Nearly the whole country was covered with good
though coarse grass, which was as high as a horse's belly; yet
there were square leagues without a single head of cattle. The
province of Banda Oriental, if well stocked, would support an
astonishing number of animals, at present the annual export of
hides from Monte Video amounts to three hundred thousand; and the
home consumption, from waste, is very considerable. An estanciero
told me that he often had to send large herds of cattle a long
journey to a salting establishment, and that the tired beasts were
frequently obliged to be killed and skinned; but that he could
never persuade the Gauchos to eat of them, and every evening a
fresh beast was slaughtered for their suppers! The view of the Rio
Negro from the Sierra was more picturesque than any other which I
saw in this province. The river, broad, deep, and rapid, wound at
the foot of a rocky precipitous cliff: a belt of wood followed its
course, and the horizon terminated in the distant undulations of
the turf-plain.
When in this neighbourhood, I several times heard of the Sierra de
las Cuentas: a hill distant many miles to the northward. The name
signifies hill of beads.
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