All Drink Water Out Of An
Earthenware Pitcher Of Peculiar Shape, Which Is The Centrepiece Of
The Table.
Around the ranches of the people are many mice, which must be of a
ferocious nature, for if one is caught in a trap it will be found
next morning half, if not almost wholly, eaten by its own comrades.
Well is it called "the cannibal mouse."
In times of drought the heat of the sun dries up all vegetation. The
least spark of fire then suffices to create a mighty blaze,
especially if accompanied by the pampero wind, which blows with
irresistible force in its sweep over hundreds of miles of level
ground. The fire, gathering strength as it goes, drives all before
it, or wraps everything in its devouring flames. Casting a lurid
light in the heavens, towards which rise volumes of smoke, it
attracts the attention of the native, who lifts his starting eyes
towards heaven in a speechless prayer to the Holy Virgin. Madly
leaping on his fleetest horse, without saddle, and often without
bridle, he wildly gallops down the wind, as the roaring, crackling
fire gains upon him. In this mad race for life, men, horses,
ostriches, deer, bullocks, etc., join, striving to excel each other
in speed. Strange to say, the horse the native rides, cheered on by
the touch of his master, is often the first to gain the lake or
river, where, beneath its waters at least, refuge may be found. In
their wild stampede, vast herds of cattle trample and fall on one
another and are drowned.
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