1833.] VALUE OF A PASSPORT. 127 



of wild dogs may be heard howling on the wooded banks of 

 the less frequented streams ; and the common cat, altered 

 into a large and fierce animal, inhabits rocky hills. As 

 M. d'Orbigny has remarked, the increase in numbers of 

 the carrion-vulture, since the introduction of the domestic 

 animals, must have been infinitely great ; and we have 

 given reasons for believing that they have extended their 

 southern range. No doubt many plants, besides the cardoon 

 and fennel, are naturalised ; thus the islands near the 

 mouth of the Parana are thickly clothed with peach and 

 orange trees, springing from seeds carried there by the 

 waters of the river. 



While changing horses at the Guardia several people 

 questioned us much about the army — I never saw anything 

 like the enthusiasm for Rosas, and for the success of the 

 "most just of all wars, because against barbarians." This 

 expression, it must be confessed, is very natural, for till 

 lately, neither man, woman, nor horse was safe from the 

 attacks of the Indians. We had a long day's ride over the 

 same rich green plain, abounding with various flocks, and 

 with here and there a solitary estancia, and its one ombu 

 tree. In the evening it rained heavily : on arriving at a 

 post-house we were told by the owner that if we had not a 

 regular passport we must pass on, for there were so many 

 robbers he would trust no one. When he read, however, 

 my passport, which began with **E1 Naturalista Don 

 Carlos," his respect and civility were as unbounded as his 

 suspicions had been before. What a naturalist might be, 

 neither he nor his countrymen, I suspect, had any idea ; but 

 probably my title lost nothing of its value from that cause. 



September 20th. — We arrived by the middle of the day at 

 Buenos Ayres. The outskirts of the city looked quite 

 pretty, with the agave hedges, and groves of olive, peach, 

 and willow trees, all just throwing out their fresh green 

 leaves. I rode to the house of Mr. Lumb, an English 

 iierchant, to whose kindness and hospitality, during my 

 .^tay in the country, I was greatly indebted. 



The city of Buenos Ayres is large ; * and I should think 



one of the most regular in the world. Every street is at 



tight angles to the one it crosses, and the' parallel ones 



iKiing equidistant, the houses are collected into solid 



quares of equal dimensions, which are called quadcas. 



• It in said to contain 60,000 inh<-\bitant9. Monte Video, the second town 

 of importance on the banks of the Plata, has 15,000. 



