Daily National Intelligencer

A TOUR IN SOUTH AMERICA.

CONTINUED, FROM THE FRANKLIN GAZETTE.

The country along the banks of La Plata is undulating and diversified, and generally well cultivated, especially in the village of San Isidro, where many of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires possess farms to which they retire in the summer. The village of La Conchas, a few miles above San Isidro, is built so near the river that during the freshes the inhabitants visit each other in canoes. In my ride to view this part of the country, I observed the fishermen drawing the seine in a singular manner. They were mounted on horseback, and swimming their horses to a considerable distance; some placed the seine, and held it above the water, whilst others, returning to the bank, with the ends fastened to the saddle girths, drew it on shore. The quantity of fish caught at one haul was prodigious. Among them was the pejerrey, or king fish, which is the only good fish in the river La Plata. It resembles the silver fish, which is caught on our Southern coast, but is from six to fourteen inches long. They carried to town a cart load of fish, of various kinds, and with their usual carelessness left as many more on the beach. Fish left in this manner, and those thrown up by the river during a gale, are used by the farmers to manure their land. On passing the low ridge which extends along the river, the eye ranges over an immense plain, spotted with settlements, and broken by enclosures of the cylindrical opuntia, which grows to a great height. Almost the only tree to be seen is the peach. Orchards of this tree are cultivated for fuel; by planting them thick, and keeping them low, they resist the high winds which sweep over these plains and tear up large trees when not protected by some building. The uncultivated plains in the neighborhood are overgrown with wild artichoke. This weed grows to a great height, and with such strength and luxuriance that it is cut to burn in bakers' ovens. The soil is in general a rich black mould, and produces all the fruits and vegetables of Europe in great luxuriance. Notwithstanding the rude state of agriculture, the crops of wheat yield from thirty to forty fold. They break up the earth with a clumsy wooden plough, sow the seed and harrow the ground by dragging over it an ox hide filled with stones. No further labor is bestowed upon it until the harvest. They cultivate in this manner wheat, rye and barley. They raise Indian corn, of which the people are very fond. The most common and palatable dish made of the Indian corn is called Masamorra, and resembles our big hominy. It is made by beating off the husks in mortars, and boiling it in milk.

At the distance of about ten leagues from Buenos Aires, the eye looks in vain for an object to rest on. Level and unbroken, the plains form, like the sea, a perfect horizon: and, when the grass is parched by the excessive heat of the summer, present a most gloomy and desolate appearance. During the rainy months they are covered with fine clover, which bears a small flower of a yellowish white. Innumerable herds of cattle range over these plains, not wild, as has been erroneously supposed, but carefully watched and attended. Each proprietor keeps his cattle within the boundaries of his own estate, which is distinguished by some land mark. At certain seasons of the year, generally the autumn, the cattle are driven, and the calves, which they are forbidden under a heavy penalty to kill, marked. To catch them they use the lasso, which every peasant carries, fastened to his saddle girth. It consists of a long plaited leather thong, furnished with an iron ring at the extremity, in order to form a running noose. They use it with great dexterity, and at full speed throw the noose with great certainty over the horns or round the feet of a bull. The horses are trained to this exercise, and when they feel the lasso tightened, stop suddenly, and bear with all their strength in an opposite direction; so as to check the career of the fiercest animals. They sometimes catch cattle with three small iron balls, about an inch in diameter, fastened together by the same number of thongs, three or four feet long, which are whirled so as to entangle the legs of the animal as it runs. These balls and thongs are called laqui. The cattle fit for slaughter are encircled by the herdsmen on horseback. After separating and driving off the rest of the herd, these are suffered to run out one by one. A horseman follows at full speed, and with a steel half moon fixed to the end of a long lance, cuts the ham strings. The animal struggles and falls, and the herdsman follows another. When the field is strewed with disabled oxen, they kill and skin them, and separate the tallow. Near the coast the beef is jerked; but usually the carcasses are left upon the field to be preyed on by birds, and by a number of animals whose natures are perverted by the abundance of animal and the scarcity of vegetable food. The carcasses are however devoured chiefly by the hordes of wild dogs, who rove over the plains like the wolves of the north. Animal putrefaction does not go on in this country except on the banks of the rivers. On the high ground the carcasses wilt and dry up. This is chiefly attributed to the salt petre with which the earth is impregnated, and which in some places effloresces on the surface. It is commonly conceived to arise from the dryness of the atmosphere; but I found from a meteorological journal during my stay, that north and east winds, which are extremely damp, are the most prevalent.

Yet, at Buenos Aires, in the vicinity of La Plata river, the entrails only of animals putrify; the muscles dry up. It was formerly the custom to kill sheep, dry them in the sun, and stack them. They were sold at two dollars and one half the hundred, and burnt in the brick kilns. Bones and animal substances are still used for heating furnaces and kilns, fuel of every kind being extremely scarce. Many persons have lately salted hides, which is a much safer process to prepare them for market than drying. To dry the hide it is stretched out with pegs, and raised about two feet from the ground, in which state it remains for some days, exposed to the risk of being spoiled by the rain. The heat and moisture, by rotting off the hair of the hide, render it unmarketable, and fit only for domestic uses. Hides are here of universal utility. Hats are made of hides, houses are covered with them. Doors are made by nailing hides on slight wooden frames; and bedsteads and chairs are manufactured in the same simple manner. They are used for ropes—they supply the place of nails, and in small buildings the rafters are tied together with thongs. Boats for passing the rapid torrents are made of hides. These ferries merit a particular description. On the eastern side of the river La Plata, when the traveller arrives at the border of a river which is not fordable, a single hide is laid on the ground, and a strong lasso passed round the edge, where it is secured and drawn tight, so as to bring the sides near together, and give it something the form of a tub. It is then drawn to the edge of the river, the traveller seats himself in it, and is launched by the ferryman, who with the end of the lasso in his mouth plunges in, and tows it to the opposite shore. The shoes of the peasants are made from a raw hide cut to fit the foot, and fastened around the ankles with thongs. These sandals are left to dry on the foot. Trunks and sacks, and a variety of other useful articles are made of this material.

The horses, which are seen in large droves pasturing on the plains, are generally small, but active and hardy. They may be bought at one dollar a head, and, including mares and colts, at something less. A horse broke and fit for service, brings from three to five dollars. The peasants of this part of South America are excellent horsemen. Their saddle consists of many pieces, and is tedious to put on, but serves them for a bed on their journeys. Two or three sheep skins are first laid on the horse's back, then a broad piece of leather, which hangs down on both sides like the flaps of a saddle; on this, the recado, a sort of saddle tree, covered with leather, is placed, and girthed with a broad strap, which has an iron ring fixed to the extremity, by which means they girth very tight. Over the recado they lay as many sheep skins as are required to make a soft seat; they are generally dyed blue, and sometimes twisted and ornamented, so as to sell for 20 or 30 dollars. The stirrups of the rich are of silver, but the common people use a triangle made of flexible wood, which is seldom large enough to admit more than the great toe, and the horsemen either ride without shoes, or cut off the end of the sandal. The bridle is a very severe bit, with a circular piece of iron instead of a curb.

The plains of Buenos Aires abound with game and wild animals. Several kinds of deer are seen feeding in herds; the most common are very small and slight made, resembling the antelope of Asia. The whole country is covered with the burrows of the Viscacha, an animal rather larger than a rabbit, of a grey color, with the head, ears and feet, of that animal, but having a long tail like a grey squirrel. During the day they keep close, but at night-fall they are seen feeding near their holes, which are always surrounded by bones and sticks. At that time they play about and make a strange kind of grunting noise. During the day a small white owl is seen standing like a sentinel at the hole of the burrows. The Viscacha burrows near and sometimes directly on the roads, which renders them dangerous at night, the horses frequently plunging into them with their fore feet. The Nutria, a kind of Otter, is a small amphibious animal, burrows in the banks of rivers. It stands about fourteen inches high, and measures nearly two feet and a half from head to tail; the feet are partly webbed; it is covered with long stiff hair, beneath which is a fine fur. There are a variety of Foxes; some with dark fine fur; and numbers of small polecats, called Zorillo, so excessively filthy, that they taint the air wherever they pass.

Tigers and Leopards abound in the jungles on the banks of the rivers. They are caught in traps or shot, and their skins form an article of commerce. On the eastern shore cattle and horses are destroyed by them; the asses which run wild in that territory, resist them by forming a circle, and repel their attacks with their heels. The Leopards are the largest I have ever seen, but the Tigers (Jaguars) are smaller than those of Asia. They are marked in the same manner, but of a darker shade. Unless pressed by hunger they do not attack man, but it is generally remarked that, having once tasted human flesh, they loath other food, and prowl incessantly for their favorite prey. They are sometimes found on the banks of the river fishing; with their saliva, they make a foam on the surface of the water, and, placing their large paws beneath, they watch until a fish passes, when they either catch it, or with a jerk throw it on the shore.

The Sloth is found on the shores of the Uruguay and Parana, and a great variety of apes and monkeys. Ostriches are seen feeding in large flocks. When pursued they spread their wings to the wind, and run faster than the fleetest horse. In order to take them, the hunters approach them to leeward, and gradually enclose them in a narrow circle. They then catch them with the Lasso or Laqui. The feathers are not so fine as those of the African Ostrich. The best feathers are exported, and the remainder are used for parasols and brushes. A parasol of Ostrich feathers is a better protection from the rays of the sun, than a silken umbrella: and more useful, as it can be carried on horseback when the wind is high. The Ostrich lays its eggs in the grass, sometimes singly, and sometimes fifteen or more are found together. I have come upon them when sitting on their eggs, they rose and ran at me with extended neck, and flapping their wings. The horse started, wheeled and ran off. No horse can be brought to face the Ostrich when in that state.

Partridges, Quails, Woodcocks, and Snipe, abound in the vicinity of Buenos Aires; and the rivers and ponds are covered with Swans, Geese, and Ducks. The Thegel, a species of water hen, rather larger than the plovers, is found all over the plains. Its head is black, and in the male is ornamented with a small crest. The belly is white, and the back and wings of a cinder colour. It is armed with a spur about six lines long at the joint of the wing. It builds its nests in the grass, and lays four fawn-coloured eggs. Whenever it perceives any one approaching its nest, it rises and flies round the intruder, uttering a loud shrill note. I have observed that at all times it follows any animal that passes near; and the people of the country pretend to distinguish by the note whether it is a man or a horse, which disturbs it. It keeps better watch than a dog, as it never fails to scream at the approach of footsteps, and on this account is called by the natives dispertado; Molina calls it the para chilensis.