"
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.
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