330 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 6. 



viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, consists of" vast 

 plains, which extend from the sea coast on the 

 east, to that great chain which forms the beginning 

 of the Cordilleras of Chili, about 140 leagues 

 west from the city of Buenos Ayres. Towards 

 the south, they stretch about 100 leagues, to a 

 chain proceeding "W.N. W. from the. Atlantic. 

 The northern boundariefrare not distinctly known, 

 but the name of Pampas is chiefly applied to the 

 territory on the south of Buenos Ayres, Cordova, 

 and Mendoza. These vast plains, like the steppes 

 of Russia, having scarcely any elevation, the view, 

 as at sea, is terminated by the horizon. They are 

 only diversified with paths and ditches, which col- 

 lect the rain waters, and which commonly end in 

 lakes, as there is no declivity; yet there are wide 

 tracts in which no water is found, nor is that ele- 

 ment pure; and the trees are extremely rare, ex- 

 cept a i'ew shrubs round the lakes. Hence this 

 region is only inhabited by a few wandering sa- 

 vages. The soil is generally a black earth of little 

 depth, and is followed by a kind of coarse chalk, so 

 that it is difficult to form icells, as the water can 

 scarcely pass so tenacious a substance. The chief 

 pasturage is clover, and in the best parts, some- 

 times so strong as to resist the step of a horse: it 

 is much liked by the cattle, which, when there js 

 water, multiply prodigiously in the pampas." — 

 Bees' Cyclopaedia. 



"On leaving Baenos Ayres, the first region is 

 covered for 180 miles with clover and thistles; the 

 second region (480 miles) produces long grass, 

 without a weed; and the third reaching to the 

 base of the Cordilleras, is a grove of low trees 

 and shrubs, in which such beautilul order is ob- 

 served, that one may gallop between them in eve- 

 ry direction." "The climate ol the pampas is 



subject to great differences of temperature, though 

 the gradual changes are very regular. The win- 

 ter is as cold as an English November. The sum- 

 mer is oppressively hot. But the whole pampas 

 enjoy an atmosphere as beautiful and salubrious as 

 the most healthy parts of Greece and Italy, without 

 their malaria." — Malte Brun's Geog. 



"The whole plain [nearest] to the foot of the 

 Cordillera, is a loose sandy soil, greatly impregna- 

 ted with saline matter, which is inimical to vege- 

 tation in the natural way. This immense tract is 

 called the Traversia, or the Desert, resembling 

 similar tracts in Africa. When assisted by irriga- 

 tion, it is the most fertile soil imaginable. 1 '' — Malte 

 Bran's Geog. vol. 3, p. 362, (note.) Am. Ed. 



A late traveller from Buenos Ayres to the An- 

 des Temple, speaks thus of the first and second 

 regions of pampas: 



"The country for leagues round is covered with 

 thistles, which at this season are to be seen grow- 

 ing to the prodigious height of eight, and, in some 

 places, ten feet: cattle which go in amongst them 

 to seek a shade from the sun, and to feed upon the 

 grass beneath, are completely concealed. These 

 thistles* form almost the only fuel for the few in- 



* At certain periods of the year, when the clover 

 withers enormous thistles, ten or twelve feet high, sud- 

 denly shoot up, hem in the roads and paths, and form 

 a dense and impenetrable barrier. Mr. Head remarks: 

 "The sudden growth of these plants is quite astonish- 

 ing: and though it would be an unusual misfortune in 



habitants who are scattered over this vast wilder- 

 ness: not a tree is to be seen, wiih ihe exception 

 of a lew peach trees, which have been planied in 

 the immediate neighborhood of the huts.* 



"We now bade adieu to the region of thistles, 

 through which we travelled for upwards of one 

 hundred miles, and which, on each side of the 

 road, extended as Jar as t lie eye could reach. At 

 this season of the year, in consequence of these 

 gigantic weeds being parched by the sun, the 

 country, at a distance, had the appearance of be- 

 ing covered with ripe corn; but the scene was too 

 monotonous to afford any agreeable impression. 

 Madame de Slael, on her journey inio Russia, re- 

 marks, [of ihe steppes] "ihere is so much space 

 that every thing is lost — " "memc les chateaux, 

 meme la population. On diroit qiron Iraverse un 

 pays dont la nation vieni de s'en aller.''' Here, on 

 ihe contrary, the traveller would say that he tra- 

 verse's a country where Ihe nation is yet to come; 

 for every thing exists as nature first formed it, un- 

 improved, uncultivated; untouched." 



"Afterleavinir ihe region of I hisl les before men- 

 tioned, we travelled for about 120 miles through a 

 country of more agreeable aspect, though not a 

 free as yet appeared to our view, ihe 'whole being 

 one vast field of rich pasture. This is ihe true 

 pampa of Soulh America, of which we have of 

 late years read and heard so much in Europe. 



"Innumerable herds of cattle, the progeny, it is 

 said, of six cows and a bull, imported rather more 

 than two centuries ago liom Spain, range at large 

 over this ever verdant surface of inexhaustible lux- 

 uriance. I have been credibly informed, that their 

 numbers at the presenl day bear no proportion to 

 what they were belbre fbedevaslaiingbavocof t lie 

 late civil war; still they appear 1o a European eye 

 in countless multitudes, and leave ihe ivaveller no 

 longer cause to wonder lliat such fine animals 

 should, at one time, have been slaughtered in thou- 

 sands, merely for their hides.'"' 



"This noble plain, entirely covered with pasture, 

 extends many hundred miles into ihe regions of 

 Patagonia, where it is yet unexplored. M. Hum- 

 boldt calculated its area at 70,000 square leagues. 

 "This area," he observes, "of the pampas of Tu- 

 cuman, Buenos Ayres, and Patagonia, (they are 

 all united) is consequently four times as large as 

 the area of all France." 



"No lawn was ever laid down with greater pre- 

 cision by the hand of man, than this vast intermi- 

 nable plain has been by nature. Not a sione is to 

 be seen on its surface." — Temple's Travels. 



"In the whole of this immense region, there is 

 not a weed to be seen. The coarse grass is its 

 sole produce, and in the summer, when it is high, 

 it is beautiful to see the effect which Ihe wind has 

 in passing over this wild expanse of waving grass: 

 the shades between the brown and yellow are beau- 

 tiful. The scene is placid beyond description: no 

 habitation or human being is to be seen, unless oc- 

 casionally the wild and picturesque outline of the 

 Gaucho on the horizon, his scarlet poncho or cloak 

 streaming horizontally behind him, his balls flying 



military history, yet it is really possible, that an inva- 

 ding army, unacquainted with this country, might be 

 imprisoned by these thistles, before they had time to 

 escape from them.''' — Head's Notes. 



