12th May 1833

Las Minas
We crossed the Rio Marmaraga & proceeded to the Tapes; where a widow woman, a friend of Gonzales gave us a most hospitable reception. The above rivers, ultimately flow into the R. Grande & thus belong to a different system from the others which we crossed. On the road Morante practised with success a method of catching partridges which I had often heard of but never seen, it requires a long stick, at the end of which there is a running noose, made of the stem of an Ostriches feather. As soon as a partridge is seen, & they are wonderfully numerous, the man with the stick rides in a circle or spire round & round the bird, gradually coming nearer & nearer; the partridge not knowing which way to run at last squats to conceal itself; the noose is then quietly put over its head & the bird secured by a jerk, in this manner a boy sometimes catches 30 or 40 in one day.

No comments: