596 Soulh American Sketches : [Dec. 
family, tried a great many arts in order to procure his return, promising 
to treat him kindly. But Davila was too well acquainted with the object 
of his opponent to again trust himself within reach of his sword. 
The members of the Cabildo now begged of Quiroga to take upon 
himself the office of governor ; but this did not, at the moment, coin- 
cide with his views. He considered that it was better for the present 
merely to retain the command of the troops ; by which means he would 
be more absolute than the governor himself, whom he might displace 
whenever it answered his purpose. He, therefore, with much pretended 
humility, told the Cabildo that an ignorant man like himself was not 
qualified to fill so important an office, and that they had better elect some 
one else: at the same time, however, he took care to have it privately 
intimated to them on whom it was that he wished their choice to devolve. 
This was a man named Agueros; who had, during many years, been a 
travelling pedlar, and who possessed all the cunning and chicanery of 
his profession. This plan succeeded to his wishes ; and Quiroga’s 
influence was now unbounded. He also, by this time, possessed enor- 
mous estates—almost half the Llanos being his property—with a large 
number of cattle and horses; so that he left Agueros at full liberty 
to exercise what peculation he pleased in his office, and turn it to the best 
account, so long as he took no political measures which were disagreeable 
to his employer. 
Quiroga now caused his house in the Llanos to be fitted up as a kind 
of fort, whither he removed Davila’s four unfortunate cannon, and sent 
to Cordova to purchase 300 muskets and sabres, on the state account, 
which were also deposited in his house. He now ruled with absolute 
authority, there being no appeal from him, even on a matter of life and 
death. He also maintained a body of twenty mounted gauchos con- 
stantly about his house, as a sort of body-guard, who were ready, 
on all occasions, to ride and do his bidding. At two hours’ notice 
he could, at any time, have 500 militia cavalry in readiness at his 
doors, to take their arms, and obey all his orders without questioning 
them ; and, to prevent the possibility of these men being tampered with, 
he always retained the arms in his own custody when there was no neces- 
sity for taking the field: in fact, no eastern pacha could be more abso- 
lute. At the same time, he did not disdain those arts which tended to 
make him popular among the people on whom he depended for support. 
His dress and amusements were constantly those of the gaucho; and, 
whenever any dispute occurred before him, in which a rich and a poor 
man were concerned, he invariably took the part of the poor man, and 
decided in his favour, right or wrong ; so that the poorer classes all spoke 
loudly in his praise, as the only refuge of the oppressed. He would 
sometimes kill a bullock, and set a barrel of wine running, to feast the 
gauchos, when they were collected together, and, by this means, ren- 
dered them devoted to his service. 
Although Quiroga is, in person, a small, spare man, with a downcast 
countenance, he is possessed of great muscular and constitutional strength ; 
and, owing to the influence which a strong mind always possesses over 
weak ones, he governs his followers as much by fear as by attachment. 
On one occasion, a man from the country came before him with a large 
sabre-wound on his arm, which he complained had been given him by 
one of the gauchos then on guard, without any provocation. Quiroga 
ordered the guards into the apartment; and the wounded man pointed 
j 
