Our next day’s march carried us across more stony ground. The persons to whom we spoke, said that there had been no rain, and indeed this was evident. There was no grass, and the country was yet parched and dreary. The horses had no water at noon, for the well was small, and the spring which supplied it was insufficient for so great a number of beasts. I was thirsty in the afternoon, and therefore left the _comboio_ to follow at its usual pace, and rode on accompanied by Julio; the two dogs likewise would come with us. We entered upon a plain, and now for the second time I saw an _ema_, a species of ostrich. Notwithstanding my attempts to prevent them, the dogs set off after it, and much against my inclination I was obliged to wait until their return. The bird ran from them with great velocity, flapping its wings, but never leaving the ground. The _emas_ outstrip the fleetest horses. The colour of the one which we saw was a dark grey; its height, including the neck, which was very long, was about that of a man on horseback, and it had that appearance at first sight, when at some distance. The Sertanejos say, that when pursued the _ema_ spurs itself to run the faster; that the spurs or pointed bones are placed in the inside of the wings, and that as these are flapped, the bones strike the sides and wound them. I have heard many people say, that when an _ema_ is caught after a hard chase, the sides are found to be bloody. It is possible that this effect may be produced by some cause similar to that by which a pig cuts its own throat in swimming. The eggs of the _ema_ are large, and although the food which they afford is coarse, it is not unpalatable. The feathers are much esteemed. When the dogs returned we continued our journey; the road led us between high rocks, and after proceeding along it for some time, the dogs suddenly struck from the path, and went up the side of a flat rock, which sloped down towards the road, but was sufficiently low to allow of a horse ascending it. Our horses stopped and snuffed up the air. Julio cried out at the same time “water, water,” and spurred his horse to follow the dogs, and I did the same. Julio was quite correct in what he had supposed, from the direction which the dogs immediately took, and from the stopping of the horses. There was a long and narrow but deep cleft in the rock, which was nearly full of water, clear and cold. The sides of the cleft slanted inwards, and the water was below the surface, so that the dogs were running round and howling, without being able to reach it; the horses too, as soon as we dismounted, and they saw the water, began to paw, and attempted to press forwards to drink. We had brought no vessel with which to take up any of it, and were under the necessity of using our hats to satisfy the horses and dogs. The rest of the party came up after some time; Feliciano was acquainted with the spot, but if the dogs and horses had not pointed it out to