campo, or grassy plains, so open that in places one may have uninterrupted view to the horizon both north and south. Dead, burnt quebracho trees are numerous, but otherwise there is little in the way of woods. Apart from one small hole, at which the Indians have a well in the dry scason, water is entirely absent in this stretch. Toward the end of the six leagues in question is a broken monte, finally opening up to large campo, closed by monte on the north and on the south by the Riacho Monte Lindo, which flows between banks four meters high with very little water and that brackish.
For the next nine leagues the banks of the Monte Lindo re- tain their height, but the water is only a few inches deep and continues brackish at first, then becomes swect as afterward the bed is full of grass, showing that water is only temporary. My informant’s party followed Indian tracks, proceeding as di- rectly westward as they could —there were no trails—by which they ultimately reached the head of a stream two leagues far- ther, where there was a small pool of excellent water said to be constantly used by the Indians, who are very careful in their descriptions of so important a feature as their water supply. At this point, 67 leagues from Villa Concepcién, is an Indian foldo which is quite old, and the number of people in it would exhaust the water in a week if there were not a constant source of supply. Along the stream the country is hilly, but the hills are not more than 100 to 150 feet in height. On either bank of the river is an open space 200 to 300 meters wide. The soil is sandy and porous, and pasture is intermixed with leguminous plants. The settlement is on a highway for the Indians, and on it they invariably carry gourds filled with water. At the same time, the large amount of fresh-appearing vegetation would indicate water at a slight depth below the surface.
For the next seven leagues the land falls slightly, the montes are not so rich in valuable timber, and water is quite absent. At two villages in this stretch Indian settlements were encoun- tered where the water was drawn from pools in the heart of montes near the village—an unusual situation for the pools though the water was permanent; and about one of the pools
