92 Sr. FE. [CHAP. vn. 



ance of its gardens, was one of the prettiest villages I saw. From this 

 point to St. Fe the road is not very safe. The western side of the 

 Parana northward, ceases to be inhabited ; and hence the Indians 

 sometimes come down thus far, and waylay travellers. The nature of 

 the country also favours this, for instead of a grassy plain, there is an 

 open woodland, composed of low prickly mimosas. We passed some 

 houses that had been ransacked and since deserted ; we saw also a 

 spectacle, which my guides viewed with high satisfaction : it was the 

 skeletomof an Indian with the dried skin hanging on the bones, sus- 

 pended to the branch of a tree. 



In the morning we arrived at St. F6. I was surprised to observe 

 how great a change of climate a difference of only three degrees of 

 latitude between this place and Buenos Ayres had caused. This was 

 evident from the dress and complexion of the men from the increased 

 size of the ombu trees the number of new cacti and other plants and 

 especially from the birds. In the course of an hour I remarked half-a- 

 dozen birds, which I had never seen at Buenos Ayres. Considering 

 that there is no natural boundary between the two places, and that 

 the character of the country is nearly similar, the difference was much 

 greater than I should have expected. 



October yd and ^th. I was confined for these 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 adhere. It is not thought 

 proper ever to remove the beans or plaster, but to allow them to 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 before 

 yesterday." Many of the remedies used by the people of the country 

 are ludicrously strange, but too disgusting to be mentioned. One of 

 the least nasty is to kill and cut open two puppies and bind them on 

 each side of a broken limb. Little hairless dogs are in great request to 

 sleep at the feet of invalids. 



St. Fe" is a quiet little town, and is kept clean and in good order. 

 The governor, Lopez, was a common soldier at the time of the revolu- 

 tion ; but has now been seventeen years in power. This stability 

 of government is owing to his tyrannical habits ; for tyranny seems 

 as yet better adapted to these countries than republicanism. The 

 governor's favourite occupation is hunting Indians ; a short time since 

 he slaughtei ed forty-eight, and sold the children at the rate of three or 

 four pounds apiece. 



October yh. We crossed the Parana to St. F6 Bajada, a town on 

 the opposite shore. The passage took some hours, as the river here 

 consisted of a labyrinth of small streams, separated by low wooded 

 islands. I had a letter of introducti on to an old Catalonian Spaniard, 

 who treated me with the most uncommon hospitality. The Bajada is 

 the capital of Entre Rios. In 1825 the town contained 6,000 inhabitants, 

 and t!2 province 30,000 ; yet, few as the inhabitants are, no province 



