ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. hand, and the horse fairly secured. Luckily he was an old practised animal, and knew what it meant, otherwise he would probably have kicked till he had thrown himself down. The Gauchos roared with laughter; they cried out that they had seen every sort of animal caught, but had never before seen a man caught by himself. About two leagues beyond the curious tree of Walleechu we halted for the night. At this instant an unfortunate cow ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. was spied by the lynx-eyed Gauchos, who set off in full chase, and in a few minutes dragged her in with their lazos and slaughtered her. We here had the four necessaries of life in the open plain (en el campo)-pasture for the horses, water (only a muddy puddle), meat, and firewood. The Gauchos were in high spirits at finding all these luxuries, and we soon set to work at the poor cow. This was the first night which I passed under the open sky, with the saddle-gear for my bed. There is high enjoyment in the independence of the Gaucho life-to be able at any moment to pull up your horse and say, "Here we will pass the night." The death-like stillness of the plain, the dogs keeping watch, the gypsy group of Gauchos making their beds round the fire, have left in my mind a strongly-marked picture of this first night, which will never be forgotten. At Tapulquen we were able to buy some biscuit. I had now been several days without tasting anything beside meat. I did not at all dislike this new diet, but I felt as if it would only have agreed with me with hard exercise. I have heard that patients in England, to whom an exclusively animal diet has been prescribed, have hardly been able to endure it, even to save their lives; yet the Gauchos in the Pampas, for months together, touch nothing but beef. But they eat, I observe, a very large proportion of fat, and they particularly dislike dry meat, such as that of the agouti. It is, perhaps, on account of their meat diet that the Gauchos, like other flesh-eating animals, can long go without food. I was told of some troops who, of their own accord, pursued a party of Indians for three days, without eating or drinking. ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION. One night in the Falkland Islands we slept on the neck of land at the head of Choiseul Sound, which forms the south THE AGOUTI. west peninsula. The valley was pretty well sheltered from the cold wind; but there was very little brushwood for fuel. The Gauchos, however, soon found what, to my great sur prise, made nearly as hot a fire as coals; this was the skele ton of a bullock lately killed, from which the flesh had been picked by the carrion-hawks. They told me that in winter they often killed a beast, cleaned the flesh from the bones with their knives, and then with these same bones roasted the meat for their supper. THE LA PLATAN. Ar AT Santa Fé I was confined for two days to my bed by a headache. A good-natured old woman, who attended me, wished me to try many odd remedies. A common practice is to bind an orange-leaf or a bit of black plaster to each temple; and a still more general plan is to split a bean into halves, moisten them, and place one on each temple, where they will easily stick. It is not thought proper ever to remove the bean or plaster, but to let them drop off; and sometimes, if a man with patches on his head is asked what is the matter, he will answer, "I had a headache the day be fore yesterday." ON the first night out from Maldonado we slept at a retired little country-house, and there I soon found out that I owned two or three articles, especially a pocket compass, which created unbounded astonishment. In every house I was asked to show the compass, and by its aid, together with a map, to point out the direction of various places. It excited the liveliest admiration that I, a perfect stranger, should know the road (for direction and road mean the same thing in this open country) to places where I had never been. At one house a young woman, who was ill in bed, sent to beg me to come and show her the compass. If their surprise was great, mine was greater to find such ignorance among people owning thousands of cattle, and estancias of great extent. It can only be explained by the circumstance that this retired part of the country is seldom visited by foreigners. I was asked whether the earth or sun moved; whether it was hotter or colder to the north; where Spain was, and many other such questions. The greater number of the inhabitants had an indistinct idea that England, London, and North America were different names for the same place; but the better informed well knew that London and North Amer ica were separate countries, close together, and that England was a large town in London! I carried with me some promethean matches, which I lighted by biting; it was thought so wonderful that a man should strike fire with his teeth that it was usual to collect the whole family to see it. I was once offered a dollar for a single one! Washing my face in URUGUAY. the morning caused much speculation at the village of Las Minas. A superior tradesman closely cross questioned me about so singular a practice, and likewise why, on board ship, we wore our beards (for he had heard from my guide that we did so). He eyed me with much suspicion. It is the general custom in this country to ask for a night's lodging at the first convenient house. The astonishment at the compass and my other feats in jugglery was a certain advantage to me, as with that, and the long stories my guides told of my breaking stones, knowing venomous from harmless snakes, collecting insects, etc., I repaid them for their hospitality. I am writing as if I had been among the inhabitants of Central Africa. Banda Oriental would not be flattered by the comparison, but such were my feelings at the time. On the road toward Mercedes, on the Rio Negro, we asked leave to sleep at an estancia at which we happened to arrive. It was a very large estate, being ten leagues square; and the owner is one of the greatest land-owners in the country. His nephew had charge of it, and with him there was a captain in the army, who the other day ran away from Buenos Ayres. Considering their station, their conversation was rather amusing. They expressed, as was usual, unbounded astonishment at the globe being round, and could scarcely believe that a hole would, if deep enough, come out on the other side. They had, however, heard of a country where there were six months of light and six of darkness, and where the inhabitants were very tall and thin! They were curious about the price and condition of horses and cattle in England. Upon finding that we did not catch our animals with the |