42 MALDONADO 



open slightly-undulating country, covered by one uniform layer 

 of fine green turf, on which countless herds of cattle, sheep, and 

 horses graze. There is very little land cultivated even close to 

 the town. A few hedges made of cacti and agave mark out 

 where some wheat or Indian corn has been planted. The 

 features of the country are very similar along the whole 

 northern bank of the Plata. The only difference is, that here 

 the granitic hills are a little bolder. The scenery is very 

 uninteresting ; there is scarcely a house, an enclosed piece of 

 ground, or even a tree, to give it an air of cheerfulness. Yet, 

 after being imprisoned for some time in a ship, there is a charm 

 in the unconfined feeling of walking over boundless plains of 

 turf Moreover, if your view is limited to a small space, many 

 objects possess beauty. Some of the smaller birds are brilliantly 

 coloured ; and the bright green sward, browsed short by the 

 cattle, is ornamented by dwarf flowers, among which a plant, 

 looking like the daisy, claimed the place of an old friend. 

 What would a florist say to whole tracts so thickly covered by 

 the Verbena melindres, as, even at a distance, to appear of the 

 most gaudy scarlet ? 



I stayed ten weeks at Maldonado, in which time a nearly 

 perfect collection of the animals, birds, and reptiles, was pro- 

 cured. Before making any observations respecting them, I will 

 give an account of a little excursion I made as far as the river 

 Polanco, which is about seventy miles distant, in a northerly 

 direction. I may mention, as a proof how cheap everything is 

 in this country, that I paid only two dollars a day or eight 

 shillings, for two men, together with a troop of about a 

 dozen riding-horses. My companions were well armed 

 with pistols and sabres ; a precaution which I thought 

 rather unnecessary ; but the first piece of news we heard 

 was, that, the day before, a traveller from Monte Video 

 had been found dead on the road, with his throat cut. 

 This happened close to a cross, the record of a former 

 murder. 



On the first night we slept at a retired little country-house ; 

 and there I soon found out that I possessed two or three 

 articles, especially a pocket compass, which created unbounded 

 astonishment. In every house I was asked to show the compass, 

 and by its aid, together with a map, to point out the direction 



