The Beagle arrived here on the 24th of August, and aweek afterwards sailed for the Plata. With CaptainFitz Roy's consent I was left behind, to travel by landto Buenos Ayres. I will here add some observations, whichwere made during this visit and on a previous occasion, whenthe Beagle was employed in surveying the harbour.

The plain, at the distance of a few miles from the coast,belongs to the great Pampean formation, which consists inpart of a reddish clay, and in part of a highly calcareousmarly rock. Nearer the coast there are some plains formedfrom the wreck of the upper plain, and from mud, gravel,and sand thrown up by the sea during the slow elevation ofthe land, of which elevation we have evidence in upraisedbeds of recent shells, and in rounded pebbles of pumicescattered over the country. At Punta Alta we have a section ofone of these later-formed little plains, which is highlyinteresting from the number and extraordinary character of theremains of gigantic land-animals embedded in it. These havebeen fully described by Professor Owen, in the Zoology of thevoyage of the Beagle, and are deposited in the College ofSurgeons. I will here give only a brief outline of their nature.

First, parts of three heads and other bones of the Megatherium,the huge dimensions of which are expressed by itsname. Secondly, the Megalonyx, a great allied animal.Thirdly, the Scelidotherium, also an allied animal, of whichI obtained a nearly perfect skeleton. It must have been aslarge as a rhinoceros: in the structure of its head it comesaccording to Mr. Owen, nearest to the Cape Anteater, butin some other respects it approaches to the armadilloes.Fourthly, the Mylodon Darwinii, a closely related genus oflittle inferior size. Fifthly, another gigantic edental quadruped.Sixthly, a large animal, with an osseous coat in compartments,very like that of an armadillo. Seventhly, anextinct kind of horse, to which I shall have again to refer.Eighthly, a tooth of a Pachydermatous animal, probably thesame with the Macrauchenia, a huge beast with a long necklike a camel, which I shall also refer to again. Lastly, theToxodon, perhaps one of the strangest animals ever discovered:in size it equalled an elephant or megatherium, butthe structure of its teeth, as Mr. Owen states, provesindisputably that it was intimately related to the Gnawers, theorder which, at the present day, includes most of the smallestquadrupeds: in many details it is allied to the Pachydermata:judging from the position of its eyes, ears, and nostrils,it was probably aquatic, like the Dugong and Manatee,to which it is also allied. How wonderfully are the differentOrders, at the present time so well separated, blended togetherin different points of the structure of the Toxodon!

The remains of these nine great quadrupeds, and manydetached bones, were found embedded on the beach, withinthe space of about 200 yards square. It is a remarkablecircumstance that so many different species should be foundtogether; and it proves how numerous in kind the ancientinhabitants of this country must have been. At the distanceof about thirty miles from Punta Alta, in a cliff of red earth,I found several fragments of bones, some of large size.Among them were the teeth of a gnawer, equalling in sizeand closely resembling those of the Capybara, whose habitshave been described; and therefore, probably, an aquaticanimal. There was also part of the head of a Ctenomys; thespecies being different from the Tucutuco, but with a closegeneral resemblance. The red earth, like that of the Pampas,in which these remains were embedded, contains, accordingto Professor Ehrenberg, eight fresh-water and one salt-waterinfusorial animalcule; therefore, probably, it was an estuarydeposit.

The remains at Punta Alta were embedded in stratifiedgravel and reddish mud, just such as the sea might now washup on a shallow bank. They were associated with twenty-three species of shells, of which thirteen are recent and fourothers very closely related to recent forms.

The great size of the bones of the Megatheroid animals,including the Megatherium, Megalonyx, Scelidotherium, andMylodon, is truly wonderful. The habits of life of theseanimals were a complete puzzle to naturalists, until ProfessorOwen

The beds including the above fossil remains, stand onlyfrom fifteen to twenty feet above the level of high-water;and hence the elevation of the land has been small (withoutthere has been an intercalated period of subsidence, of whichwe have no evidence) since the great quadrupeds wanderedover the surrounding plains; and the external features ofthe country must then have been very nearly the same asnow. What, it may naturally be asked, was the characterof the vegetation at that period; was the country as wretchedlysterile as it now is? As so many of the co-embeddedshells are the same with those now living in the bay, I wasat first inclined to think that the former vegetation wasprobably similar to the existing one; but this would havebeen an erroneous inference for some of these same shellslive on the luxuriant coast of Brazil; and generally, thecharacter of the inhabitants of the sea are useless as guidesto judge of those on the land. Nevertheless, from the followingconsiderations, I do not believe that the simple factof many gigantic quadrupeds having lived on the plainsround Bahia Blanca, is any sure guide that they formerlywere clothed with a luxuriant vegetation: I have no doubtthat the sterile country a little southward, near the RioNegro, with its scattered thorny trees, would support manyand large quadrupeds.

That large animals require a luxuriant vegetation, hasbeen a general assumption which has passed from one workto another; but I do not hesitate to say that it is completelyfalse, and that it has vitiated the reasoning of geologistson some points of great interest in the ancient history ofthe world. The prejudice has probably been derived fromIndia, and the Indian islands, where troops of elephants,noble forests, and impenetrable jungles, are associated togetherin every one's mind. If, however, we refer to anywork of travels through the southern parts of Africa, weshall find allusions in almost every page either to the desertcharacter of the country, or to the numbers of large animalsinhabiting it. The same thing is rendered evidentby the many engravings which have been published of variousparts of the interior. When the Beagle was at CapeTown, I made an excursion of some days' length into thecountry, which at least was sufficient to render that whichI had read more fully intelligible.

Dr. Andrew Smith, who, at the head of his adventurousparty, has lately succeeded in passing the Tropic of Capricorn,informs me that, taking into consideration the wholeof the southern part of Africa, there can be no doubt of itsbeing a sterile country. On the southern and south-easterncoasts there are some fine forests, but with these exceptions,the traveller may pass for days together through open plains,covered by a poor and scanty vegetation. It is difficult toconvey any accurate idea of degrees of comparative fertility;but it may be safely said that the amount of vegetationsupported at any one time

Besides these large animals, every one the least acquaintedwith the natural history of the Cape, has read ofthe herds of antelopes, which can be compared only with theflocks of migratory birds. The numbers indeed of the lion,panther, and hyaena, and the multitude of birds of prey,plainly speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds:one evening seven lions were counted at the same time prowlinground Dr. Smith's encampment. As this able naturalistremarked to me, the carnage each day in Southern Africamust indeed be terrific! I confess it is truly surprising howsuch a number of animals can find support in a countryproducing so little food. The larger quadrupeds no doubtroam over wide tracts in search of it; and their food chieflyconsists of underwood, which probably contains much nutrimentin a small bulk. Dr. Smith also informs me that thevegetation has a rapid growth; no sooner is a part consumed,than its place is supplied by a fresh stock. There can beno doubt, however, that our ideas respecting the apparentamount of food necessary for the support of large quadrupedsare much exaggerated: it should have been rememberedthat the camel, an animal of no mean bulk, has always beenconsidered as the emblem of the desert.

The belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetationmust necessarily be luxuriant, is the more remarkable,because the converse is far from true. Mr. Burchell observedto me that when entering Brazil, nothing struck him moreforcibly than the splendour of the South American vegetationcontrasted with that of South Africa, together withthe absence of all large quadrupeds. In his Travels,

With regard to the number of large quadrupeds, therecertainly exists no quarter of the globe which will bearcomparison with Southern Africa. After the different statementswhich have been given, the extremely desert characterof that region will not be disputed. In the European divisionof the world, we must look back to the tertiary epochs,to find a condition of things among the mammalia, resemblingthat now existing at the Cape of Good Hope. Thosetertiary epochs, which we are apt to consider as aboundingto an astonishing degree with large animals, because wefind the remains of many ages accumulated at certain spots,could hardly boast of more large quadrupeds than SouthernAfrica does at present. If we speculate on the conditionof the vegetation during these epochs we are at least boundso far to consider existing analogies, as not to urge asabsolutely necessary a luxuriant vegetation, when we seea state of things so totally different at the Cape of GoodHope.

We know

These remarks, I may be permitted to add, directly bearon the case of the Siberian animals preserved in ice. Thefirm conviction of the necessity of a vegetation possessinga character of tropical luxuriance, to support such largeanimals, and the impossibility of reconciling this with theproximity of perpetual congelation, was one chief cause ofthe several theories of sudden revolutions of climate, and ofoverwhelming catastrophes, which were invented to accountfor their entombment. I am far from supposing that theclimate has not changed since the period when those animalslived, which now lie buried in the ice. At present Ionly wish to show, that as far as _quantity_ of food _alone_ isconcerned, the ancient rhinoceroses might have roamed overthe _steppes_ of central Siberia (the northern parts probablybeing under water) even in their present condition, as wellas the living rhinoceroses and elephants over the _Karros_of Southern Africa.

I will now give an account of the habits of some of themore interesting birds which are common on the wild plainsof Northern Patagonia: and first for the largest, or SouthAmerican ostrich. The ordinary habits of the ostrich arefamiliar to every one. They live on vegetable matter, suchas roots and grass; but at Bahia Blanca I have repeatedlyseen three or four come down at low water to the extensivemud-banks which are then dry, for the sake, as the Gauchossay, of feeding on small fish. Although the ostrich in itshabits is so shy, wary, and solitary, and although so fleetin its pace, it is caught without much difficulty by the Indianor Gaucho armed with the bolas. When several horsemenappear in a semicircle, it becomes confounded, and doesnot know which way to escape. They generally prefer runningagainst the wind; yet at the first start they expandtheir wings, and like a vessel make all sail. On one finehot day I saw several ostriches enter a bed of tall rushes,where they squatted concealed, till quite closely approached.It is not generally known that ostriches readily take to thewater. Mr. King informs me that at the Bay of San Blas,and at Port Valdes in Patagonia, he saw these birds swimmingseveral times from island to island. They ran intothe water both when driven down to a point, and likewiseof their own accord when not frightened: the distancecrossed was about two hundred yards. When swimming,very little of their bodies appear above water; their necksare extended a little forward, and their progress is slow.On two occasions I saw some ostriches swimming across theSanta Cruz river, where its course was about four hundredyards wide, and the stream rapid. Captain Sturt,

The inhabitants of the country readily distinguish, evenat a distance, the cock bird from the hen. The former islarger and darker-coloured,

The Gauchos unanimously affirm that several femaleslay in one nest. I have been positively told that four orfive hen birds have been watched to go in the middle of theday, one after the other, to the same nest. I may add, also,that it is believed in Africa, that two or more females layin one nest.

When at the Rio Negro in Northern Patagonia, I repeatedlyheard the Gauchos talking of a very rare bird whichthey called Avestruz Petise. They described it as being lessthan the common ostrich (which is there abundant), butwith a very close general resemblance. They said its colourwas dark and mottled, and that its legs were shorter, andfeathered lower down than those of the common ostrich.It is more easily caught by the bolas than the other species.The few inhabitants who had seen both kinds, affirmed theycould distinguish them apart from a long distance. Theeggs of the small species appeared, however, more generallyknown; and it was remarked, with surprise, that they werevery little less than those of the Rhea, but of a slightlydifferent form, and with a tinge of pale blue. This species occursmost rarely on the plains bordering the Rio Negro; but abouta degree and a half further south they are tolerably abundant.When at Port Desire, in Patagonia (lat. 48 degs.), Mr.Martens shot an ostrich; and I looked at it, forgetting atthe moment, in the most unaccountable manner, the wholesubject of the Petises, and thought it was a not full-grownbird of the common sort. It was cooked and eaten beforemy memory returned. Fortunately the head, neck, legs,wings, many of the larger feathers, and a large part of theskin, had been preserved; and from these a very nearly perfectspecimen has been put together, and is now exhibitedin the museum of the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, indescribing this new species, has done me the honour ofcalling it after my name.

Among the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of Magellan,we found a half Indian, who had lived some years withthe tribe, but had been born in the northern provinces. Iasked him if he had ever heard of the Avestruz Petise? Heanswered by saying, " Why, there are none others in thesesouthern countries." He informed me that the number ofeggs in the nest of the petise is considerably less than in thatof the other kind, namely, not more than fifteen on an average,but he asserted that more than one female depositedthem. At Santa Cruz we saw several of these birds. Theywere excessively wary: I think they could see a personapproaching when too far off to be distinguished themselves.In ascending the river few were seen; but in our quiet andrapid descent, many, in pairs and by fours or fives, wereobserved. It was remarked that this bird did not expandits wings, when first starting at full speed, after the mannerof the northern kind. In conclusion I may observe, thatthe Struthio rhea inhabits the country of La Plata as faras a little south of the Rio Negro in lat. 41 degs., and thatthe Struthio Darwinii takes its place in Southern Patagonia;the part about the Rio Negro being neutral territory. M.A. d'Orbigny,

A very singular little bird, Tinochorus rumicivorus, ishere common: in its habits and general appearance, it nearlyequally partakes of the characters, different as they are, ofthe quail and snipe. The Tinochorus is found in the wholeof southern South America, wherever there are sterile plains,or open dry pasture land. It frequents in pairs or smallflocks the most desolate places, where scarcely another livingcreature can exist. Upon being approached they squat close,and then are very difficult to be distinguished from theground. When feeding they walk rather slowly, with theirlegs wide apart. They dust themselves in roads and sandyplaces, and frequent particular spots, where they may befound day after day: like partridges, they take wing in aflock. In all these respects, in the muscular gizzard adaptedfor vegetable food, in the arched beak and fleshy nostrils,short legs and form of foot, the Tinochorus has a close affinitywith quails. But as soon as the bird is seen flying, itswhole appearance changes; the long pointed wings, so differentfrom those in the gallinaceous order, the irregularmanner of flight, and plaintive cry uttered at the momentof rising, recall the idea of a snipe. The sportsmen of theBeagle unanimously called it the short-billed snipe. To thisgenus, or rather to the family of the Waders, its skeletonshows that it is really related.

The Tinochorus is closely related to some other SouthAmerican birds. Two species of the genus Attagis are inalmost every respect ptarmigans in their habits; one livesin Tierra del Fuego, above the limits of the forest land; andthe other just beneath the snow-line on the Cordillera ofCentral Chile. A bird of another closely allied genus, Chionisalba, is an inhabitant of the antarctic regions; it feedson sea-weed and shells on the tidal rocks. Although notweb footed, from some unaccountable habit, it is frequentlymet with far out at sea. This small family of birds is oneof those which, from its varied relations to other families,although at present offering only difficulties to the systematicnaturalist, ultimately may assist in revealing thegrand scheme, common to the present and past ages, onwhich organized beings have been created.

The genus Furnarius contains several species, all smallbirds, living on the ground, and inhabiting open dry countries.In structure they cannot be compared to any Europeanform. Ornithologists have generally included themamong the creepers, although opposed to that family in everyhabit. The best known species is the common oven-bird ofLa Plata, the Casara or housemaker of the Spaniards. Thenest, whence it takes its name, is placed in the most exposedsituations, as on the top of a post, a bare rock, or ona cactus. It is composed of mud and bits of straw, and hasstrong thick walls: in shape it precisely resembles an oven,or depressed beehive. The opening is large and arched,and directly in front, within the nest, there is a partition,which reaches nearly to the roof, thus forming a passageor antechamber to the true nest.

Another and smaller species of Furnarius (F. cunicularius),resembles the oven-bird in the general reddish tintof its plumage, in a peculiar shrill reiterated cry, and in anodd manner of running by starts. From its affinity, theSpaniards call it Casarita (or little housebuilder), althoughits nidification is quite different. The Casarita builds itsnest at the bottom of a narrow cylindrical hole, which issaid to extend horizontally to nearly six feet under ground.Several of the country people told me, that when boys, theyhad attempted to dig out the nest, but had scarcely eversucceeded in getting to the end of the passage. The birdchooses any low bank of firm sandy soil by the side of aroad or stream. Here (at Bahia Blanca) the walls roundthe houses are built of hardened mud, and I noticed thatone, which enclosed a courtyard where I lodged, was boredthrough by round holes in a score of places. On asking theowner the cause of this he bitterly complained of the littlecasarita, several of which I afterwards observed at work.It is rather curious to find how incapable these birds mustbe of acquiring any notion of thickness, for although theywere constantly flitting over the low wall, they continuedvainly to bore through it, thinking it an excellent bank fortheir nests. I do not doubt that each bird, as often as itcame to daylight on the opposite side, was greatly surprisedat the marvellous fact.

I have already mentioned nearly all the mammalia commonin this country. Of armadilloes three species occurnamely, the Dasypus minutus or _pichy_, the D. villosus or_peludo_, and the _apar_. The first extends ten degrees furthersouth than any other kind; a fourth species, the _Mulita_,does not come as far south as Bahia Blanca. The four specieshave nearly similar habits; the _peludo_, however, is nocturnal,while the others wander by day over the open plains,feeding on beetles, larvae, roots, and even small snakes. The_apar_, commonly called _mataco_, is remarkable by having onlythree moveable bands; the rest of its tesselated coveringbeing nearly inflexible. It has the power of rolling itselfinto a perfect sphere, like one kind of English woodlouse.In this state it is safe from the attack of dogs; for the dognot being able to take the whole in its mouth, tries to biteone side, and the ball slips away. The smooth hard coveringof the _mataco_ offers a better defence than the sharpspines of the hedgehog. The _pichy_ prefers a very dry soil;and the sand-dunes near the coast, where for many monthsit can never taste water, is its favourite resort: it often triesto escape notice, by squatting close to the ground. In thecourse of a day's ride, near Bahia Blanca, several were generallymet with. The instant one was perceived, it wasnecessary, in order to catch it, almost to tumble off one'shorse; for in soft soil the animal burrowed so quickly, thatits hinder quarters would almost disappear before one couldalight. It seems almost a pity to kill such nice little animals,for as a Gaucho said, while sharpening his knife onthe back of one, "Son tan mansos" (they are so quiet).

Of reptiles there are many kinds: one snake (a Trigonocephalus,or Cophias

Amongst the Batrachian reptiles, I found only one littletoad (Phryniscus nigricans), which was most singular fromits colour. If we imagine, first, that it had been steeped inthe blackest ink, and then, when dry, allowed to crawl overa board, freshly painted with the brightest vermilion, soas to colour the soles of its feet and parts of its stomach, agood idea of its appearance will be gained. If it had beenan unnamed species, surely it ought to have been called_Diabolicus_, for it is a fit toad to preach in the ear of Eve.Instead of being nocturnal in its habits, as other toads are,and living in damp obscure recesses, it crawls during the heatof the day about the dry sand-hillocks and arid plains, wherenot a single drop of water can be found. It must necessarilydepend on the dew for its moisture; and this probably isabsorbed by the skin, for it is known, that these reptiles possessgreat powers of cutaneous absorption. At Maldonado,I found one in a situation nearly as dry as at Bahia Blanca,and thinking to give it a great treat, carried it to a pool ofwater; not only was the little animal unable to swim, butI think without help it would soon have been drowned.Of lizards there were many kinds, but only one (Proctotretusmultimaculatus) remarkable from its habits. Itlives on the bare sand near the sea coast, and from its mottledcolour, the brownish scales being speckled with white,yellowish red, and dirty blue, can hardly be distinguishedfrom the surrounding surface. When frightened, it attemptsto avoid discovery by feigning death, with outstretchedlegs, depressed body, and closed eyes: if furthermolested, it buries itself with great quickness in the loosesand. This lizard, from its flattened body and short legs,cannot run quickly.

I will here add a few remarks on the hybernation of animalsin this part of South America. When we first arrivedat Bahia Blanca, September 7th, 1832, we thought naturehad granted scarcely a living creature to this sandy and drycountry. By digging, however, in the ground, several insects,large spiders, and lizards were found in a half-torpidstate. On the 15th, a few animals began to appear, and bythe 18th (three days from the equinox), everything announcedthe commencement of spring. The plains were ornamentedby the flowers of a pink wood-sorrel, wild peas,cenotherae, and geraniums; and the birds began to lay theireggs. Numerous Lamellicorn and Heteromerous insects, thelatter remarkable for their deeply sculptured bodies, wereslowly crawling about; while the lizard tribe, the constantinhabitants of a sandy soil, darted about in every direction.During the first eleven days, whilst nature was dormant, themean temperature taken from observations made every twohours on board the Beagle, was 51 degs.; and in the middle ofthe day the thermometer seldom ranged above 55 degs. On theeleven succeeding days, in which all living things became soanimated, the mean was 58 degs., and the range in the middleof the day 7 between 60 and 70 degs. Here, then, anincrease of seven degrees in mean temperature, but a greater oneof extreme heat, was sufficient to awake the functions of life.At Monte Video, from which we had just before sailed, inthe twenty-three days included between the 26th of Julyand the 19th of August, the mean temperature from 276observations was 58.4 degs.; the mean hottest day being65.5 degs., and the coldest 46 degs. The lowest point towhich the thermometer fell was 41.5 degs., and occasionallyin the middle of the day it rose to 69 or 70 degs.Yet with this high temperature, almost every beetle, severalgenera of spiders, snails, and land-shells, toads andlizards were all lying torpid beneath stones. Butwe have seen that at Bahia Blanca, which is four degreessouthward and therefore with a climate only a very littlecolder, this same temperature with a rather less extremeheat, was sufficient to awake all orders of animated beings.This shows how nicely the stimulus required to arouse hybernatinganimals is governed by the usual climate of thedistrict, and not by the absolute heat. It is well known thatwithin the tropics, the hybernation, or more properly aestivation,of animals is determined not by the temperature, butby the times of drought. Near Rio de Janeiro, I was at firstsurprised to observe, that, a few days after some littledepressions had been filled with water, they were peopled bynumerous full-grown shells and beetles, which must havebeen lying dormant. Humboldt has related the strange accidentof a hovel having been erected over a spot where ayoung crocodile lay buried in the hardened mud. He adds,"The Indians often find enormous boas, which they call Ujior water serpents, in the same lethargic state. To reanimatethem, they must be irritated or wetted with water."

I will only mention one other animal, a zoophyte (I believeVirgularia Patagonica), a kind of sea-pen. It consistsof a thin, straight, fleshy stem, with alternate rows of polypion each side, and surrounding an elastic stony axis, varyingin length from eight inches to two feet. The stem at oneextremity is truncate, but at the other is terminated by avermiform fleshy appendage. The stony axis which givesstrength to the stem may be traced at this extremity into amere vessel filled with granular matter. At low water hundredsof these zoophytes might be seen, projecting like stubble,with the truncate end upwards, a few inches above thesurface of the muddy sand. When touched or pulled theysuddenly drew themselves in with force, so as nearly or quiteto disappear. By this action, the highly elastic axis mustbe bent at the lower extremity, where it is naturally slightlycurved; and I imagine it is by this elasticity alone that thezoophyte is enabled to rise again through the mud. Eachpolypus, though closely united to its brethren, has a distinctmouth, body, and tentacula. Of these polypi, in a largespecimen, there must be many thousands; yet we see thatthey act by one movement: they have also one central axisconnected with a system of obscure circulation, and the ovaare produced in an organ distinct from the separateindividuals.

During my stay at Bahia Blanca, while waiting for theBeagle, the place was in a constant state of excitement, fromrumours of wars and victories, between the troops of Rosasand the wild Indians. One day an account came that a smallparty forming one of the postas on the line to Buenos Ayres,had been found all murdered. The next day three hundredmen arrived from the Colorado, under the command of CommandantMiranda. A large portion of these men were Indians(mansos, or tame), belonging to the tribe of the CaciqueBernantio. They passed the night here; and it wasimpossible to conceive anything more wild and savage thanthe scene of their bivouac. Some drank till they wereintoxicated; others swallowed the steaming blood of thecattle slaughtered for their suppers, and then, being sickfrom drunkenness, they cast it up again, and were besmearedwith filth and gore.

Nam simul expletus dapibus, vinoque sepultusCervicem inflexam posuit, jacuitque per antrumImmensus, saniem eructans, ac frusta cruentaPer somnum commixta mero.

In the morning they started for the scene of the murder,with orders to follow the "rastro," or track, even if it ledthem to Chile. We subsequently heard that the wild Indianshad escaped into the great Pampas, and from somecause the track had been missed. One glance at the rastrotells these people a whole history. Supposing they examinethe track of a thousand horses, they will soon guess the numberof mounted ones by seeing how many have cantered; bythe depth of the other impressions, whether any horses wereloaded with cargoes; by the irregularity of the footsteps,how far tired; by the manner in which the food has beencooked, whether the pursued travelled in haste; by the generalappearance, how long it has been since they passed.They consider a rastro of ten days or a fortnight, quiterecent enough to be hunted out. We also heard that Mirandastruck from the west end of the Sierra Ventana, in a directline to the island of Cholechel, situated seventy leagues upthe Rio Negro. This is a distance of between two and threehundred miles, through a country completely unknown.What other troops in the world are so independent? Withthe sun for their guide, mare's flesh for food, their saddle-cloths for beds, -- as long as there is a little water, thesemen would penetrate to the end of the world.

A few days afterwards I saw another troop of these banditti-likesoldiers start on an expedition against a tribe ofIndians at the small Salinas, who had been betrayed by aprisoner cacique. The Spaniard who brought the ordersfor this expedition was a very intelligent man. He gaveme an account of the last engagement at which he was present.Some Indians, who had been taken prisoners, gaveinformation of a tribe living north of the Colorado. Twohundred soldiers were sent; and they first discovered theIndians by a cloud of dust from their horses' feet, as theychanced to be travelling. The country was mountainous andwild, and it must have been far in the interior, for theCordillera were in sight. The Indians, men, women, and children,were about one hundred and ten in number, and theywere nearly all taken or killed, for the soldiers sabre everyman. The Indians are now so terrified that they offer noresistance in a body, but each flies, neglecting even his wifeand children; but when overtaken, like wild animals, theyfight against any number to the last moment. One dying Indianseized with his teeth the thumb of his adversary, andallowed his own eye to be forced out sooner than relinquishhis hold. Another, who was wounded, feigned death, keepinga knife ready to strike one more fatal blow. My informersaid, when he was pursuing an Indian, the man cried outfor mercy, at the same time that he was covertly loosing thebolas from his waist, meaning to whirl it round his head andso strike his pursuer. "I however struck him with my sabreto the ground, and then got off my horse, and cut his throatwith my knife." This is a dark picture; but how much moreshocking is the unquestionable fact, that all the women whoappear above twenty years old are massacred in cold blood!When I exclaimed that this appeared rather inhuman, heanswered, "Why, what can be done? they breed so!"

Every one here is fully convinced that this is the mostjust war, because it is against barbarians. Who wouldbelieve in this age that such atrocities could be committed ina Christian civilized country? The children of the Indiansare saved, to be sold or given away as servants, or ratherslaves for as long a time as the owners can make thembelieve themselves slaves; but I believe in their treatmentthere is little to complain of.

In the battle four men ran away together. They werepursued, one was killed, and the other three were taken alive.They turned out to be messengers or ambassadors from alarge body of Indians, united in the common cause ofdefence, near the Cordillera. The tribe to which they hadbeen sent was on the point of holding a grand council, thefeast of mare's flesh was ready, and the dance prepared: inthe morning the ambassadors were to have returned to theCordillera. They were remarkably fine men, very fair, abovesix feet high, and all under thirty years of age. The threesurvivors of course possessed very valuable information andto extort this they were placed in a line. The two first beingquestioned, answered, "No se" (I do not know), and wereone after the other shot. The third also said " No se;" adding,"Fire, I am a man, and can die!" Not one syllablewould they breathe to injure the united cause of their country!The conduct of the above-mentioned cacique was verydifferent; he saved his life by betraying the intended planof warfare, and the point of union in the Andes. It wasbelieved that there were already six or seven hundred Indianstogether, and that in summer their numbers would bedoubled. Ambassadors were to have been sent to the Indiansat the small Salinas, near Bahia Blanca, whom I have mentionedthat this same cacique had betrayed. The communication,therefore, between the Indians, extends from theCordillera to the coast of the Atlantic.

General Rosas's plan is to kill all stragglers, and havingdriven the remainder to a common point, to attack them ina body, in the summer, with the assistance of the Chilenos.This operation is to be repeated for three successive years.I imagine the summer is chosen as the time for the mainattack, because the plains are then without water, and theIndians can only travel in particular directions. The escapeof the Indians to the south of the Rio Negro, where in sucha vast unknown country they would be safe, is prevented bya treaty with the Tehuelches to this effect; -- that Rosas paysthem so much to slaughter every Indian who passes to thesouth of the river, but if they fail in so doing, theythemselves are to be exterminated. The war is waged chieflyagainst the Indians near the Cordillera; for many of thetribes on this eastern side are fighting with Rosas. Thegeneral, however, like Lord Chesterfield, thinking that hisfriends may in a future day become his enemies, alwaysplaces them in the front ranks, so that their numbers maybe thinned. Since leaving South America we have heardthat this war of extermination completely failed.

Among the captive girls taken in the same engagement,there were two very pretty Spanish ones, who had been carriedaway by the Indians when young, and could now onlyspeak the Indian tongue. From their account they musthave come from Salta, a distance in a straight line of nearlyone thousand miles. This gives one a grand idea of theimmense territory over which the Indians roam: yet, greatas it is, I think there will not, in another half-century, bea wild Indian northward of the Rio Negro. The warfareis too bloody to last; the Christians killing every Indian,and the Indians doing the same by the Christians. It ismelancholy to trace how the Indians have given way beforethe Spanish invaders. Schirdel

I heard also some account of an engagement which tookplace, a few weeks previously to the one mentioned, atCholechel. This is a very important station on account ofbeing a pass for horses; and it was, in consequence, forsome time the head-quarters of a division of the army.When the troops first arrived there they found a tribe ofIndians, of whom they killed twenty or thirty. The caciqueescaped in a manner which astonished every one. The chiefIndians always have one or two picked horses, which theykeep ready for any urgent occasion. On one of these, an oldwhite horse, the cacique sprung, taking with him his littleson. The horse had neither saddle nor bridle. To avoid theshots, the Indian rode in the peculiar method of his nationnamely, with an arm round the horse's neck, and one legonly on its back. Thus hanging on one side, he was seenpatting the horse's head, and talking to him. The pursuersurged every effort in the chase; the Commandant threetimes changed his horse, but all in vain. The old Indianfather and his son escaped, and were free. What a fine pictureone can form in one's mind, -- the naked, bronze-likefigure of the old man with his little boy, riding like aMazeppa on the white horse, thus leaving far behind him thehost 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 thehead of an arrow. He told me it was found near the islandof Cholechel, and that they are frequently picked up there.It was between two and three inches long, and thereforetwice as large as those now used in Tierra del Fuego: it wasmade of opaque cream-coloured flint, but the point and barbshad been intentionally broken off. It is well known that noPampas Indians now use bows and arrows. I believe a smalltribe in Banda Oriental must be excepted; but they arewidely separated from the Pampas Indians, and border closeon those tribes that inhabit the forest, and live on foot. Itappears, therefore, that these arrow-heads are antiquarian