bed. There is high 
enjoyment in the independence of the Gaucho life—to be able 
at any moment to pull up your horse, and say, “ Here we will 
pass the night.” The deathlike stillness of the plain, the dogs 
keeping watch, the gipsy-group of Gauchos making their beds 
round the fire, have left in my mind a strongly-marked picture 
of this first night, which will never be forgotten. 
The next day the country continued similar to that above 
described. It is inhabited by few birds or animals of any 
kind. Occasionally a deer, or a Guanaco (wild Llama) may be 
seen; but the Agouti (Cavia Patagonica) is the commonest 
quadruped. This animal here represents our hares. It differs, 
however, from that genus in many essential respects ; for 
instance, it has only three toes behind. It is also nearly twice 
the size, weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds. The 
Agouti is a true friend of the desert ; it is a common feature 
in the landscape to see two or three hopping quickly one after 
the other in a straight line across these wild plains. They are 
found as far north as the Sierra Tapalguen (lat. 37 0 30'), where 
the plain rather suddenly becomes greener and more humid ; 
and their southern limit is between Port Desire and St. Julian, 
where there is no change in the nature of the country. 
It is a singular fact, that although the Agouti is not now 
found as far south as Port St. Julian, yet that Captain Wood, 
in his voyage in 1670, talks of them as being numerous 
there. What cause can have altered, in a wide, uninhabited, 
and rarely visited country, the range of an animal like this ? 
It appears also from the number shot by Captain Wood in 
one day at Port Desire, that they must have been considerably 
more abundant there formerly than at present. Where the 
Bizcacha lives and makes its burrows, the Agouti uses them ; 
