ARRIVE AT SE. FE. 163 



In the morning we amved at St. Fe. I was sur- 

 prised to observe how great a change of climate a 

 ditlerence of only three degrees of latitude be- 

 tween this place and Buenos Ayres had caused. 

 This was evident from the dress and complexion 

 of the men — from the increased size of the ombu- 

 trees — the number of new cacti and other plants — 

 and especially from the birds. In the course of an 

 hour I I'emarked half a dozen birds which I had 

 never seen at Buenos Ayres. Considering that 

 there is no natural boundary between the two pla- 

 ces, and that the character of the countiy is nearly 

 similar, the difference was much greater than I 

 should have expected. 



October '3d and Ath. — I was confined for these 

 two days to my bed by a headache. A good-na- 

 tured old woman, who attended me, wished me to 

 try many odd remedies. A common practice is to 

 bind an orange-leaf or a bit of black plaster to 

 each temple ; and a still more general plan is to 

 split a bean into halves, moisten them, and place 

 one on each temple, where they will easily adhere. 

 It is not thought proper ever to remove the beans 

 or plaster, but to allow them to drop off; and 

 sometimes, if a man, with patches on his head, is 

 asked. What is the matter 1 he will answer, " I 

 had a headache the day before yesterday." Many 

 of the remedies used by the people of the country 

 are ludicrously strange, but too disgusting to be 

 mentioned. One of the least nasty is to kill and 

 cut open two puppies, and bind them on each side 

 of a broken limb. Little hairless dogs are in great 

 request to sleep at the feet of invalids. 



St. Fe is a quiet little town, and is kept clean and 

 in good order. The governor, Lopez, was a com- 

 mon soldier at the time of the revolution, but has 

 now been seventeen years in power. This stability 



