Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman, 1 75 



cordingly, the black boy who performed the operation using 

 the only utensil apparently in the house to receive the milk, 

 namely, the huge pot or boiler from which the dogs had been 

 licking the relics of pompions, some of which still adhered to 

 its sides : this was set on the fire ; and by the time the milk 

 was, boiled the pompions were sufficiently roasted, when scra- 

 ping off with difficulty the black and ashy skin, I put some 

 of the pulp into the milk and managed to make a tolerable 

 breakfast. This is the way in which people live in this coun- 

 try ; nothing better or more cleanly is to be procured for fare ; 

 we all gathered round the pot of hot milk which was set on 

 the ground, when also the roasted pompions were laid at our 

 feet, all covered with black wood ashes ; for plates and spoons 

 we had horns, halved and a little bent ; for seats, the skulls of 

 horses ; and for a table, the clay floor of the hut. There was 

 no choice : we paid about sixpence each for our meal and set 

 off again. After travelling till mid-day, the weather being hot 

 and dry, we stopped for 2 hours at noon, turning the cattle 

 out to feed and lying down ourselves to sleep, and pursued 

 our way in the afternoon, the country being so open and level 

 that we drove the mules before us almost at a gallop. The 

 owner of these animals had left us in the morning, accom- 

 panied by his servant, preferring another route to Tucuman, 

 and I remained with the driver, that I might have the more 

 time to botanize. At night we stopped at a posthouse called 

 Vinora, 19 leagues from Tucuman, where we rested till the 

 afternoon of the next day ; during which time I examined the 

 productions of the neighbourhood. I saw some fine trees of 

 the great fan palm, a strange species of Cestrum, with very 

 large yellow flowers, and a Solanum, apparently brownish, with 

 white fruit of the size and appearance of hens^ eggs ; the latter 

 was generally growing in open grass fields, where the plant, 

 about 3 feet high, very thorny, and loaded with this singular 

 looking fruit, was a striking object. Also a suffruticose Bvd- 

 dlea, which the natives call sage, and use as such. 



23rd. Quitting Vinora after mid-day, we reached in the 

 evening a farm, where many goats were feeding and where we 

 purchased a fine fat kid for about one shilling, and obtained 

 permission to turn our horses and mules into an inclosure, 



