GENERAL. 23 



maintenance of the ' puesteros,' the meat of a wether 

 (capon) is allowed between three or four of them, the skin, 

 tallow, and grease being set apart for the proprietor, and 

 collected periodically. The ' puestero' provides his own 

 ' yerba' (Paraguay tea) and sugar, and, if he indulges in 

 the luxury, his own biscuit and salt. 



Fuel he provides himself with from the stems of the 

 hard thistle, 'bisnaga,' or the excrement of the sheep, 

 cut out of the corrales in solid cakes and dried, dried 

 cattle droppings, and animals' bones. He makes his fire 

 either in the open air, in the centre of his hut, or under a 

 shed outside ; he runs a long spit, ' asador,' through the 

 meat, and sticks it in the ground with an inclination over 

 the fire. There are many, however, chiefly foreigners, 

 who show more refinement, and possess a table and chairs, 

 fryingpan and saucepans, plates, knives and forks, and 

 will set a benighted traveller, seeking their hospitality, 

 down to a good. stew, with rice and eggs, in addition to the 

 customary exceedingly sweet roast or ' asado,' laid out on 

 a clean table cloth, a cup of genuine Congou or Souchong, 

 with ewe's milk, and the never failing ' drop ' of spirit to 

 drive the cold or keep the heat out ; and last, and best 

 of all, a hearty English, Irish, or Scottish welcome. If 

 there is a tidy ' wife ' in the cabin, a clean pair of sheets 

 and a blanket, and a gay quilt to sleep under. In some rare 

 instances, a ' beautiful fither bed,' brought all the way 

 from the ' Ould Conthry,' will be produced for highly 

 honoured guests, in which, if the temperature happens to 

 range at about 80 Fahr., the perspiring guest is fairly 

 smothered, and overwhelmed with the intended kindness. 



The life of a shepherd in the camp is solitary enough : 

 a man who does his duty should never leave his flock, 

 until, at least, they are shut up at night ; and then not for 

 long. It is not always that a flock is shut up in the 



