Whenever they think fit to sleep at noon, or pass the night by the way, they anxiously look out for some place affording an opportunity of water, wood, and pasture. If there arise any suspicion of a hostile ambuscade, they hide themselves in lurking holes, rendered inaccessible by the nature of the place. You would say that they and their families are at home, wherever they go, for they carry about mats to serve for a house, as a snail does its shell. Two poles are fixed into the ground, and to them is tied a mat, twice or thrice folded to exclude the wind and rain. That the ground upon which they lie may not be wetted by a heavy shower, they providently dig a little channel at the side of their tent, that the waters may flow off, and be carried elsewhere. They generally send a tame mare with a bell about her neck to a drove of horses, when they are sent to pasture; for they will never go out of sight of her, and if dispersed up and down the plain, through fear of a tiger, return to her as to their mother; on which account the Spaniards call this mare _la madrina_, and the Abipones, _latè_, which means a mother. For the same reason, on a few of the horses they place shackles of soft leather, that they may crop the grass without wandering far from the tent, and be at hand, if it be found necessary to travel in the night. Not only the men, but even very young women cross rivers without ford, bridge, or boat, by swimming. The children, the saddles, and other luggage are sent over on a bull's hide, called by the Abipones, _ñata`c_, and by the Spaniards, _la pelota_, and generally made use of in crossing the smaller rivers. I will describe the rude structure of it. A hairy, raw, and entirely undressed hide is made almost square, by having the extremities of the feet and neck cut off. The four sides are raised like a hat, to the height of about two spans, and each is tied with a thong, that they may remain erect, and preserve their squareness of form. At the bottom of the pelota, the saddles and other luggage are thrown by way of ballast, in the midst of which the person that is to cross the river, sits, taking care to preserve his balance. Into a hole in the side of the pelota, they insert a thong instead of a rope, which a person, swimming, lays hold of with his teeth and with one hand, whilst he uses the other for an oar, and thus gently draws the pelota along the river, without shaking or endangering the person within in the least, though a high wind may have greatly agitated the waves. If the coldness of the water cramps the man that drags the pelota, so that he is disenabled from swimming, and would otherwise be drowned, he will be carried safely along with the pelota to the opposite bank, by the force of the waves. If rivers of a wider channel and a more rapid stream are to be crossed, the swimmer holds the tail of the horse, which swims before, with one hand, to support himself, and drags the pelota with the other.