1833.] BANDA ORIENTAL. . 143 



the Rio Negro (one of the many rivers of this name in South 

 America), and from this point to return direct to Monte Video. 

 We slept at the house of my guide at Canelones. In the morning 

 we rose early, in the hopes of being- able to ride a good distance ; 

 but it was a vain attempt, for all the rivers were flooded. We 

 passed in boats the streams of Canelones, St. Lucia, and San Jose, 

 and thus lost much time. On a former excursion I crossed the 

 Lucia near its mouth, and I was surprised to observe how easily 

 our horses, although not used to swim, passed over a width of at 

 least six hundred yards. On mentioning this at Monte Video, I 

 was told that a vessel containing some mountebanks and their 

 horses, being wrecked in the Plata, one horse swam seven miles 

 to the shore. In the course of the day I was amused by the dex- 

 terity with which a Gaucho forced a restive horse to swim a 

 river. He stripped off his clothes, and jumping on its back, rode 

 into the water till it was out of its depth ; then slipping off over 

 the crupper, he caught hold of the tail, and as often as the horse 

 turned round, the man frightened it back by splashing water in 

 its face. As soon as the horse touched the bottom on the other 

 side, the man pulled himself on, and was firmly seated, bridle in 

 hand, before the horse gained the bank. A naked man on a 

 naked horse is a fine spectacle ; I had no idea how well the two 

 animals suited each other. Tiie tail of a horse is a very useful 

 appendage ; I have passed a river in a boat with four people in 

 it, which was ferried across in the same way as the Gaucho. If 

 a man and horse have to cross a broad river, the best plan is for 

 the man to catch hold of the pommel or mane, and help himself 

 with the other arm. 



We slept and stayed the following day at the post of Cufre. In 

 the evening the postman or letter-carrier arrived. He was a day 

 after his time, owing to the Rio Rozario being flooded. It 

 would not, however, be of much consequence ; for, although he 

 had passed through some of the principal towns in Banda 

 Oriental, his luggage consisted of two letters ! The view from 

 the house was pleasing ; an undulating green surface, with dis- 

 tant glimpses of the Plata. I find that I look at this province 

 with very different eyes from what I did upon my first arrival. I 

 recollect I then thought it singularly level ; but now, after gal- 

 loping over the Pampas, my only surprise is, what could have 



