commenced making the same loud noise which is usual at the first sight
of the distant tree, putting his hand to his head, and then pointing in
the direction of the Sierra. Upon being asked the reason of this, the
Indian said in broken Spanish, "First see the Sierra." 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 death-like 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 of 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 degs. 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;
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