188 BANDA ORIENTAL. 



noble volume of water. From the clearness and 

 rapidity of the stream, its appearance was far su- 

 perior to that of its neighbour the Parana. On the 

 opposite coast, several branches from the latter riv- 

 er entered the Uruguay, As the sun was shining, 

 the two colours of the waters could be seen quite 

 distinct. 



In the evening we proceeded on our road to- 

 wards Mercedes on the Rio Negro. At night we 

 asked permission to sleep at an estancia at which 

 we happened to an'ive. It was a very large es- 

 tate, being ten leagues square, and the owner is 

 one of the gi'eatest landowners in the country. His 

 nephew had charge of it, and with him there was 

 a captain in the army, who the other day ran away 

 from Buenos Ayres. Considering their station, 

 their conversation was rather amusing. They ex- 

 pressed, as was usual, unbounded astonishment at 

 the globe being round, and could scarcely credit 

 that a hole would, if deep enough, come out on the 

 other side. They had, however, heard of a coun- 

 try where there were six months light and six of 

 darkness, and where the inhabitants were very tall 

 and thin ! They were curious about the price and 

 condition of horses and cattle in England, Upon 

 finding out we did not catch our animals with the 

 lazo, they cried out, " Ah, then, you use nothing 

 but the bolas :" the idea of an enclosed country was 

 quite new to them. The captain at last said, he 

 had one question to ask me, which he should be 

 very much obliged if I would answer with all truth. 

 I trembled to think how deeply scientific it would 

 be : it was, " Whether the ladies of Buenos Ayres 

 were not the handsomest in the world V I re- 

 plied, like a renegade, " Charmingly so." He add- 

 ed, " I have one other question : Do ladies in any 

 other part of the world wear such large combs V 



