BAND A ORIENTAL. 12*3 



expanse of muddy water has neither grandeur nor beauty. At one 

 time of the day, the two shores, both of which are extremely low, could 

 just be distinguished from the deck. On arriving at Monte Video I 

 found that the Beagle would not sail for some time, so I prepared for a 

 short excursion in this part of Banda Oriental. Everything which I have 

 said about the country near Maldonado is applicable to Monte Video ; 

 hut the land, with the one exception of the Green Mount, 450 feet high, 

 from wh'ch it takes its name, is far more level. Very little of the 

 undulating grassy plain is enclosed ; but near the town there are a few 

 hedge-banks, covered with agaves, cacti, and fennel. 



November i^th. We left Monte Video in the afternoon. I intended 

 to proceed to Colonia del Sacramiento, situated on the northern bank of 

 the Plata and opposite to Buenos Ayres, and thence, following up the 

 Uruguay, to the village of Mercedes on the Rio Negro (one of the many 

 rivers of this name in South America), and from this point to return 

 direct toMonte Video. We slept at the house of my guide at Canelones. 

 In the morning we rose early, in the hopes of being able to ride a good 

 distance ; but it was a vain attempt, for all the rivers were flooded. 

 We passed in boats the streams of Canelones, St. Lucia, and San 

 Jose, and thus lost much time. On a former excursion I crossed the 

 Lucia near its mouth, and I was surprised to observe how easily our 

 horses, although not used to swim, passed over a width of at least six 

 hundred yards. On mentioning this at Monte Video, I was told that 

 a vessel containing some mountebanks and their horses, being wrecked 

 in the Plata, one horse swam seven miles to the shore. In the course 

 of the day I was amused by the dexterity with which a Gaucho forced 

 a restive horse to swim a river. He stripped off his clothes, and 

 jumping on its back, rode into the water till it was out of its depth ; 

 then slipping off over the crupper, he caught hold of the tail, and as 

 often as the horse turned round, the man frightened it back by splashing 

 water in its face. As soon as the horse touched the bottom on the 

 other side, the man pulled himself on, and was firmly seated, bridle in 

 hand, before the horse gained the bank. A naked man on a naked 

 horse is a fine spectacle ; I had no idea how well the two animals suited 

 each other. The tail of a horse is a very useful appendage ; I have 

 passed a river in a boat with four people in it, which was ferried across 

 in the same way as the Gaucho. If a man and horse have to cross 

 a broad river, the best plan is for the man to catch hold of the pommel 

 or mane, and help himself with the other arm. 



We slept and stayed the following day at the post of Cufre. In the 

 evening the postman or letter-carrier arrived. He was a day after his 

 time, owing to the Rio Rozario being flooded. It would not, however, 

 be of much consequence ; for, although he had passed through some of 

 the principal towns in Banda Oriental, his luggage consisted of two 

 letters I The view from the house was pleasing ; an undulating green 

 surface, with distant glimpses of the Plata. I find that I look at this 

 province with very different eyes from what I did upon my first arrival. 

 I recollect I then thought it singularly level ; but now, after galloping 

 over the Pampas, my only surprise is, what could have induced me 



