Lumb at Buenos Ayres, for without their
assistance these valuable remains would never have reached
England.) When found it was quite perfect; but the boys knocked out
some of the teeth with stones, and then set up the head as a mark
to throw at. By a most fortunate chance I found a perfect tooth,
which exactly fitted one of the sockets in this skull, embedded by
itself on the banks of the Rio Tercero, at the distance of about
180 miles from this place. I found remains of this extraordinary
animal at two other places, so that it must formerly have been
common. I found here, also, some large portions of the armour of a
gigantic armadillo-like animal, and part of the great head of a
Mylodon. The bones of this head are so fresh, that they contain,
according to the analysis by Mr. T. Reeks, seven per cent of animal
matter; and when placed in a spirit-lamp, they burn with a small
flame. The number of the remains embedded in the grand estuary
deposit which forms the Pampas and covers the granitic rocks of
Banda Oriental, must be extraordinarily great. I believe a straight
line drawn in any direction through the Pampas would cut through
some skeleton or bones. Besides those which I found during my short
excursions, I heard of many others, and the origin of such names as
"the stream of the animal," "the hill of the giant," is obvious.
Pages:
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325