1833. J GENERAL ROSAS. 73 



and advancement.* He is said to be the owner of seventy-four 

 square leagues of land, and to have about three hundred thou- 

 sand head of cattle. His estates are admirably managed, and are 

 far more productive of corn than those of others. He first gained 

 his celebrity by his laws for his own estancias, and by disciplin- 

 ing several hundred men, so as to resist with success the attacks 

 of the Indians. There are many stories current about the rigid 

 manner in which his laws were enforced. One of these was, 

 that no man, on penalty of being put into the stocks, should 

 carry his knife on a Sunday : this being the principal day for 

 gambling and drinking, many quarrels arose, which from the 

 general manner of fighting with the knife often proved fatal. 

 One Sunday the Governor came in great form to pay the estan- 

 cia a visit, and General Rosas, in his hurry, walked out to 

 receive him w-ith his knife, as usual, stuck in his belt. The 

 steward touched his arm, and reminded him of the law ; 

 upon which turning to the Governor, he said he was extremely 

 sorry, but that he must go into the stocks, and that till let out, 

 he possessed no power even in his own house. After a little 

 time the steward was persuaded to open the stocks, and to let 

 him out, but no sooner w^as this done, than he turned to the 

 steward and said, " You now have broken the laws, so you must 

 take my place in the stocks." Such actions as these delighted 

 the Gauchos, who all possess high notions of their own equality 

 and dignity. 



General Rosas is also a perfect horseman — an accomplishment 

 of no small consequence in a country where an assembled army 

 elected its general by the following trial : A troop of unbroken 

 horses being driven into a corral, were let out through a gateway, 

 above which was a cross-bar: it was agreed whoever should 

 drop from the bar on one of these wild animals, as it rushed 

 out, and should be able, without saddle or bridle, not only to 

 ride it, but also to bring it back to the door of the corral, should 

 be their general. The person who succeeded was accordingly 

 elected ; and doubtless made a fit general for such an army. This 

 extraordinary feat has also been performed by Rosas. 



By these means, and by conforming to the dress and habits of 



* This prophecy has turned out entirely and miserablj' wrong. 1845 



