Just As The Spaniard Was On The Point Of
Reaching The Boat, Luciano Threw The Balls:
They struck him
on the legs with such a jerk, as to throw him down and
to render him for some time insensible.
The man, after
Luciano had had his talk, was allowed to escape. He told
us that his legs were marked by great weals, where the thong
had wound round, as if he had been flogged with a whip.
In the middle of the day two men arrived, who brought a
parcel from the next posta to be forwarded to the general:
so that besides these two, our party consisted this evening
of my guide and self, the lieutenant, and his four soldiers.
The latter were strange beings; the first a fine young negro;
the second half Indian and negro; and the two others non-
descripts; namely, an old Chilian miner, the colour of mahogany,
and another partly a mulatto; but two such mongrels
with such detestable expressions, I never saw before.
At night, when they were sitting round the fire, and playing
at cards, I retired to view such a Salvator Rosa scene. They
were seated under a low cliff, so that I could look down
upon them; around the party were lying dogs, arms, remnants
of deer and ostriches; and their long spears were stuck
in the turf. Further in the dark background, their horses
were tied up, ready for any sudden danger. If the stillness
of the desolate plain was broken by one of the dogs barking,
a soldier, leaving the fire, would place his head close to the
ground, and thus slowly scan the horizon. Even if the noisy
teru-tero uttered its scream, there would be a pause in the
conversation, and every head, for a moment, a little inclined.
What a life of misery these men appear to us to lead!
They were at least ten leagues from the Sauce posta, and
since the murder committed by the Indians, twenty from
another. The Indians are supposed to have made their attack
in the middle of the night; for very early in the morning
after the murder, they were luckily seen approaching
this posta. The whole party here, however, escaped, together
with the troop of horses; each one taking a line for himself,
and driving with him as many animals as he was able to
manage.
The little hovel, built of thistle-stalks, in which they slept,
neither kept out the wind nor rain; indeed in the latter case
the only effect the roof had, was to condense it into larger
drops. They had nothing to eat excepting what they could
catch, such as ostriches, deer, armadilloes, etc., and their
only fuel was the dry stalks of a small plant, somewhat
resembling an aloe. The sole luxury which these men enjoyed
was smoking the little paper cigars, and sucking mate. I
used to think that the carrion vultures, man's constant
attendants on these dreary plains, while seated on the little
neighbouring cliffs seemed by their very patience to say,
"Ah! when the Indians come we shall have a feast."
In the morning we all sallied forth to hunt, and although
we had not much success, there were some animated chases.
Soon after starting the party separated, and so arranged
their plans, that at a certain time of the day (in guessing
which they show much skill) they should all meet from different
points of the compass on a plain piece of ground,
and thus drive together the wild animals. One day I went
out hunting at Bahia Blanca, but the men there merely rode
in a crescent, each being about a quarter of a mile apart
from the other. A fine male ostrich being turned by the
headmost riders, tried to escape on one side. The Gauchos
pursued at a reckless pace, twisting their horses about with
the most admirable command, and each man whirling the
balls round his head. At length the foremost threw them,
revolving through the air: in an instant the ostrich rolled
over and over, its legs fairly lashed together by the thong.
The plains abound with three kinds of partridge, [3] two
of which are as large as hen pheasants. Their destroyer,
a small and pretty fox, was also singularly numerous; in
the course of the day we could not have seen less than forty
or fifty. They were generally near their earths, but the dogs
killed one. When we returned to the posta, we found two
of the party returned who had been hunting by themselves.
They had killed a puma, and had found an ostrich's nest with
twenty-seven eggs in it. Each of these is said to equal in
weight eleven hen's eggs; so that we obtained from this one
nest as much food as 297 hen's eggs would have given.
September 14th. - As the soldiers belonging to the next
posta meant to return, and we should together make a party
of five, and all armed, I determined not to wait for the expected
troops. My host, the lieutenant, pressed me much
to stop. As he had been very obliging - not only providing
me with food, but lending me his private horses - I wanted
to make him some remuneration. I asked my guide whether
I might do so, but he told me certainly not; that the only
answer I should receive, probably would be, "We have meat
for the dogs in our country, and therefore do not grudge it
to a Christian." It must not be supposed that the rank of
lieutenant in such an army would at all prevent the acceptance
of payment: it was only the high sense of hospitality,
which every traveller is bound to acknowledge as nearly universal
throughout these provinces. After galloping some
leagues, we came to a low swampy country, which extends
for nearly eighty miles northward, as far as the Sierra
Tapalguen. In some parts there were fine damp plains, covered
with grass, while others had a soft, black, and peaty soil.
There were also many extensive but shallow lakes, and large
beds of reeds.
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