350 



The Naturalist in La Plata. 



The gaucho is more or less bow-legged ; and, of 

 course, the more crooked his legs are, the better 

 for him in his struggle for existence. Off his 

 horse his motions are awkward, like those of certain 

 tardigrade mammals of arboreal habits when re- 

 moved from their tree. He waddles in his walk ; 



Gaucho. 



his hands feel for the reins ; his toes turn inwards 

 like a duck's. And here, perhaps, we can see why 

 foreign travellers, judging him from their own 

 standpoint, invariably bring against him the charge 

 of laziness. On horseback he is of all men most 

 active. His patient endurance under privations 



