274 Recent Journey in South America. [ Marcu, 
vinegar, and the sufferer being prevented from taking any thing but a 
little water, in three days time all fever had ceased, and I had the satis- 
faction of finding that, if I had not managed the case precisely, “ secun- 
dum artem,” the patient seemed likely to be “ doing well” nevertheless. 
The truth is, there is no skill like that which grows out of necessity, and 
no nurse like Dame Nature. On arriving at the little town of Salto, on 
the fourth day after the accident, we left the man in the care of a humane 
inhabitant of the place, who promised to afford him an asylum till he 
should be sufficiently recovered to follow his occupations. On the day . 
that we passed the little town of Salto, we met with some armadillos, several : 
of which we caught ; and, as in these parts of the world an animal must 
be a non descript indeed, that is not considered as worth eating, these, 
like the rest, were submitted to the somewhat rude process of our travell- 
ing cuisine, and roasted in their shells. In making journeys like those 
which I am describing, it is good for tie traveller to be an epicure or the 
opposite, as the case of the moment may happen to require. For my 
own part, I have always considered, that as there is no reason, d@ priori, 
why a snake should not be as good as an eel, or a foal as a fawn, so it is 
always worth while to taste every thing that comes in your way ina 
“* questionable shape.” Accordingly, on the occasion just alluded to, I 
willingly made trial of the roasted armadillo, and found it not unlike’ 
a sucking-pig in flavour, but even more delicate. 
On the 29th of September, we reached the little town of Rojas. 
which presents a very characteristic scene, arising out of the necessities 
and corresponding expedients of its peculiar position. The town con- 
sists, besides a fort mounting three guns, of many detached houses, each 
of which is an impregnable fortress in itself—that is to say, impregnable 
with reference to the attacks likely to be made upon it. Each house is 
surrounded by a deep ditch, and, within that, planted with a hedge the 
nature of which renders it a perfect safeguard against the attacks of the : 
Indians. This hedge consists of the torch thistle (Tuna) so planted 
that its thorny stems almost touch each other to the thickness of four or 
five feet. It is true the stems of this plant, being merely of the con- 
sistence of a cabbage-stalk, might easily be chopped down by means of 
an axe. But as the Indians never, or very rarely, dismount, when 
making their attacks, and as the hedge I have described is fire-proof, 
and may be defended by musquetry from behind, it becomes, in point 
of fact, an absolutely impregnable barrier against such assailants. At 
the time we visited it, Rojas contained about 1,500 inhabitants, and 
presented a most singular and romantic appearance—being situated on a 
slight eminence, and the enclosures of the Tuna thickly planted, chiefly 
with peach groves. The entrance to each enclosure is by a draw-bridge. 
We observed among the inhabitants many Indian boys and girls, who 
had been taken prisoners from the Indians in various incursions, and 
were used as slaves. I remarked, that the heads of these Indians were 
all more or less flattened behind; which I ascertained to have been 
caused by the mode of their treatment during infancy. As the Indian 
children, while infants, always accompany their mothers on however 
long a journey they may take, and, as their journeys are all performed 
on horseback, they resort to the expedient of lashing the infant flat on 
its back to a board, and slinging it over their own shoulders; in which 
position, they ride at a great rate the whole day ; and it is only at nigh 
when they stop, that the infant is unloosed and permitted to suck 
